An early update on the Banbury Birders WhatsApp group announced the reappearance of a dark-hooded male brambling at Balscote Quarry. It was just what I needed - another excuse to take some more brambling photos!
I rocked up and found that there were many more gulls than I've been used to on the water - they appeared to be moving in from the floods on Ironstone Lane and I counted 125 black-headed and 18 common. On the remainder of the water little had changed from my previous visit.
I set about watching for brambling and soon had a female and a male, but not the dark hooded individual. It wasn't long though and there he was in all his glory.
Before heading off for a walk I had a look at my phone to see if there was anything else worth following up on. I heard close calls from a pair of jays and they appeared in the back of the bushes beside the road. To my surprise one hopped down and onto the ground ahead of me. What a treat!
A further visit from two red-legged partridge and three roe deer completed the day.
The following morning there were reports of a curlew and significant numbers of snipe at breakfast time. Unsure of whether we would be going for a walk I didn't get out straight away - by the time I got there the curlew was gone and most of the snipe had retreated back into cover. I did manage to see four, three of which were distant but visible.
Gull numbers continued to increase, even further than the previous day and I counted c325 black-headed gulls and c24 common gulls. At one point a green woodpecker attempted to land on "Steve's perch" but caught sight of me and diverted awy to my left - so close. It shows that a post positioned further down the slope would be attractive to the woodpeckers, and potentially other species, giving photographers a clear view. Steve Holliday has this in hand and it may be a job for when the work-party can get back on site after Covid restrictions are relaxed.
I was quite excited to see that there were now three female brambling showing at the same time, as well as two dark hooded and one paler hooded males. Knowing that there were at least one other paler hooded male would suggest that there are at least seven brambling visit at the moment. In fact, later in the day four females showed, as did three paler hooded males and so it is actually likely there are in fact nine!
I was just packing up to move on when a bird caught my attention. It was bright but smaller than the greenfinch in the same area in the bushes. When I focussed on it I found it was a male siskin - the first spotted on the reserve this year. With the sun beaming down it was another day promising spring is not far away.
Terrific photos Kyle!
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