SINGLE MALE BRAMBLING

 Back in November I had my first Brambling back at my feeders. For those who don't know, the Brambling is a finch species that is closely related to the Chaffinch. They come to the UK in the Winter months usually in their thousands from Scandinavia and I am lucky enough to have them visit my garden feeding station. The bird back in November was a male and I was expecting a few more Bramblings to join him hopefully male's and female's but after a couple of days the bird disappeared.

male brambling from back in November

 So that was the last I saw of any Bramblings until early January when another male Brambling turned up. Was it the same bird? who knows but I was glad to see it. I managed a couple of photo's and some video footage and again hoped that it would be joined by some more males and a few females, but yet again it stayed for just a couple of days and then as the one back in November did it vanished.

another short staying male brambling

Here's a bit of video footage.

Looking on social media especially at the bird sites that I'm a member of  my single male brambling has been the only one that has been reported and/or photographed this Winter especially in the South Wales area. Obviously there's got to be more out there but perhaps missed or not reported.

The only other explanation that I can think of is that their numbers have crashed but I haven't seen anything in the news or online that supports this. Perhaps there's plenty of natural food about for them so they're sticking to the woodlands. Whatever the reasons it would be a pity if they stopped showing at my feeders, as the pics and vids show they're a beautiful little finch and I for one would sorely miss them.

CHECKING IN ON THE TAWNY'S

Last December with the help of my good lady Wife I put a trail camera up near where my regular Tawny Owl site is. I explained in a previous post that they had moved from a nestbox that I had built into a natural site in the form of a tree hole. The tree hole was exposed after a Winter storm had brought down a very large branch that had exposed the large hole which the Owls have readily taken to.

I don't like to  disturb them to much but every so often I like to see if they're still using the site and see what kind of condition they're in. 

I left the camera up for about two weeks until I decided to retrieve it. I brought my camcorder and my own DSLR camera to catch a bit of the action if they were to come out while we were there. After setting up the Wife kindly took the trail cam down and I stood there camera in hand and camcorder at the ready.

They came storming out so fast that I only managed to rattle off a few shots that were disappointingly a little out of focus but at least the camcorder got a bit of excellent footage of them emerging from the tree hole, I've included a bit of trail cam footage that I edited onto the clip.

the first tawny owl 

Here's a couple more clips from the trail cam, I had to zoom in a little on the computer but they still came out quite well.

 

I was very pleased that they were still there and both birds looked in excellent condition.

Let's hope they successfully breed once again this year as I for one love having them around.

ANOTHER TRIP TO SALISBURY

The gap between Christmas and New Year was a chance for Steve and myself to get out and do a bit of birding. We decided to go back to Compton in Salisbury as we missed out on the Great Bustards on our last visit so was hoping to catch up with them this time.

It was a bright Winters day with visibility being very good and so it was another chance for me to try out once again my new Swarovski Christmas telescope.

We got there not long after first light and was greeted by at least ten Red Kites circling above us and landing on a field right next to the track we were walking on. To be honest they were everywhere perched on trees and fence posts as well as filling the sky with their distinctive calls.

red kite

I also digiscoped these pair sat on some fence posts at the top of the field.

Here's me doing a bit of digiscoping

doing a bit of digiscoping

There were loads of buntings and finches in the trees and bushes as we walked up the track also Stonechats and Starlings were very numerous. We also flushed (which was another lifer for me) a covey of Grey Partridge. This bird has seen a massive decline in it's population in the UK of over 90% so to finally get to see these now very rare birds was for me a bit of a privilege, Compton must be one of the very rare places in the UK where Grey Partridges are holding on so lets hope it continues. Didn't manage any pics or footage which was a shame but they fly so fast and then disappear into the thick vegetation on the fields.

Here's a Corn Bunting I digiscoped whilst walking up the track.

Here's my first picture of a Fieldfare this year. There were a few of these about with their cousins the Redwings.

fieldfare

As we got to the top of the track we got talking to some locals that were telling us where to go and what was about. Salisbury plain is a M.O.D site where the Army does maneuvers so you can't just wonder anywhere. We decided to stick to the bye-ways after all we don't want to get shot😦.

