cammo time

 

3rd January. One of my favourite ways to pass a sunny Winter's day is to head West to Cammo. At this time of the year the garden birds, especially nuthatches, are very pleased to see anyone carrying a bag of birdfood. They are used to being fed at certain spots and arrive in the surrounding trees before you even open the foodbag. And if you are super lucky you might get to see a jay or two. In these days of dwindling species counts and fewer birds about, it is heartening to go somewhere there doesn't appear to be any shortage.

bullfinch - terrible photo but only pic of one all day
so the best bullfinch photo today!

Forecast seemed watertight on the 3rd so I got one bus to Princes St where I'd catch the 43 to Barnton. I was standing at the stop and it said on the electronic board something like 14 minutes wait for the 43, which was a bore. Just then a Stagecoach to Fife pulled in and stopped. I was thinking to myself I bet it goes out past Barnton, so asked the driver. Bingo! And he also accepted Saltire (over 60) cards. I congratulated myself on quick thinking and getting out to Cammo ahead of schedule. 

I think it was heading towards midday as I approached the Estate. One reason; I am not an early bird. But also I noted on previous visits that at his time of the year the light doesn't hit the jay area (Jarea?) until late morning. No point in getting there too early. But first I went to the other side of the curling pond.

nuthatch

Caroline (of Lothian Birdwatch fame) was already there although I didn't recognise her (until afterwards) and she didn't recognise me - both of us being wrapped up well in warm gear. She was busy taking photos and I didn't want to elbow in on her stance. I asked if she wasn't putting out food and she said the less you put out, the longer the birds stay hunting for it. I only realised from the photos I took there was a birdseed mix out. Had I recognised Caroline I would have said hello and been more chatty. As it was, I decided not to spoil her concentration and instead go over to the other side of the pond / river which btw was frozen solid. No need to mention it was bitterly cold and I was glad of all the layers and hats (buff under woolly hat) and gloves (x 2) I was wearing. At least there wasn't too much breeze between the trees.

great tit

Caroline

blackbird

There are a few spots (horizontal branches) I like to bait with several types of birdsnack. As well as the usual stuff, sunflower hearts and peanuts, I had bought (at great expense!) hazelnuts. I also had (chopped-small) bread. It is homemade bread I make for myself with pumpkin seeds in it. Much healthier than shop-bought stuff and full of seeds and oats and bits from 3 or 4 types of interesting mostly wholemeal flour I combine to make really tasty bread.

I had also collected acorns back in the Autumn at Saltoun Wood where there was an astonishing amount on all the oak trees, a bumper year. Jays are supposed to love acorns. I collected some in the past but they mouldered in the polythene bag I had them in. This time I left the poly bag open on a windowsill, breathing, and regularly turned the contents to try to avoid mould. It worked and I was curious to see if the jays would go nuts over these out-of-season treats.

A jay appeared much more readily than usual. Normally they scout about keeping an eye on things and only after a while approach the food, and with great caution. Perhaps the really cold weather was making them less cautious but one was down on the foodstuffs within minutes and I wasn't really finished putting stuff out and ready to take photos. I had just watched Caroline leave and had she been 5 minutes later I'd have called her over. (She still produced jay photos on Lothian Birdwatch that evening and lots beside, so I suspect she had been there since sun-up and was going home (or to the next venue) around 12.30.)

nuthatch

a cheeky peek

puffa jacket robin
they fluff up their feathers to trap warm air

It was very cold just standing around waiting. There were plenty distractions though. Jays were the primary targets but I'd also baited some branches nearby with sunflower seeds and nuts for the nuthatches, robins and great tits. They are all fast and fearless and will land a couple of metres away. (And keep a photographer busy while the jays wait half an hour before reappearing.)

Also about 8m away, a couple of fallen trunks on which I put seeds, bread, nuts and - oh I nearly forgot - monkeynuts; (peanuts still in their figure-of-8 shells.) I always try to note who likes what, and was curious to see (last year) the nuthatches are more keen on sunflower seeds (the green-black shell that contains sunflower hearts,) than the hearts. Possibly because they stash them (like squirrels and crows) for later, in the ends of broken branches, small cracks in treebark and rooty gaps. Maybe the unopened seeds last longer. 

The monkeynuts all disappeared fairly quickly and I think it was the magpies. The stash on the large fallen trunks was mainly for the squirrels and magpies - otherwise they'd go raid the stuff over there which was bait for the jays. Of course it doesn't all work out neatly like that and once the squirrels find the hazelnuts are mostly over there and keep reappearing if you eat the first lot, then there's not much you can do. (Not as many pesky squirrels as last year when there may have been 12~16)

jay eating PB's bread

Also bread. I know.

I know Karens* everywhere will tell you that bread be the death of swans (and all birds) and that you should NEVER NEVER feed it to them. Thing is the birds never got the memo. I asked the birds what they thought and they couldn't really answer because their beaks were full of bread. In fact I was somewhat disappointed after all my acorn collecting that the jays rated acorns somewhat below their two top food choices; hazelnuts and PB's homemade bread! (My heart soared with pride!) If the birds stop eating it, I'll stop putting it out. (I rarely take more than a slice or 2 sawn with a bread knife into small pieces. 

