creatures of habit

 

12-01-26  I was slow out the blocks for this jaunt to Bavelaw bird hide in the foothills of the Pentlands. I slept in slightly, having packed my sandwiches and backpack full of birdfood the night before in prep for an early start. (Birdfood not required as Eleanor H fills them regularly. Big thanks to her as it is this that keeps the place hoaching with birds.) Then snoozed longer than planned. Kicking myself, I hurried out onto Leith Walk where my plans (thanks Lothian Buses route planner) were to catch a tram to Atholl Cres then swap to the number 44 and onwards to Balerno terminus.

Only when I got to the Walk there was no sign of the next tram and the number 7 was fast approaching the bus stop. My instincts (keen to be moving) said catch the no.7 to Leith Street and then the 44 from Waterloo Place. I jumped onboard, and tried to ignore the tram overtaking the number 7 about 2 stops later (where did that come from?) then jogged the 100 yards uphill at Leith Street. There were no electronic updates at the stop to let me know when the next 44 arrived but one came round the corner less than 30seconds later and I said a prayer of thanks to bus-timetable jesus.

About fifty minutes later I got off at the terminus and jog/walked up the mile to Red Moss car park and then another half to the hide on the edge of the loch there. The furthest West part of Threipmuir Reservoir which is known as Bavelaw Marsh but isn't marked on google maps. On the day it was half covered with ice on which swans were standing.

geese flying overhead

the long climb up Beech Avenue
the path to the hide turns right at the fence (thankfully!)

I had visited this hide last year around the same time because I'd seen folk posting photos of bramblings, an attractive small bird I'd never seen. Reading my blog more closely from last year (only after I'd been there this year) and it is a strikingly similar story: packing sandwiches the night before and then sleeping in, before catching the 44 from Waterloo Place. We really are creatures of habit. 

siskin on boardwalk

On the approach to the hide there was cheeping and peeping but not the same amount of birds welcoming as last year. The weather was not quite set as fair but given the forecast nosedived for a few days after that I thought it was the best bet for a bit of sunshine and decent lighting at the hide. I was just about to duck off the raised walkway for a pee when a bloke appeared from the hide and we had a brief chat about the birds there. Good numbers but nothing spectacular or exotic. One siskin. No bramblings. He left, I went into the scrub to pee, and then went into the hut. There were two ladies, locals of around my vintage and very friendly and chatty. Margaret and Catherine. 

chaffinch

I felt I might have known Catherine from the past (in my school days?) but couldn't quite place her and didn't feel it necessary to ask. We chatted about the birds and their habits. They pointed out bird record charts on the wall from last year and last month. They were also in the best seats that faced the main action out the smaller right (East facing) window but suggested I pull over a bench and point my camera between them out that window. It was very accommodating of them and we all enjoyed an hour of quiet excitement and entertainment. 

nuthatch

The birds were very obliging, with a good show of gold finches, siskins (more than one!), LTTs, great tits, blue tits, coal tits and an occasional reed bunting, chaffinches, a robin, blackbirds, a pair of reluctant woodpeckers, a treecreeper and a wren. Very similar but not identical to last year. The long-tailed tits could be heard (Margaret had the Merlin app on her phone) but only appeared every 20 minutes or more and would swoop down en masse to the fatballs feeder. It was a delight to see half a dozen of them sitting round and in the wire cage. They are normally so quick and ellusive, it was a pleasure to see them sit on perches just a few feet away which helped get decent photos. Early on there was slightly better light which deteriorated over the 90mins I was there, as a large grey cloud grew on the Pentland Hills just behind the hide.

long-tailed tits in action

goldfinch - cracking birds

LTT

coal tit

nuthatch and worst twig placement of the day

Now there are unwritten rules about bird photography. One is to try to get natural looking pics where the subject is sitting on a twig etc, not on a feeder. The feeder gives the game away! As if the bird might be visiting you because of your charisma, and not because you hung ten feeders in your garden. As you can tell I regard this rule as nonsense. However, in the manner of holding two contrary notions in my head at the same time, I also tried on the day to take more shots away from the feeders or without feeders in view, than just birds on feeders. However nobody is under any illusion as to why the birds are there: FOOD! Not in fact to be in my blog. Some of the birds were great for landing near a feeder before hopping on to it. Others not so much. The only time I saw the reed bunting was when it was grubbing about on the mud next to the boardwalk, and as a result I got no r-bunt photos of last year's quality.

