This is the story of how three morons went and twitched a Pine Bunting, which has been in Kirkkonummi for about two weeks now. I was one of the three. It was Saturday.

It was a darn foggy morning. So we 'adjusted the moment of our departure', i.e. I decided to sleep an hour longer. I've got the car keys, so it's kinda hard to leave me behind. When I finally did wake up the air was still like milk, visibility was very poor indeed. We took our time, I wasn't the only one sleeping in. And then there was the filling of the tank and drinking of the coffee on the petrol-station on the way to the site. We did get there - eventually.

By the feeder the bird had been visiting there were about a dozen people waiting. The bunting hadn't been seen all morning, there weren't any Yellowhammers either. Pine Buntings hang out usually (read: always) with Yellowhammers - here in Finland that is, back home I'm sure they hang out with other Pine Buntings. We didn't stay at the feeder for long, the others had stood there for hours, so why should we. We walked to the nearby fields in search of the Yellowhammers - and the Pine Bunting.

After about an hour's walk we get a call, the bird's been seen at a place we walked by earlier. So back we go, the others are there already. On the muddy field there's a flock of Yellowhammers and they're flying to the woods and back and it's just difficult to get a grip of the flock. All the fields are bare, just the kind you'd expect to find the first Lapwing on. But no Lapwings, no sounds of Larks even. Scenery is like in April but birds are the wintery kind. Silent spring.

Eventually the male Pine Bunting is found in the flock. It's seen well enough. Everybody sees it. That's what matters I guess. After a while the whole flock of about 250 plus one takes off, flies around in circles, at times disappearing into the low-hanging mist. And we head for home, with our boots muddy. I even have my trousers muddy, with footprints of a wee dog on the right leg. It walked all over us, that wee dog.