To be fair a lot of the acorns felt a bit hollow like they had dried out and were not the nutritional powerhouses they had been 3 or 4 months ago. I'd notice a jay pick one up but then discard it. (Video below at 41~50s) No fools them. Especially when there were Tesco's (£3.80) hazelnuts and other goodies about the place. (The bag I carried with birdfood was actually larger and heavier than the bag in which I had my own packed lunch.)

*I apologise unreservedly to all Karens for the abuse of their name in what is a cheap line of attempted humour. I won't do it again.

great tit

nuthatch

A wee gang of LTTs flew through but wouldn't hold still for (decent) pics.
I also saw a goldcrest a couple of times, but ditto.

I was there for 2 hrs before retreating when the light went (but the cold stayed.) The jays appeared intermittently, sometimes posing quite well, other times disappearing back into the woods without a photo opportunity. Oddly they'd sometimes come over quite close as if to get a look at me or assess me. (As photo below.) They are masters at landing in a tree at a point where branches between them and myself obscure them. It happens often enough to know it is deliberate and shows great command of navigation, line-of-sight angles and perception. They will then peep out from behind whatever object they have put between us. Very cunning. 

Meanwhile in the moments between jays I'd photograph the small birds that were coming and going all around, particularly the nuthatches which I don't see regularly, outwith Cammo. There have been some at Warriston but not for a couple of years. They are great birds and one of the few fiesty enough to take no nonsense from aggressively territorial robins. Robins will try to bully and see off dunnocks, tits and other robins when they get possessive about food put out for everyone. Nuthatches seem to know they have bigger more powerful beaks and claws and very few robins dare try their antics on nuthatches. Although the nuthatches will chase each other about a bit, they seem more tolerant than the worst robins. They are also happy to take food from a branch 2m away (or closer). Which is very helpful, especially in less than perfect light. They are big fans of peanuts, hazlenuts and sunflower seeds/hearts.

great tit

bread being taken in preference to acorns!

be still my beating heart!

blue tit

I was surprised to witness the indifference of jay and crow
to each other as if they knew they were cousins

I saw a singular jay defer to several magpies letting them push in ahead of itself and (the jay) flying off when they challenged it. I hadn't thought of jays being lower in the pecking order and wondered if it was about team magpie arriving with confidence in greater numbers.

frame extracted from video
a rare moment with 2 jays in same picture

there go the hazelnuts!

The 2 other larger dogs that were with this one ^ rampaged through on the way past and then on the way back, all 3 off the lead, turning the place over and knocking carefully placed food off branches. Really annoying. Of course they smell food and aren't well enough trained to come to heel when called, so just proceed to scatter birds within a hundred yards before eventually leaving the place in turmoil. One of the hazards of going to Cammo at the weekend. Kind of spoils the tranquility. Probably happened four times in 2 hrs.

I hadn't realised that you can see the famous blue flashes when the jays fly
until I took this photo just as one took off 

there go the hazelnuts again!

but I've got blue flashes on my wings too!

blue tit

Oi, leave my nuts alone!
(catchphrase supplied by Dod McM!)

blue tit

I love the colours and shapes of this unusual angle

a jay checking out the squirrels-and-crows stash
on the fallen trunks

dunnock

I was speaking to a wildlife aware English couple in Gullane just the other day who were saying that down South near them, chaffinches had had a huge decline and nearly disappeared. Although I see them regularly in Warriston I didn't see any at Cammo. A few years ago there had been some around and noteably with scaly foot. However chaffinch papillomavirus (and mite infestations) are probably not the cause of decline and disappearance. Chaffinches (and greenfinches) are also prone to Trichomonosis, which first emerged in British finches in 2005, and is more likely to account for local declines.

Beginning to suffer from the cold and feeling I had taken the best photos of the day (the sun was now going down below the trees) I began to pack up, with a view to leaving. As if realising, the jay came back for a final forage and I put my bag down again. It flew around the place landing in various spots, useful and obscured. It then went over to the water and hopped around the edge where it was able to get a drink where the ice wasn't fully solid. It found a walnut someone had left. (I wasn't carrying walnuts) and played with it on the ice. I hastily shot some stills.

video (click twice) - note robin fly-through at 1.11
soundtrack: Orbital Remnants by Rubric

jay on ice with walnut

Okay, home-time. It was only around 2pm but the woods were getting too dingy for photos. The day was still bright enough outwith them and I hoped there wouldn't be long to wait at the Barnton junction (formerly roundabout) bus stop. Another bus user (and wildlife enthusiast) arrived and we got talking about what I'd been up to and what he had seen locally. Pleasant as this was it foiled my plans to eat my packed lunch at the back of the bus when it came (another Stagecoach, hurray!) and I had to save it for home. VERY hungry by then. 

A great day out, although Baltic, and nice to see one of the local wagtails high on a tenement as I walked from the bus station down Leith Walk.