100 Plus Brambling

[FUDGEY]

Visited my hide/feeding station today on my lunch break to find over 300 birds at it inc 100 at least Brambling What a sight. I had trouble at it because the Pheasants kept coming and eating all the food. At one point I had 27 of them. I decided to make a cage that would allow birds up to Jay size through, but not Pheasants and its worked a treat. Apologies about pic, but I only had my 500mm lense on. I will get a better one soon. As you will see I have put the best Brambling from today too

[Wild-Woman]

That must have been quite a spectacle. Fabulous birds, one of my favourites.

[Blizzard]

Wonderful! I've never seen a BIG flock of Brambling, normally just about 20 to 30 mixed in with Chaffinch.

Must have been amazing to see.

Have you put information about your hide/feeding station somewhere on here? I'd like to know more about it... not the exact location but how you set it up, what you feed, how you chose the location etc.

[Dae]

Really love that first photo of the Brambling, what a great shot! Really must've been a sight, I've yet to see one this season as they're not numerous yet in my part of Wales.

I'll never forget the tremendous numbers in the thousands we had the last time big numbers came to the UK a few years ago now. Our area of wales had thousands and thousands of them before they headed off back to their breeding grounds.

[aeshna5]

You are lucky Fudgey- I'd settle for seeing 1 Brambling at my feeders. you've got us green with envy!

[Michelleatiisis]

Lovely!
Don't know what it was about today but the birds were out in numbers!

[JeffH]

Originally Posted by aeshna5

You are lucky Fudgey- I'd settle for seeing 1 Brambling at my feeders. you've got us green with envy!

Me too, though I'm not sure I'd want the weather you've been getting up there

Jeff
(Schedule 1 licence holder for Kingfishers, Barn Owls and Avocets)

[FUDGEY]

Thanks folks, comments are much appreciated.

Blizzard, not really went into any detail about my feeding station. I actually have three on the go (One for a Kingfisher) The difficult part is getting a good location that doesnt get much attention from other people. I am very fortunate where I live as I have a lot of choice. This hide/station is in a small clearing in a woodland that contains mostly silver birch. After obtaining permission from the land owner to build a hide etc I chose a spot that would be reasonably sheltered and would get good light in the Winter. Its all pretty straight forward after that, I just made some wood piles with nice mossy stumps at the top that are photogenic and that are easily changed. I also have two large tables that are approx 7ft long by 4 ft wide. These are about 4ft of the ground and are decorated to look like the forest floor. When ground feeding birds like Chaffinches etc feed on these my photographs look like I am at eye level with the bird when in fact I am not. Large logs are also put upright and I drill holes in them and I wedge nuts in them. This gets me natural looking pics of the Woodpeckers and Nuthatches. I just put loads of different feeders out with different food items and its not long until a host of different species come in. The whole set up looks rather untidy to the eye, but it gets me the photographs I am after . I will get some of the whole set up next time I can. Here are just a few of the birds I have taken at this sight over the last few months.

[solus]

Ah! I recognise that Pheasant peeping out from behind the tree. A recent Birdguides Photo of the Week.

Lovely pics all round - but it must be costing a small fortune to feed that lot.

[FUDGEY]

Currently between £30 and £40 a week mate. I dont drink any more and I would spend twice that amount on a Saturday night out and Ive stopped smoking for over 3 months which was costing me £70 a week so its all worth it IMO.