jay is for january

01-01-24

Superb weather was forecast for the first of Jan. But what to do with it? Local public transport was not available so that meant walk, run or bike. I opted for a bike ride to Cammo and hoped that everyone on the west side of Edinburgh didn't decide to do the same. (Especially dog walkers). Fingers crossed, hopped onto the bike and just before 11am I arrived at the curling pond. Before I even got the bread, sunflower seeds, peanuts and suet pellets out, the small birds were welcoming me; flying and landing close enough to touch as I got my duvet jacket out (fourth layer) and swapped cycling gloves for 2 pairs camera gloves. I put a woolly hat over the buff and thin cap I was wearing. I wasn't cold yet but knew standing in the shadows would get cold fast. The enthusiastic welcome from the birds was terrific and a great omen. The light wasn't great - the feeding place I visit is among and under trees and the sun struggles to get high enough in Winter to do anything more than cast a distressed sunfart through the branches of the trees opposite. However, being a cloudless day there was just about enough reflected light to get the shutter speeds into three digits.

blue tit

1/125th of a second - a bit drab but okay

papillomavirus on legs

The chaffinch here has papillomavirus resulting in leg lesions. "Leg lesions usually only occur in a small proportion of chaffinches in a flock, with individual birds commonly affected. They are not a frequent cause of death but may compromise the welfare of affected birds: there is no evidence that they pose a conservation threat." Garden Wildlife Health.

I have seen other chaffinches here similarly affected on previous visits but there were others on this occasion who were unaffected. Also the bird above looked very chipper and healthy apart from the legs.

great tit

blackbird

robin

coal tit

The coal tits were among the most frequent visitors but they are not in many photos as they would do such a speedy smash-and-grab visit that they mostly eluded the photographer. I really enjoy seeing them as it is hard to believe such a tiny spit-and-fluff ball can survive Winter nights in the woods.

Nuthatches are one of the main reasons I cycle across town to Cammo. There are loads about and they quickly make an appearance in good numbers, appreciating the handouts. They are a big fan of the peanuts and several spent moments trying to work out how they could carry more than one at a time in their beaks. They have superb beaks for bashing into tree-bark like mini-woodpeckers and can carry four or more sunflower hearts, but I don't think I saw any overcome the peanut problem.  

great tit

grey squirrel

The squirrels were abundant today. I suspect they are out and about foraging on milder, brighter Winter days. They all looked fat and furry like they had been stoking up on Autumn's larder in preparation for a hard Winter. They tend to come higher than most of the garden birds in the pecking order and I even saw one goose a large crow it felt had trespassed on squirrel feeding territory. I have never seen a crow and squirrel come to blows and don't think it would benefit either, which is probably why they coexist peacefully. However they, the squirrels, didn't have any qualms moving in on the bird food today despite my gently coaxing them off now and again. I would walk close to the horizontal tree bough I put food on and they would retreat. Or, like the one above, stand their ground and give me a McEnroe look that says "aww man, you cannot be serious?" 

There was another occasion when one had its head and shoulders buried into the top of the tree stump. I put food in there to encourage the nuthatches et al to stand atop the spikes as it makes something of a visual plinth. I wandered over to the squirrel and gently touched its back as if to say hey mister, you forgetting to be vigilant or what? It jumped and ran down the stump but stopped at the bottom as if to say oh it's only you, you had me worried for a second there.

sitting on a visual plinth

incidental scenery

After about an hour of fun on the North side of the pond I pushed my bike over to the other side. I was going in search of jays, those elusive birds I have managed to photo here on previous occasions. The trouble is they are inscrutable and keep themselves to themselves. They have been known to show up here, but are by no means guaranteed on every occasion. I think it has been 2 or 3 visits since they last showed up. (Last trip I just heard then saw one individual high in a tree.) While I was feeding the smaller birds one (and maybe another or the same one twice) was sneaking about in the background. I went off in search but it disappeared into the trees. They are super smart about watching humans without being watched themselves and seem to know how to select a perch that puts another tree directly between you and them. They almost always resist any kind of approach and (I have found) the only recipe for success is to put food out and let them approach you. 

being checked out from a distance

So I went over to the South side of the pond into the trees where I had seen them before. I put several types of food out in many places, so that even if they didn't turn up hopefully the rest of the locals would and keep me entertained while I waited. The magpies and squirrels as well as the nuthatches, all thought this was a great idea and were on to it very quickly. Last time I baited the surroundings here nothing came out to enjoy it - which shows the difference between the end of November (before the temps dropped properly) and the start of January, when everyone has had a good reminder of what Winter can be like to get through. 

Anyway, plenty wildlife and only an occasional shadowy hint of the mystical jays. Every time a magpie flew through the frame I checked to see if it was a jay. Mostly not. But there were flashes of distant jay and I thought they are watching and waiting and could drop in at any time. Sure enough while the rest of the woodland creatures demolished the jay-food one flew onto a tree in the clearing. It sat for a while observing. They are either just total scaredy cats or use their intelligence to properly get a feel for the situation before dropping down to the food. They also appear to have great eyesight and even though I am checking them out using huge magnification, I can see them looking right back at me aware I am a potential predator setting a trap. Their weirdly human eyes also add to the myth they are somehow special; more than just another common or garden bird.

