The forestry on Farlary croft yesterday was bursting with small birds, perhaps because the fine weather coincided with the peak of their mating seasons. These pictures were all taken within a few minutes in a small area of the croft's coniferous forestry which was surrounded by either open space or deciduous trees - an ideal environment for small birds.
Identifying them was a challenge and it was a relief when one was easily identified - like this very smart male chaffinch - but too often....
....the birds played difficult-to-see, so ones like this remain unidentified. Even when they were being unco-operative some could be identified by their song, like....
....I knew this was a willow warbler from its glorious cascading call, even though it refused to show its face.
This was a much more helpful willow warbler, which both posed beautifully and sang a little song so there could be no doubt about its identification.
Some were difficult to identify because there are other species very similar. I think this is a redpoll but it might be a linnet; either way, it was great to see it as I haven't seen either species in ages.
Then there were some very old friends, like this coal tit, one in several small flocks of coal tits in the plantations. It's a species which seems to be doing well locally, and is a regular visitor our garden.
It was very frustrating that so many of the birds simply couldn't be identified. For example, this just might be a chiff-chaff, of which there were several calling.
That I didn't manage to identify some of them doesn't really matter. What does is that this croft is home to a such a truly wonderful selection of small birds.
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