I rarely go out of Devon specifically to look for birds (apart from my foreign trips) but today was an exception. I went with the 3 Daves to Marshfield in Gloucestershire to photograph a Re-flanked Bluetail that has been there since the beginning of the month. It was well worth the trip all the way in to the Cotswolds to see and then get some nice photos of this extremely rare bird that is only s seen in the UK very infrequently.  This particular one in fact is described as the UK’s first to over-winter. It isn’t the most pleasant of situations to be in though, one little bird in a nearby tree and 50 or so like-minded people with their cameras and spotting scopes all trained on it. Everyone is keen to adhere to the unwritten rules and protocol which centres around not disturbing the bird in anyway but in addition, everyone wants to get as close as they are allowed by the common consensus of the crowd. There is always a bit of tension and bickering as people of my age don’t like being told what to do and we all think we are in charge, well you can imagine! I spent the day sat next to a photographer whose pictures I had seen before….and always enjoyed…. Our plan was just to sit on the bank overlooking  the bird’s favourite tree and then snap away as soon as it exposed itself, hardly skilful but there is nothing else you can do in situations like this. I was reasonably happy with my photographs but very excited and pleased to see a “lifer”, this is the first time I have seen this species. Red-flanked Bluetail is a bird of Northern Asia spreading as far East as Japan. There is a breeding population in Finland where they are said to be increasing so we may see even more of this species in the future. This bird is though to be a first year male.