The crossbills didn’t come down to play today but there were other birds around…
More f5/6
Tag: Brambling
Cold snap
It turned a bit chilly yesterday…
This morning on a brief walk saw a skittish flock of Common Redpoll, a small flock of Brambling in my local park, a lone Eurasian Sparrowhawk plus the usual common stuff.
A lone one
Whilst waiting around vainly in the snow for some crossbills to appear I noticed 1 Brambling in amongst the sparrows…
A quiet week in town
A Brambling snacking on Dusky Thrush poop in town today…
There were loads of Dusky Thrush last week in Hakodate but most appear to have gone. Nothing interesting among them. And they ate all the berries so if any Waxwings do make it to my neighbourhood this winter there won’t be much food for them.
Not much else around: Sparrowhawk, Goshawk and Hawfinch being the most noteworthy.
It has stopped snowing at last…
More Bramblings
Easy to overlook……………
The quiet ones
The Brambling flock unobtrusively go about their business. I tend to aim for Waxwing photos but the Bramblings are not without their charms although a bit hard to photograph: they are shy, feed busily and seem to like the shadows.
The flock seems to have shrunk to about 20……….
These photos are from a few days ago.
I remember finding my first Brambling in Penwortham in 1981 (!). They seem a lot more numerous in Hokkaido than in Lancashire.
The Supporting Cast
There were still some Waxwings around yesterday, here are the 3 other species that have been in the same places………
There was also a Long-tailed Rosefinch in the park but no pictures.
A snowy Monday in Hakodate
The first real snow of 2020 in Hakodate is falling. I went out for a walk this morning not expecting much but was happy to see a huge flock of Waxwings (300 or more). They seemed to be mainly Bohemian Waxwings (in fact I’d say over 90% were) but there were some Japanese mixed in there too. This must be a different flock from the one in town last month.
Very very dark and heavy snow so it was tricky to take photos.
They were in the same place as last month’s flocks and under the trees they use to roost there are a lot of red droppings. A flock of 100 or so Bramblings were on the ground feeding there.
Have to say I didn’t know Bramblings eat Waxwing poop. You learn something every day.
The Others
Waxwings aren’t the only birds in town……..
In addition to Brambling and Hawfinch other stuff from the last couple of days included Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Peregrine, Brown Dipper, Varied Tit, Great Egret and Dusky Thrush.
Some neighborhood birds #1
I had a lazy Sunday stroll around my neighbourhood today. Quite a few birds around: small flocks of Long-tailed Tit, Hawfinch, Brambling as well as 5 Goosander, Grey Heron, Daurian Redstart and Dusky Thrush.
Please leave some berries for any potential waxwingy visitors……..
Bramblings
Cold snowy weather returned to Hakodate and in the small park near my apartment yesterday there were 5 Brambling, 3 Hawfinch and 1 Dusky Thrush.
Last winter was very poor for passerines around here: hope this one is better.