cammo

 

08-01-25 January starts with a Jay.
The forecast said it would be good so I caught a bus to Cammo Estate. Still a bit frosty to cycle and I'd have to take a change of clothes. And cycle home. To hell with that, so I caught a bus. The place was looking great and being a weekday wasn't too busy. There was another dude there and he had a camera and looked like a birder. We chatted. I was at the canal bit and even before I had put food out there was a great tit and a nuthatch circling and waiting to pounce. The cold weather cuts out any messing about and false modesty. I had been comparing notes with the guy who was hoping to see nuthatches. I said I'd be surprised if we don't see some immediately the food goes out. He seemed not to have thought about bringing bird-food and the benefit it might have. I mean you can rely on charisma or you can take bird-food. I find the latter works better. We stood a little back as the message went out and a variety of small birds appeared from nowhere. It was just great.

While we were taking photos the dude noticed a jay or 2 that were hanging about just outside our circle of influence. They were curious but too shy to approach. I thought this was an excellent sign. I said (after about 15mins of photographing the nuthatches, robins and great tits) that I was going over to the South side of the canal to bait the logs for jays and he was welcome to come along. I wasn't unhappy he didn't bother as one human fewer is one deterrent fewer. However I was sorry he didn't get to see just how quickly things kicked off. 

nuthatch

frosty

a curious jay peeks through the branches
but keeps its distance

I was very pleased with this dunnock portrait 
as there were not many about and mostly they prefer the ground

blue tit catching the low Winter sun

great tit

squirrel

Even before I put out food in the Jay area - the jayrea - I saw
a couple of them perched in the trees over the way. 

they were watching with interest

When I go there I bait about six horizontal tree trunks at different distances from me with seeds, peanuts and bread. The bread is my own homemade wholemeal with seeds. Everyone loves peanuts although the smaller birds prefer seeds. The seeds on this occasion were sunflower seeds, I normally take sunflower hearts but Tesco didn't have them last shop.

I hadn't even finished putting out stuff and was still moving about, when I turned to see 2 jays on the largest of the tree trunks, moving along them towards me. They were probably only about 10 or 12 metres away and I almost froze - not sure to let them get stuck into the food or just raise my camera and risk scaring them off. 

I did the latter and they continued to check out what I'd put down. It wasn't a great vantage point though and I couldn't move to where I prefer to stand until they took some peanuts and flew off. It is usually about 15 to 30 minutes after putting out food that they eventually approach, and only then, with caution, when they are sure it is safe. The cold weather was certainly speeding up the interview process!

all hail to the peanut bringer!

In no time the squirrels realised there was free food on the go. And the nuthatches, great tits and coal tits. Not so many robins on this side of the river, and no sign of any chaffinches. The coal tits were moving so swiftly I found it far harder to get photos of them than the jays. If the coal tits slowed down they got hassled by the nuthatches who were making claims to the piles of sunflower seeds and would take them off to bury into tree bark and the broken ends of branches presumably to return to later. Strangely the squirrels were not squirrelling stuff away. They just sat and gorged themselves. More and more joined the party and there had to be nearly a dozen at times; about half of them within a few metres of myself. There was occasional bickering but most were reasonably well behaved.

The jays returned at regular intervals. Sometimes they would disappear for 20minutes and I began to doubt they would return. Then I'd see one, a distant silhouette way behind the trees, perched high and watching everything going on. Then they would swoop down and collect as much as possible before departing.

Between visits I'd bait a number of areas next to where I was standing. There are a couple of horizontal branches around eye level and it is just possible to balance a small handful of seeds there for the nuthatches and tits who enjoy an aerial perch. The seeds fall onto the ground as the birds arrive and the squirrels would sit below collecting the knock-offs. The nuthatches were superfast and, noticing I was superslow, thought nothing of coming right up to within a metre of my feet. A robin eventually turned up and was equally unafraid. It began to feel a little like a Disney movie when lots of the critters gathered round almost hopping between my feet, and then the jays appeared again. I was in heaven, although it was a really cold day to be standing, doing next-to-nothing, blowing on my hands. I had double layers all over - running tights under trousers, 2 pairs of gloves, a buff round my ears and my warmest hat over the top. And the thrill of the chase kept the cold at bay. I lasted about 2hrs45 until the light went.

This jay (above) was ridiculously close. Afterwards, I roughly measured the distance from where I was standing in plain sight to where the jay was and it couldn't have been more than 8metres. It hopped happily down the tree trunk taking peanuts I'd put out for the nuthatches. I video-ed it and had to pull the zoom in to 200mm to get it all in the frame. I did consider pulling my cammo ponch over my head to see if things got even closer but I suspect it wasn't necessary. I have never used it yet.

impossible to discourage the magpies, unfortunately

choosing my homemade bread over the peanuts and seeds!
I was so flattered.

on the aerial perch

on the ground next to my feet

The squirrels were comical. One was climbing the tree right beside me. I could tell it had long since stopped regarding me as a potential predator. It came round my side and was right at my eyelevel. I said hello and it ran off before I could take a bite!

I had balanced food on several horizontal branches.
I had to keep recharging them as the magpies and squirrels raided them.

although they seem an unusual colour
they blend in with a woodland scene perfectly

this squirrel, sat on a hummock, was too good not to photo

jay, full to bursting

this nuthatch and squirrel were both eyeing up the same stash

nearly catching the sunlight but not quite!

waiting for that pesky squirrel to move
so it can get at the goodies

not many blackbirds about

great shot of a coal tit, if only it had turned around!

robin showing how to pose properly for the camera

nearly!

blue tit

finally - a coal tit facing me

great tit

And that was about that. It began to get darker and I was beginning to feel the cold. I'd only taken a sports bar, too lazy to make sandwiches. The birds were better fed than I was, but I felt hugely satisfied. I'd gone along hoping to see nuthatches and jays and got more shots than I thought possible. I returned home with 1093 (stills and videos combined) and whittled them down to about 100 here. It remains the only place I know where there is a really good chance of shooting jays, although Morton Lochs is pretty good too, on the right day. And it has red squirrels as a bonus. But it is a bit of a hike and a train ride away. Although a bike on the train takes the hardship out of the 20miles on foot. That might be a near future project as those reds are very cute.

It was such a satisfying day I didn't even have much of a walk around the rest of the estate or check out what sort of a mess they have left the walled garden in, following its refurb. I just walked back the way I'd come, to the main road. I intended to go to the bus stop at the old Barnton roundabout to catch one of the Cramond buses. I was overtaken by three along the main road which was harsh, but I felt might be the necessary karmic payback for such an immensely rewarding day. However a fourth one arrived before I'd waited 5 minutes. There is a regular stream of Fife Stagecoaches coming into town and they do a decent job of delivering folk to the bus station for free if you flash your Saltire card. I walked home from there thinking about all of the photos I'd got and, for once, was pretty pleased!

video clips - click twice