The nuthatches were pretty decent for landing near a feeder and checking out the area before moving in closer for food. This made them better for naturalistic photos. The woodpeckers - very similar to last year - they lurked at the furthest back fatball feeder. As far away from the hide as possible, and rarely came closer than necessary. However they did hop about from tree to tree which gave a chance for photos though there was more aiming between branches and moving to a better line-of-sight than you'd know from the photos. We saw a male and a female. I think the female was better at posing for pics.

line on beak suggests the same bird as next pic

So while I was writing this blog I checked back to see when I visited last year. It was on the 30th January. (So there is still plenty time for the bramblings to arrive.) I also noticed a photo from last year of a female woodpecker and her perch on what looks to be virtually the same stance as a photo I took this year. This led to the blog title of "creatures of habit" underlining not only did the woodpecker behave in a similar manner but I was behaving in a similar manner and took a virtually identical photo of the same bird on the same tree trunk from nearly the same angle. (Sadly last year's effort was better but hey the weather/lighting wasn't quite as good this year.)

Uncanny? Or unsurprising that we just all go through the same (or very similar) processes again and again. It happens on this blog regularly that I take a very similar scenic shot (without realising till later) on a subsequent occasion to the same place, because the same things that appealed last visit, catch my eye again this time. However to line up the same woodpecker on the same tree-trunk is perhaps a new high bar of coincidence.

this from 30th Jan 2025
astonishing similarities although someone has eaten off the lichen
or possibly the woodpeckers' feet scuffed it off as abrasions (from beak) higher

just one squirrel
barging in scattering birds on the boardwalk!

this female blackbird was missing tail feathers

I didn't notice till I saw the photos at home that this blackbird was missing its tail. I'm thinking a sparrowhawk, cat or fox or similar. I imagine they will grow back in, in due course.

just one robin hopping about

chaffinch

blue tit

There was a treecreeper passing through - clearly it wanted to be in the blog because it flew right over to the hide and went about climbing up the nearest trees. Very convenient!

blue tit
(natural look)

blue tit
(unnatural look - but such a good photo I forgave the feeder for intrusion!)

The long-tails and coal tits were great for landing near feeders and having a look about, before moving to the feeders. They kept using the same stances as well so you could set the camera up for that particular branch, anticipating their move. Because they are both swift and never rest long, you have to be quick. On the upside if you mess up, they will likely be back again soon.

The lighting was deteriorating - by the time Sachi arrived my ISO setting had to be moved from 2500 to 5000. And shutter speed was still much reduced from 1/four figures to about 1/500 And it stayed there. I have not used any post editing software to reduce noise in these photos - they are cropped and tweaked a little but not for noise. The G9 is pretty decent about not showing up too much noise at 5000.

favourite shot of the day

blue tit

blackbird (m)

goldfinch

siskins and goldfinches

distant geese

LTT - another quality shot despite light or lack of

fatball frolics

woodpecker

I think Margaret was picking up tree sparrows on her Merlin app. and I thought this was
maybe one but on closer inspection it turned out to be a dunnock.

The wren, very like the treecreeper did us a solid by coming right over to where we were, and posing by this puddle. It hopped about giving us several opportunities to catch its best side. What a star! As a reward - three photos!

marvelous on reflection!

reed bunting (m) - not so helpful mud-dweller

GSW

blue tit

siskin

great tit

coal tit

watercooler moment round the fatballs

okay folks time to go

I wanted to leave before the day was over, to give myself enough time to get round the Red Moss boardwalk. It can be a great resource and I have seen much lovely wildlife and scenery there. However on this occasion I didn't take any photos, the place was barren, soggy and dead and I regretted the 5 minute diversion. But you've got to check these things out - you never know when you'll turn a corner and an osprey/eagle/short-eared owl will be fighting an otter/hare/chihuahua. 

I felt I'd done a decent job of the annual trip to Bavelaw Hide and if the bramblings turn up later I may even go back. It's quite a long haul on the bus but not out of reach, and slightly less daunting/dampening than the cycle. The photos are worth it and I really enjoyed seeing so many delightful birds I don't often see locally up close and personal. I only got round to eating my sandwiches (cheese salad on homemade bread with salad sauce*) on the bus and let me tell you they were FANTASTIC! 

*salad sauce is low fat mayonnaise mixed with tomato puree, balsamic and/or apple cider vinegar, Robinsons squash (peach is good, blackcurrant and apple acceptable) olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Optional hot chilli sauce or spicy flavours. Best put in large jar or squeezy mayo bottle and shaken vigorously till uniform pink colour. (Pretty much thousand island dressing.)

There was a bus at the terminus when I got the first glimpse of it about 1/4 mile out. I knew I'd already used all my bus-luck up earlier on the 44 here and there was no way it would wait. I jogged anyway but it pulled out and down the road 10 seconds later. However, the service is every 12 minutes! How good is that? Another minute or 2 to get to the stop, a couple of mins to put away the camera and get out the lunchbox by which time the next bus drew in and waited maybe 6mins before setting off while I was in a world of sandwich rapture. Like birdwatching, simple pleasures that are good for the soul and get me through these otherwise pretty awful months.