Winter birding for Bramblings and Corn Buntings

  

Brambling

My good birding pal Nick recently tipped me off about a site where Bramblings and Corn Buntings could be seen feeding on seed kindly provided by a local farmer. Wednesday this week seemed a good bet for a visit as at least some sun was forecast in between the seemingly everlasting progression of winter storms . By following Nick’s clear instructions, I was on site by 9 am.  A weak mid-winter sun was struggling to clear an early morning mist which painted the whole landscape in a serene soft beauty, there is something very special, almost ethereal, about these misty winter mornings. It was soon obvious that I was in the right spot as numerous Bramblings and Chaffinches  were decorating the lane side tree giving it the impression of some mad addicted bird spotters Christmas tree.

 

There was ample corn on the grassy track and, using my car as a hide in the tried and tested fashion, grateful birds soon fluttered to the ground to feast on the free bounty. First in were 3 Red-legged Partridges quickly followed by the large mixed flock of Bramblings and Chaffinches. There was much toing and throwing as birds dropped to feed, then returned to the adjacent tree while others eagerly took their place making it hard to estimate exact numbers. If pushed, I would guesstimate a flock of around 50 Bramblings with a few much  bulker Corn Buntings thrown in for good measure.

 

The Brambling has the colloquial names “the cock o' the north” and “the mountain finch” giving you a big clue as to where they like to hang out. It is essentially the northern replacement for our common Chaffinch. It is widespread and migratory breeding throughout the forests of northern Europe  and east across the Palearctic. They are highly migratory relocating to  southern Europe, North Africa, northern India, northern Pakistan, China, and Japan in the cold winter months. It is a scarce winter migrant to England and is almost aways found in a mixed flock with Chaffinches. Their favourite winter food in the UK is Beech mast and I have seen then many times before feeding up under Beech trees. This species is renowned for forming large flocks in the winter, sometimes with thousands or even millions of birds in a single flock. Such large gatherings occur especially where beech mast is abundant. Flocks of a million birds have been recorded which must be an incredible sight. Doubly so as this would constitute some 1% of the entire worlds population in just one flock.

 

The Brambling is somewhat similar in size and shape to a Chaffinch but breeding plumage males are quite distinctive, with a black head, dark upperparts, orange breast and white belly. Females and younger birds are less distinct, and more similar in appearance to some chaffinches. I find the easiest identification feature is their clean white breast which, even at distance,  stands out like a bright light bulb in  the subdued winter lighting, a feature which Chaffinches never show. Males found in mid to late winter in the UK tend to exhibit various stages of moult into summer plumage with there smart head caps varying from a washed out grey to the near black summer cap. When photographing them I try my best to pick out those closest to their attractive summer plumage but beggars can’t always be choosers in this regard.

   

Our resident Corn  Bunting is an altogether different bird.  It is a  large bunting with heavily streaked buff-brown plumage. The sexes are similar but the male is slightly larger than the female. Its range extends from Western Europe and North Africa across to northwestern China. This is a bird in considerable manmade difficulty in the UK. It is a bird of open country with trees, such as farmland and weedy wasteland. It has declined greatly in north-west Europe due to intensive agricultural practices depriving it of its food supply of weed seeds and insects, the latter especially vital when feeding the young. Very sadly, it has recently become extinct in Wales and Ireland, where it was previously common. Bravo then to farmers such as this local one who appeared mid-morning with a new bucket of corn. He was very friendly and I chatted to him and expressed my deep gratefulness with regards to his efforts. I know from a friend who is a local farmer how tough a time farmers are having at present, making it even more laudable that farmers such as this one are giving up time and corn to help our much threatened farmland birds.

Corn Bunting

Fieldfare

By midday and the mist starting to come in again, I decided to drive the 30 miles to park end via a bacon butty and a cup of tea.

 

Early afternoon I parked up at the well known Hawfinch spot, put some seed out and retired back to my hide (aka car). I knew this was 50/50 at best. On previous visits when I arrived earlier the Hawfinches were always much more active in the morning. I’d also noticed fewer reports and pictures of the Hawfinches than I seen in previous years. My concerns crystallised into reality with no Hawfinch sightings, just the usual more common suspects, Chaffinches, Nuthatches and Coal Tits. Come 4pm with the light fading I knocked the day on the head and drove the 45 minutes home to look at the mornings efforts on my camera.

Nuthatch

  Footnote – my blogs are posted with sometimes rather imaginative spelling and grammar due to my extreme dyslexia!