When I sat down in the bird hide at Hillers at lunch time today, a man I didn’t know turned his camera towards me and said, “Do you know what this is?” It was a very nice photo of a Brambling, and I told him so, which pleased him – though of course, he was even more happy to have photographed a bird he’d never seen before. At the time there was no Brambling anywhere in sight, but he told me that he’d seen three, so I was hopeful that at least one would come back and give me a chance for some shots of my own. In the end two males reappeared, but neither would pose for me against a clean background, as they’d done for my new acquaintance. This was the best attempt out of many, and even here the cluttered and over-lit background is annoying, but at least the bird is sharp.
It’s interesting and surprising to me that the Brambling is listed in the genus Fringilla, alongside our native Eurasian Chaffinch (which is considered to be the type species of the genus) and six other kinds of Chaffinch. Six members of the genus do look to be quite closely related, but the Brambling and the Tenerife Blue Chaffinch (a stunning bird that I’d love to see in the flesh) are quite distinct, and it’s hard for me to think of them as near relatives of the others. But I suppose one should assume that the taxonomists know what they’re doing: this may not look much like a Chaffinch, but a Chaffinch it apparently is.
My second photo tonight is actually my favourite of the day, if only for being so simple and uncluttered. It shows a female Greenfinch sitting on a tree branch, watching the feeding kerfuffle taking place below and to her left. As you can see from the background, it was raining. Again.
R: L2, C5, D15.
