Bramblings in a Local Woodland.
12th November 2018
When Susan and I were walking through a local deciduous woodland last week we saw about a hundred finches flying in a flock and in it were a good number of Bramblings. It’s always nice to see these wintering finches, they come mainly from Fennoscandia arriving in the UK in late October/November. They actively seek out beech mast to sustain them throughout our winter and can often be seen flying and feeding with Chaffinches, and because of their similar habits to these birds, they are easily overlooked.
However, they are easily distinguished therefrom, they utter a persistent ‘Squeak’ which with a little practice is easily recognised. Their plumage when observed is totally different from the Chaffinch, Bramblings have a conspicuous white rump patch visible when they take off from the ground, males also have a burnt orange colouring on their breasts. Chaffinches don't have these markings.
Male Bramblings will also have dark mottled heads and dark spots on the flanks and a striking yellow bill.
The females are less conspicuous but still have the distinct white rump patch.
I had previously watched them for a few days to see where they were feeding and I was fortunate to be able to drive my car along the forest track right up to them. I placed an old tree stump on the ground and spread a bit of sunflower seed around to supplement the natural beech mast and then strung some camo netting over the window of my car and just waited.
It wasn’t too long before I heard that tell-tale squeak and first the Chaffinches and then the Bramblings came down to feed.
When I casually looked in the car’s mirror I could see a woman walking down the forest track – no big deal, but as she approached my car, with camo netting draped around the windows and a 600mm lens sticking out of the passenger window, instead of walking straight past she walked around the front of the car and stood right in front of the passenger window, two yards from my lens and completely blocking my view. I was hard to believe what she was doing, she couldn’t have done a better job of spooking the birds if she had tried! I politely asked her if she wouldn’t mind moving and she jumped and said ‘Oh you shocked me’ and then she said sorry and walked away down the track. It was hard for me to comprehend how unobservant she was and I was about to say that if she couldn’t see me there then she should take extra care the next time she crossed a road, but I thought better of it. These people go for a walk in the countryside, and that’s fair enough, but I seriously doubt if they see anything if that is their level of consciousness.
Anyway about ten minutes later the birds returned and I was able to take more shots of about twenty Bramblings that were intermittently feeding around the tree stump in front of me.
The wind then really started to blow and the leaves were whipping around the feeding area disturbing the birds so I packed up and put the little tree stump to one side in case a friend of mine wanted to use it. I left contented but still amused by the woman’s behaviour.
However, they are easily distinguished therefrom, they utter a persistent ‘Squeak’ which with a little practice is easily recognised. Their plumage when observed is totally different from the Chaffinch, Bramblings have a conspicuous white rump patch visible when they take off from the ground, males also have a burnt orange colouring on their breasts. Chaffinches don't have these markings.
Male Bramblings will also have dark mottled heads and dark spots on the flanks and a striking yellow bill.
The females are less conspicuous but still have the distinct white rump patch.
I had previously watched them for a few days to see where they were feeding and I was fortunate to be able to drive my car along the forest track right up to them. I placed an old tree stump on the ground and spread a bit of sunflower seed around to supplement the natural beech mast and then strung some camo netting over the window of my car and just waited.
It wasn’t too long before I heard that tell-tale squeak and first the Chaffinches and then the Bramblings came down to feed.
When I casually looked in the car’s mirror I could see a woman walking down the forest track – no big deal, but as she approached my car, with camo netting draped around the windows and a 600mm lens sticking out of the passenger window, instead of walking straight past she walked around the front of the car and stood right in front of the passenger window, two yards from my lens and completely blocking my view. I was hard to believe what she was doing, she couldn’t have done a better job of spooking the birds if she had tried! I politely asked her if she wouldn’t mind moving and she jumped and said ‘Oh you shocked me’ and then she said sorry and walked away down the track. It was hard for me to comprehend how unobservant she was and I was about to say that if she couldn’t see me there then she should take extra care the next time she crossed a road, but I thought better of it. These people go for a walk in the countryside, and that’s fair enough, but I seriously doubt if they see anything if that is their level of consciousness.
Anyway about ten minutes later the birds returned and I was able to take more shots of about twenty Bramblings that were intermittently feeding around the tree stump in front of me.
The wind then really started to blow and the leaves were whipping around the feeding area disturbing the birds so I packed up and put the little tree stump to one side in case a friend of mine wanted to use it. I left contented but still amused by the woman’s behaviour.