There are a couple of branches horizontally strung up between trees. The birds seem to enjoy this (although the nuthatches are nearly as happy on grounded branches as in the trees) so I try to balance handfuls of seeds and nuts on them. A couple of fallen boughs about 20 yards away are mainly keeping the squirrels and corvids happy. Some horizontal branches 30 yards to my left mark a third spot. It is fun trying to keep an eye on 3 or 4 places and also half an eye on the nearby trees where the ghostly jays flit. Their beigey warm pink-grey body colour is unique in the crow family and yet perfectly camouflages them as they move about. That electric flash of blue on their wings is a prize worth the wait.

I have been standing waiting for ever but when I turn around to check the baited area to the left there are 2 jays there. I already saw what looked like one chasing another. I don't know enough about them to know whether you can tell males from females. My guess would be two males jockeying for rank or a male advancing towards a less-than-welcoming female. Are these then the same two, now at peace because of the food? I have no idea. I am concentrating on not making a noise as I try to get into a position that gives me a better line towards them. If I stand on a snapping twig they will fly off. There are sticks and grass stems in the line of sight but the long lens blurs them out mostly, while pulling the birds into sharp focus which is good. I hold my breath as they dot about and then leave without eating that much. How can they not be hungry? I try to see what they favour - nuts, seeds or bread? I was leaving the house this morning when I realised I'd forgotten the acorns I'd collected especially with them in mind, their favourites allegedly. Now I'm wishing I'd taken the time to run back upstairs. Would they have gone nuts for out-of-season haycorns? We'll have wait for next visit.

where are my acorns?

Out of the corner of my eye I saw something small flying about the riverside vegetation. I wasn't sure if it was a wren but since it was different to all I'd seen today so far I tried to home in and get a photo. I quickly realised what it was when I saw its titular gold crest. These are quite high tariff little delights but also quite a pain in the arse, in that they live on a different timescale and zoom about in fast-forward. Every time I got the bird in the frame it had already disappeared. I took a couple of dozen shots and the nearest I got were the three second rate record shots below. It moved like a whirlwind up and down the shrubbery looking for bugs and beasties under leaves and on stems. A small clockwork dynamo zipping about and leaving me dizzy. It wasn't trying to evade me particularly just going about its day's work at too fast a pace to keep up with. When it flew up high into the neighbouring conifers I went back to the nuthatches and robins with relief.

goldcrest

showing its gold crest
(and humorously downturned frown!)

this could've been a winning shot if only it hadn't moved!

striking a pose for the camera

on a branch baited for the jays

I was standing near-to-motionless for such an age that other birds were beginning to land on me. Okay I exaggerate. This treecreeper landed near and spent a long time ascending this gnarly trunk in dappled sunlight. It was almost too well camouflaged to get a decent photo of. 

I could see this jay watching me from a perch high enough to be in sunlight. I had been freezing in the shade all afternoon and this was the last straw. I decided to stalk it and began to stealthily barge through the undergrowth. It watched me approach and changed position to higher up. Then just as I was finding a line through the branches and twigs, it flew off into the invisible upper reaches of a conifer. Okay, thanks and goodnight, I'm done. I think about halfway on the cycle home I began to thaw out. I spent an hour on one side of the river then 2 at the jays, plus an hour cycle either direction. I took the non scenic way home; not along the Almond but up the main road to Barnton and then back via my old school grounds onto the cyclepath. 

exact fit

I was thinking I should have left earlier to catch the last of the light in Inverleith Park where I'd noticed redwings when belting out hill reps near the statue in the centre with Coach Alan on Friday. Right in the middle at that uncarved lump of rock that passes for I don't know what. Very modern looking art for quite a long time ago. Anyway not the statue but the holly bushes in a circle round the crossroads there. They have tons of berries and a resident fanclub of redwings who descend from the higher trees next door, to feast (not unlike waxwings) at regular intervals on the berries. Being such a busy place (near constant stream of pram pushers, dog walkers, sports fans and meanderthals,) they are becoming superbly oblivious to the passing human traffic. Normally they are unreasonably flighty. One hopped 3m or less from Alan and I as we stood catching our respective breaths. (From running, not proximity of bird you understand.) Must come back with a camera was my thinking.

To my surprise and pleasure there were some still about, though the light was fading quickly as I propped my bike up against the abstract statue. Its like they got the stone there to carve a figure but ran out of funding or the sculptor croaked. I was concerned I had not brought a padlock as I wandered 30 yards behind the berried bushes looking for redwings, keeping half an eye on my unchained bike. Luckily Comely Bank and Stockbridge are less crime dense areas than many but I didn't want to have to chase down an opportunist thief while carrying a camera that cost WAY more than my bike. 

there goes the light

16miles, 5hrs

an excellent start to the year!