It's been a really good spring for photographing some local
specialities, and this immature Crossbill is a perfect example of why.
In May, my friend found a small pool in a wood near Peterborough
that was pulling in several families of Crossbills to drink and bathe. I've
photographed Crossbills before, but never at a pool like this. Over the following weeks I got out as many early mornings as I could, and
slowly I started to recognise individual birds.
This particular immature bird is likely from a
brood last year. Photographing it was a genuine pleasure, but also a genuine
challenge. Woodland floor light at a pool like this doesn't just shift hour to
hour — it changes by the minute, dappled and unpredictable, gone one second and
back the next. Getting a clean, well-lit frame meant a lot of waiting, and a
lot of missed moments too.
Crossbills are seriously characterful birds, and this won't be the last you see of them here. More to come from this pool, even though it's long gone.
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