We came to Salisbury hoping to see the Bustards and it didn't disappoint, we even had them flying over our heads which was a great sight and I even managed a couple of pics. 

fly over great bustards

We walked to the top of a hill over looking one of the M.O.D fields and were delighted to see quite a few of them on these fields. The wind was pretty brisk so I just took photos as the wind was buffering the scopes about so it was difficult to keep things still.

bustards on Salisbury plain

Steve managed this bit of footage through his scope which came out pretty good.

You can see an old tank in this next pic which the M.O.D must use as target practice while on their training maneuvers. 

bustards with the tank in the background

We stayed and watched them for a while with Steve showing a couple of passers by the birds through his scope which they were delighted with.

We decided after a while longer to make our way back, we watched a juvenile Peregrine on the hunt but frustratingly for me I wasn't quick enough to get a picture. We also spotted some Roe Deer on top of one of the fields.

roe deer

nice to see two together

 What a wonderful place Salisbury Plain is absolutely teaming with wildlife which I expect will bring us back here for future visits. Once again big thanks to Steve for getting us there and home safely top man, until the next one cheers.

PENDULINE TIT AT AUST

 A good few weeks ago back in November after one of our days out my birding companion Steve Bool and myself dropped into a place called Aust to see if the Penduline tits that had been discovered there were still about and showing well. Steve had already seen and digiscoped them a few days previous but I had not seen them and it would have been another lifer for myself so I was a bit gutted that at that time they didn't show.

Luckily enough though the Penduline Tits have stayed at Aust and so must be overwintering there. They are a rare vagrant from Eastern Europe where birds from the South being mostly resident but the North Easterly birds are migratory and have been spreading North West in recent decades, but up to this point there's been no breeding attempts in the UK although there is a record of a male bird building a nest in the 1990's.

In Spring and Summer they prefer access to deciduous trees bordering lakeshores and rivers with thin hanging branches which are suitable for nesting, trees such as birch, willow, popular and alder are preferred but in Winter they inhabit reedbeds with reedmace and bulrush, so Aust has the perfect habitat for them. The village of Aust is located just below the English side of the old Severn Bridge in Avon, they have extensive reedbeds at two sites near the village where the Penduline Tits can be located. We arrived just as it was getting light and were there for only half an hour when eagle eyed Steve spotted them feeding amongst the reeds, they're so tiny and blend in well amongst the bulrush so locating them can be difficult. There were four birds there in total but what a rush, there they were my first Penduline Tits. Below is a couple of pics I grabbed of this tiny little vagrant.

my first penduline tits

Steve also got some superb footage with his digiscope set up, you'd never think that these vids were from a scope and a mobile phone they look so clear.

The birds took off after about ten minutes which was a bit frustrating but enough time for us to get some pictures and videos.

what a beauty

Steve with some of the birders looking for the penduline

one happy birder

For the next few hours we waited and searched both sites hoping that they would return but to no avail. The sighting we had in the morning I think was the only one of that day so we were both really glad we made the effort to get down there so early. The Penduline Tits have been seen every day since we went there giving loads of birders the chance to see this beautiful little vagrant and I'm so glad that I had the privilege to be one of them.

THE SCOPS OWL

 A Scops Owl had been discovered in a local park in Dunvant near Swansea and it has also been roosting in someone's back garden. In birding terms this is a MEGA!

The Scops Owl is a rare visitor to central Europe, it's breeding areas are the warmer areas of Southern Europe, North Africa and Asia Minor, so how it got into a park in Swansea South Wales god only knows.

Steve and myself had heard of pretty naughty behavior by birders who were relentlessly harassing the bird with torches for a view and/or a picture, so at first we decided not to go. Then a shout came out on one of the main social media sites we are members of that they were going to organise it so when the Scops Owl is located they would shine a torch on it for about thirty seconds so people could get a view and then leave it alone for about thirty minutes to allow the bird to feed. This I could cope with and as this was a mega rare bird we decided to travel down there to see it.

