Not exactly a blog, but rather a record of my visit to Blenheim to see whether I could catch sight of the crossbills frequenting the stand of mixed fir and larch in the plantation beside the Column of Victory. Gareth Casburn has reported them regularly on the Oxfordshire WhatsApp group, sometimes up to 50 individuals, and in his excellent blog - here.
As he notes, he had been seeing small numbers in the treetops, but by late November a flock of around 50 birds had gathered - in recent days, reports have mentioned between 14 and 25 individuals. Crossbills are irruptive finches, meaning their numbers in a given area fluctuate depending on food availability, mainly conifer seeds (spruce, pine, larch, fir). When a particular woodland has a good seed crop, crossbills can form larger flocks and may stay in an area for weeks or months.
I arrived via the gate by the Black Prince pub, having parked at the top of the hill on the edge of town - parking is free for an hour, or £2 for three hours. I set off straight from the entrance and soon spotted another birder ahead, scanning the trees with binoculars. I wondered if he might be heading for the crossbills - sure enough, he climbed the slope and began examining the stand of firs at the front of the plantation.
By the time I reached the top, he had moved further along, and I followed him to a bend where I eventually caught up - it was Paul Willis, and it quickly realised that we had met before. He’d visited the previous Friday and enjoyed excellent views of the birds in the treetops, though he mentioned that once they moved into the larches, they were much harder to spot, particularly the females. We spotted a couple of people about halfway down the plantation and wondered if they were watching the birds; one of them was standing with a tripod and scope. We started making our way toward them, but they noticed us, packed up the scope, and walked halfway to meet us.
They hadn’t been able to spot any crossbills, only a few tits moving through the trees. We scanned back and forth along the edge of the plantation but saw no signs - Paul moved further along the treeline while I worked my way back to the corner. Just minutes later, I heard Paul call out that he’d found some. I walked over to join them, and Paul pointed out three crossbills - a female and two males perched and feeding right on the trunk of a tall larch. At first, they stayed tight to the trunk, making photography impossible. Soon, a few more crossbills moved through the firs behind, drawing the two males away, while the female switched trees and came closer to the front.
We hung back and watched the birds feeding in the background. Suddenly, they all took flight for no apparent reason, circling above us. We counted around 25 individuals before they settled back onto the firs, though about half landed toward the front and high up - while some of the birds moved around, roughly ten remained fairly still in a single treetop. This was a better photo-opportunity.
Eventually, 12 of the birds took to the air, circled briefly, and then headed off in the Combe Gate direction, leaving the four of us searching once again. I spotted three crossbills at the far end of the plantation and another three closer, though scattered. Paul mentioned that on his previous visit bramblings had been reported by the sunflowers, but when he went to look they had already gone. We went and checked the area finding it completely devoid of finches - completely quiet. Time was passing, so I said my goodbyes and headed back, stopping briefly at the plantation when I spotted a couple of siskins at the top of a fir tree. One last look, and then back to the car to meet my wife for a coffee.
Year list: 248.
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