Brambling: Having had to drop some wedding albums off in for a client not too far from Ormskirk I decided to spend the morning at Martin Mere, too cold to trapes around the whole reserve I spent much of my time sheltering at the Janet Kear hide were a couple of brambling had taken up residence.
Originating from Scandinavia and across to Siberia, they only spend the winter months here in the UK, though a tiny number sometimes stay through the summer period and have even been known to breed, but this is pretty rare.
Brambling are famous woodland birds that search for food in mixed flocks with chaffinches so a place like martin Mere is ideal with a regularly topped up feeding station along a small woodland edge.
In the winter the male bird has a streaked head, orange breast plumage and a white rump, in the spring the males head becomes much darker in colour with a rich orangey red colour on his wings and breast. The females are not so bright and cheerful in colour, though have similar patterns in their plumage to the male.
Here is the male, a stunning little bird with mottled upperparts with brown edges and grey tips on the feathers. The scapulars have broad pale orange tips and the median and greater coverts are orange tipped with white.
There was one male and up to four females feeding on the split seeds around the feeders and perching up in the bushes around the hide.
Definitely a highlight of a very enjoyable (if a little cold) morning.