We got there at about 5.15pm and it was already pitch black, we walked into the park where you couldn't see your hand in front of you and already there were people with torches shining them into the trees but where was the organised twitch that was talked about on social media? There were foot paths but it was that dark you couldn't distinguish them from the grass which was like walking on sticky mud and I had already found a muddy pot hole which went up to my ankles. Steve was talking to some other birders when a shout went out it was down the other end of the park in a deciduous tree. Steve got there before me and had a good sight of it, by the time I'd got there it had moved into another tree close by but with the relentless shinning of torches I saw it perched up on the left hand side of the tree a little further down.

This image below is not mine but it is one of the Swansea Scops Owl that someone had taken the previous day. I took it off the internet but I don't know who's pic it is so I couldn't give them a credit.

the swansea scops owl

Although delighted to have seen it the experience was a bit bitter sweet with people continually shinning their bright torches and not giving the bird any space and time to feed.

It went out of sight soon after I had seen it, we met a couple of birders that had thermal imaging cameras so we stayed with them for a while but they could not relocate the Scops Owl and it was not seen again that night. 

After marching in the muck a while longer we headed home glad we had seen the mega Scops Owl but also realising that after that experience twitching definitely isn't for us.

NEW SCOPE

 My lovely wife "god bless her cotton socks" has got her wonderful husband a new Spotting Scope for Christmas and has let me open and use it before the big day what a wonderful woman.

It's a Swarovski 65mm ATS and she got me a 20x60 angled eyepiece and a nice new cover for it as well. Swarovski wanted £270 for their cover so she bought one from ACE Optics which was a lot cheaper at £80 but does the job just as well.

my new scope the swarovski ATS 65mm

and with the cover on

My old scope the Vortex Viper is a bit to big and bulky and was very heavy to be carrying around in the field all day especially as I'm getting older but I must say is still a good scope.

I haven't taken the Swarovski out in the field yet but it being a lot lighter than the Vortex and optically superior it should perform a lot better, so I'm looking forward to putting it through it's paces. With it having a 65mm front lens it might struggle a little in lowlight situations but the quality weight and sharpness of the lens should more that make up for it.

I have done a bit of digiscoping with it on some of the birds that visit our garden and even through the bedroom window the quality seems great. 

Here's some short clips - chaffinch, goldfinch, great spotted woodpecker, nuthatch, long tailed tit and great tit.

A fantastic scope and a fantastic Christmas present looking forward to using it when I'm out and about on my birding adventures. Once again thanks to my lovely wife and I hope you like the slippers I got you😂 until the next one cheers.

GREAT NORTHERN DIVER

Reports of a Great Northern Diver landing at Lanishen Reservoir in Cardiff was enough to get the pulses racing and when my great birding mate Steve Bool said shall we get down there to take a look I jumped at the chance.

The Great Northern Diver breeds in Iceland and is a Winter visitor to the UK, they are usually found off the coast of Scotland and eastern England. Although during and after Winter storms it can be found anywhere along the coast and very rarely on inland waters, which has happened to this bird. It is the largest diver that we have in the UK with the others being the Red Throated (which we had both seen a few weeks previous at The Cardiff Barrage) and Black Throated.

When we arrived the weather was miserable but we both decided to have a look as it would be yet another lifer for me and Steve hadn't seen one for years. A very kind chap who was on one of the boats gave us directions to where it was last seen, so we strolled around scanning the reservoir with our binoculars until Steve finally spotted it right out in the middle of the water. As the weather had been so bad Steve had left his scope in the car so he rushed back to fetch it. I walked a bit further along the track and managed to get a bit closer to the bird so rattled off a few shots. By this time the rain had eased so giving us a window of opportunity to get some good views, pictures and footage.

 

my first great northern diver

Steve by this time had returned with his scope and got this lovely footage.

It was great to finally be able to tick this one off what a great bird.

more great northern diver action

After about forty five minutes of spending quality time with the Diver The heavy rain came back in again, but we were more than happy with our photos and videos so decided to call it a day. No coffee and cake this time as we were both drenched by the time we got back to the van but we had both seen and recorded it The Great Northern Diver what a bird.