oh! Jays!

 

Friday 25th Feb.
The forecast was excellent but what to do with a lovely day? I was torn in several directions most of them in East Lothian. Mary was not available so I had to make my own fun. Then a last minute obligation to go past my mum's place meant I was heading West. That made me choose Cammo, a little bit further West but at least I'd be a third of the way there. I followed the cyclepath to Barnton and down to the Almond. I went downstream to look for dippers, kingfishers and goosanders. Last visit there were 4 or 5 dippers between Dowies Mill Lane and the Salvesen Steps. This time there were zero. Which was exactly the same numbers of kingfishers and goosanders. I cycled huffily back to Cramond Brig most unimpressed and trying not to let it colour the day. 

the Almond at Cramond Brig

I crossed the dual carriageway and cycled narrow paths through the houses to Cammo Estate. It is a lovely area of parkland with a few different areas, from open fields, to swampland, to wooded trails and a ruined walled garden, overgrown and ivy-ed. First stop is almost always the curling pond, a hundred yard length of river that seems more like a pond; disjointed from any source or follow through. People have been feeding birds here for years and if you put out food, lots of the usual suspects; great tits, coal tits, robins and chaffinches appear. (And squirrels and crows.) However also relative urban rarities nuthatches appear here regularly and seem to be growing in numbers. They were top of my wish list and I was not disappointed. The poor results at the Almond were completely forgotten as I turned up to the feeding area which was already buzzing with small birds including loads of nuthatches. All due to a dogwalker who was piling shovelfuls of shop-bought birdseed onto the recognised feeding trees. There are several areas all in the vicinity, of tree stumps and horizontal growing trunks that people use to place food. I chatted to the woman who was troweling on buckets of the stuff. She seemed keen on birds but wasn't taking photos and soon moved on with her 2 dogs. 

masked bandit - nuthatch

I was left taking photos of the nuthatches without even having to open my 2 small bags of sunflower seeds and chopped-small homemade bread. The downside of these areas is the light isn't great - they are a bit hidden away under trees and partially gloomy, even in sunlight. However it was a good start. I asked the dog lady before she headed off if there were any exotic species to look out for and she mentioned the woodpecker and sparrowhawk and while standing near me she suddenly looked serious and said kingfisher! which had briefly appeared and flown up into the cover of a large spreading yew tree at the end of the pond. There was at least one other sighting of the kingfisher that day but I neither saw it nor got any photos. I was too busy being distracted by the birds that were more available, a much better investment of time and energy. (I have spent too many dull minutes standing in the botanics waiting for a kf to appear and it is almost always time wasted.)(Talking of kingfishers I saw one while out the following day on the Water of Leith and managed to get within 30 yards while it swallowed down a fish. In perfect view. But I only had my TZ35 because I was out doing the Saturday Torture. And the photos were SHIT!) 

Then a jay appeared! I had seen one here on 16th Feb last year which landed in a tree nearby but flown off after I tried to get closer for a photo. But this one came right over to the feeding tree and was so close that I fumbled the shot in my excitement. Five minutes later 2 of them appeared at the other tree and I got the shot below. This was the best jay photo (by miles) I'd ever got: they are very shy birds. Even the RSPB site says Although they are the most colourful of the crow family, jays are actually quite difficult to see. They are shy woodland birds, rarely moving far from cover.

unexpected treat

shouty chaffinch

great tit

Another woman appeared. This one had a long lens camera and large bags of birdseed. She put some out near to where I was and we said hello. She moved round to the other side of the pond and stood fairly still in the same spot. I was busy taking photos but every time I looked over to where she was just visible through the undergrowth there seemed to be birds flocking there. And they looked an awful lot like jays. I tried to contain my envy but it was spilling out and looking a bit ugly. 'Wait until she has gone,' I kept telling myself, 'and then go over and see what happens.' I looked over again and it seemed she was almost hand feeding them. Arrrgghhh I could contain my FOMO no longer. I've got to go over there and see this.

JayLady

I packed up and pushed my bike round the end of the water and was about to proceed when I saw the JayLady coming back out the brambly path. We got speaking and she said she had been feeding the jays for a while now at that spot and if you stood still they would come close enough to photograph. She denied she had been hand feeding them. But being a bit further away from the main path it meant there were fewer distractions and interruptions from all the inconsiderate dog walkers and squawking kids. She seemed to do this as a destresser and posted on Instagram rather than facebook. After a friendly chat she left and I pushed through the scrub trying to see where to place bait. It was not as obvious as the first spot. Although there were some flat trunks on the ground I put seeds and bread on any surface that looked likely. Then stood back. And waited.

Very soon - none of this wait for a hour while remaining motionless thankfully - a couple of birds appeared. The situation wasn't ideal - I was shooting into the sun. However I thought it best to stand where I'd seen the woman stand. I placed food in different spots and although the jays flew off as soon as I moved, they would return 5 or 10 minutes later and meanwhile there were lots of nuthatches, (coal tits and robins) to photograph. They were coming to foodstashes just feet away and although they are fast moving you can occasionally catch them pausing for thought or to check you aren't rushing them. It is a rare day when nuthatches aren't the top specimen and you casually disregard them sitting an arms length away for something else better. 

jay with my homemade bread - the seal of approval!

just yards away

They are brilliant birds. And due to being hard to see and photograph, have even more cachet. Their light brown beigy colour is very good camouflage against similar coloured trees and that patch of iridescent blue gives them a real wow factor. But I think it is their eyes that make them special. They have very vivid almost human-like eyes with a painted eyebrow that gives them real character. Unfortunately I didn't get any decent shots of them flying - they look even more impressive, and swoop through the trees at speed. There would be no sign of any in the clearing I was standing on the edge of, and then suddenly 2 or 3 would swoop in at great speed and land on a branch I had baited. Take some seeds and hop off. They were constantly vigilant always watching me. And if I tried to move to get a better angle of shot they would likely fly off. And yet they also seemed happy to come quite close for food. JayLady had obviously been doing a great job of getting them accustomed to human proximity. I was in birdy heaven!

I'll steer you work the pedals

It was pleasant but cool weather so I didn't hang around all day. In fact it was quite a short visit and after a quick detour past another spot where is a bird feeder and that crazy tree in the field I headed home. I was tempted to go past Warriston as it wasn't even 3pm and the skies were still blue. But I went home to inspect and tweak the photos. You never really know what you've got till you see it on the big monitor. I was pleased to have plenty of decent photos but when Sunday also promised to be even better weather I returned for another session. Next blog episode! (More of the same.)

the canal or curling pond