Cirencester Park

4 Jan - Hearing news of a finch flock on a wild bird/ game crop in Ciren Park, I headed for the area and was greeted by a cloud of birds flying around and feeding in the crop and on the adjacent track, in between perching up in the adjacent beech trees and smaller bushes. A mix of species - good numbers of Linnets and Goldfinches,smaller numbers of Reed Buntings and Yellowhammers, and, most exciting, Chaffinches mixed in with good numbers of Bramblings, I estimated 40-50 in total, including some fairly smart males. The flock as a whole was fairly wary and flighty, with the Bramblings as usual having the habit of hiding within the vegetation rather than perching in the open. Still, they afforded some good albeit fairly distant views, one of my favourite birds, I think the combination of orange/brown patterning, smart but understated (the males especially being stunning when going into breeding plumage), combined with their relative scarcity and nomadic occurrence, and the added romance of being a northern/Scandinavian breeder. The first of what would become a series of visits in search of both views and photographic opportunities........