best part of the day: 2025

30th Jan. An excellent day at the bird hide at Bavelaw.

I had seen several posts on Lothian Birdwatch facebook group with various photos of bramblings, nuthatches, woodpeckers, a jay and a water rail. I wasn't that bothered about the last 2 as Cammo provides regular interactions with jays. Maybe my opinion of water rails will change once I see one but so far they seem like dunnock-coloured moorhens who don't like photographers. I'm not that bothered about them either. However I had never seen bramblings (above) and they looked really attractive. But how to get there?!

The thought of cycling more than an hour in Baltic conditions, then having to change out of damp clothes was enough to get me to opt for the bus. Or rather a bus up to Waterloo Place and then the 44 heading West to the terminal at Balerno. (All free of cost for oldies!) I had intended to do the early bird thing and get there crack of dawn, however the best laid plans and all that. The forecast was excellent all day and there was no real need to get up early which was exactly the excuse I needed. I did make sandwiches and pack my bag the night before but failed to get up when the alarm went off. I eventually got off the 44 around 11.40 which left just 25 minutes of hiking up the hill to the Hide. The road is pavementless and therefore not ideal but there wasn't much traffic and it was a lovely day for it.

blue tit singing about how special a day it was

You go up to the Threipmuir Reservoir car park then keep on as if going up Beech Avenue into the Pentlands, however just before the avenue starts uphill you take a right at the gate and follow it two hundred yards to a small shed; the Hide. There was a warm welcome from a couple of goldfinches at the fence who flew just ahead of me. I already had the camera out and was carrying it clipped into my harness in case anything of note appeared. Goldfinches were the most numerous bird of the day so this was very apt. Dozens of them in the trees surrounding the water and landing on the feeders at the hide.

warm welcome from a pair of goldfinches
who sat very nicely for photos!

goldie looking pair on the fence along to the hide

I entered the hide with slight trepidation. I had wondered if the great forecast (and Lothian Birdwatch advertisements) would result in there being a queue out the door. Not quite, but I was never alone for the next couple of hours. There were several people when I arrived although it thinned down to just four of us then later three. There was little to nothing out on the water - some too distant mallards and tufties, nothing particularly worth a photo. So mainly my attention was out the right hand side looking at about a dozen feeders that were filled with fatballs and sunflower hearts. In attendance were goldfinches, blue tits, chaffinches, coal tits, reed buntings, siskins, a few nuthatches and bramblings. The latter being the least bold - they would hang back until a group of chaffinches and goldfinches were gathered on the boardwalk and then gingerly they'd appear. There was also a solitary female woodpecker and an occasional treecreeper. With passing long-tailed tits and a few great tits. Quite a crowd of small birds and always something to point the camera at.
(Dividing my total number of images by minutes spent there gives and average of about one photo taken every 8 seconds for the best part of 2 hours; never a dull moment!)

reed bunting

coal tit

nuthatch

coal tit

siskin

I presume f and m siskins

blue tit

goldfinch

brambling

siskin, chaffinches, brambling

brambling

nuthatch

brambling - a very pretty bird

reed bunting

passing long-tailed tits

treecreeper

great spotted woodpecker (f)

the woodpecker regularly returned to these fatballs

like a fish out of water - woodpecker on flat surface
drawn down from its usual tree (and fat balls) by peanuts

goldfinches

finches!

siskin

brambling

the goldfinches were excellent for sitting nicely
on nearby branches to have their pics taken

of course there were plenty inducements

the nuthatches also enjoyed the peanuts

The hide provides much of the food that ends up in the feeders, which is really generous of whoever supplies it. I supplemented this with the peanuts I'd brought along - I wasn't sure if there would be food provided or empty feeders so I took along sunflower seeds, bread and peanuts. I had hoped to lure the jay down with peanuts but either it wasn't in the area or the hide was too busy with people.

I did wonder how strict the etiquette might be - I am not used to visiting wildlife with other people and tend to do this sort of thing solo or just with Mary. And so I wondered if there might be unwritten rules like turning one's camera to silent mode (nope), whispering rather than talking normally (nope) or not bragging about rare and spectacular sightings and where you could see them easily (sadly not!) Plenty of all of that going on although I mostly sat quietly wondering if I should turn my camera to silent mode. It is not as noisy as a full frame and nobody else seemed to be concerned about being particularly quiet including the birds who flew within a couple of metres and sat on branches untroubled by the gentle clicking of my camera. The humans were generally good company and not too noisy!

The weather remained about as good as it gets - an occasional cloud would pass over the sun but moments later the light would return and I'd take more photos. After a while I realised I was only taking duplicates and felt it was time to give up my seat to someone else. The basic wooden benches warm up after you have been there some time! I also wanted to do a quick once around the Red Moss boardwalk as someone had reported seeing redpolls there and I wanted to go while there was still plenty light about. I was stoked to have seen and photo-ed the bramblings and plenty of the other delights - siskins, finches and nuthatches. The awol water rail was no big deal and I can regularly find jays at Cammo.

Since I only had so long to process nearly a thousand photos before heading North for the weekend, I decided to head off in plently time to check out Red Moss (alas no redpolls or indeed any birds whatsoever, but some beautiful lichen) then walk back down to the bus stop and get home in time to pack for the weekend and process the day's pics. I was pleased with the results which were largely so good due to the light and choosing the right day to visit.