Apart from gale force winds last week, we have been very lucky with the weather here - there has been plenty of snow further south. Our garden bird feeders are still very busy, and we are getting geared up for the RSPB's national Garden Birdwatch this coming weekend.
Right on cue, we have seen a visitor in the garden that we haven't seen for years - a Brambling. A kind of finch, can be mistaken for a male Chaffinch if you are in a hurry. They are not specially rare, in fact, but we haven't seen one here for about 10 years or more.
So warm greetings to the Brambling (who won't go on the feeders - just cleans up the scraps the others have dropped, but there are plenty of them) - ideally, we need it to reappear during the observation period of the Birdwatch, so we can record it on the sheet, but we won't be too upset if it doesn't show!
Yesterday and today, our local flock of about a dozen long tailed tits has reappeared after an absence of some weeks. I'd love to know where they have been.
ReplyDeleteExcellent - we haven't had any for a couple of years, so - wherever they were - it wasn't here! Today we received (by courier) a bag of birdseed which I can only just lift off the ground. I hope these little beggars appreciate it!
ReplyDeleteThe brambling is quite a handsome chap. I wonder if he crosses the Atlantic?
ReplyDeleteThey migrate all over the place. Apparently they visit Alaska and the western seaboard of N America. We just have the one here - it has been eating like a machine for two days, so I don't think it will be flying anywhere very far for a while. They are common in Scandinavia, Poland - all over.
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