The Dunnock Relay....

.....and Gerald's team was winning it, as he saw his relay partner approach, he was ready to take the small stick baton, and take it to the waterfall garden.

Each year Dunnocks from around the country competed in a relay race with a difference. There were four team members in a team, and they had to beat the clock. 

They would fly to an area, in each area there was a specialist skill you had to exhibit for 30 seconds max, the closest you got to the time limit, the more points you won.

Quite simply, the areas were 'camouflage', the 'Art of Blending In', 'Diving for a Coin' and 'Clambering up a tree, and retrieving a nugget from a bird feeder tray. Each team member was particularly trained in one of the areas.

Gerald had got the nugget in record time - overseen by a judge, bagged the point's, now it was upto Mark the diver to get the coin from the fountain.

Gerald's confidence was justified, his team won, and a year's supply of suet to their families were met by shrills and shreaks by his wife and family, and had him suddenly wishing he could dive into that fountain there and then.....

After ensuring that his hearing was in fact intact and still worked.....Gerald settled down to enjoy that winning feeling :-)

Take care all :-)