my bird of the (yester)day was the ten or twelve brambling I saw in Faringdon! I have only seem them twice before and then only as one or two birds but I was stopped in my tracks by a very strange song sounding like a cross between a greenfinch and a water rail now sadly I had decided to take my camera and not my bins on this walk (both are too heavy for a long walk) so I had to wait what seemed like ages before I got a good enough view to id the brambling brilliant - had a smile on my face for the rest of the day. Othe highlights of the walk was a nuthatch making a calll unlike one I've ever heard before - it sounded more like a parakeet so that's another lesson for me and I found a heronry by the unmistakeable chack-chack-chaking of the chicks. A good day
