Recently in Dalby, there has been a large flock of Bramblings for a few weeks now. Last week I tried to see them. So, a quick drive up to the forest and ….. not a sign!! How can 200 birds vanish so quickly ?? Incidentally I had tried between Christmas and New Year to see the same flock… and again no success !! And this week I heard from a fellow Birder that they were seen again. So with an air of determination I had another go yesterday…. and as I arrived at Adderstones …. that awful feeling of Deja Vu began to creep in …. No sign again!!! However, decided to stick it out and drove a little further up the road and suddenly a few birds startled by the car flew up into the trees …. and YES ….a beautiful male Brambling!! Little did I know what was to happen next …!! After watching where the birds had dropped, I drove up a bit further as there were quite a few birds feeding just by the road edge and killed the engine … and started to take a few shots. Just then a car appeared from the other direction and as it came level with the birds there was a sudden swoosh and literally hundreds of birds exploded from the verge and swirled up in a massive flock …. what an absolutely stunning sight ….. you struggle for 1 sighting ….suddenly you have 2-300 birds swirling about. What an amazing 20 minutes with these winter visitors …. unfortunately after a few more car passes suddenly the flock flew off into the forest and that was that … they never came back!! Safe to say Brambling in the bag!!
