Brambling twitch to Brockville

"Lord I was born a Brambling man,
Trying to make a living and doing the best I can,
And when it's time for leavin'
I hope you'll understand
That I was born a Brambling man"

-Dickey Betts, The Allman Brothers Band 

I had always wanted to be a Brambling man, or at the very least have Brambling on my Ontario list, and a few months ago I finally had that opportunity. Back in December 2016 a Brambling made an appearance at a lucky birder's feeders . It hung around for a few hours but was not seen on subsequent days unfortunately. Several months later what was likely the same Brambling reappeared, this time at a different bird feeder about 10 km from the original location. The homeowner was gracious in allowing several birders to visit her house to look for the bird, but due to the circumstances the word was not made public to the birding community. I was fortunate in being one of the lucky few invited to see the bird, an opportunity that I could not pass up.

I was up early in the morning to carpool with several others, and by mid-morning we had arrived in the Brockville area to stake out the bird feeder. We were informed upon our arrival by the homeowner that the Brambling had been at the feeders already once that morning. This was excellent news and we made our way over to where there was a good view of the bird feeders.

It was a cool late March day, but the sun was shining and the wind was very light making it quite comfortable. We waited for a while, keeping a close eye on the bird feeders while checking out the other species in the yard. We did not have to wait long - after about 40 minutes an interesting looking finch flew over and landed in the trees on the far side of the property - it was the Brambling!

Brambling - Brockville, Leeds and Grenville United Counties

Eventually the bird made its way over to the feeders where it gorged itself with seed for a good five minutes before flying away, offering excellent views and prolonged study. It was a little too distant for good photos but we were happy to even manage some "record shots".

Brambling - Brockville, Leeds and Grenville United Counties

Brambling is a Eurasian finch, a species that frequently wanders to Alaska and down the west coast of North America. Prior to this bird, Ontario had eight records of Brambling, a relatively high number for a Eurasian songbird! Seven of these eight records pertain to birds that hung around for at least three days. I had previouslylooked for one Brambling in the province, an individual that was found in North Bay in November, 2014. Dan Riley and I chased that bird on the third day it was seen, though we ended up missing the bird. In fact, I was standing right beside a gentlemen who was looking at the Brambling, but by the time that Dan and I had re-positioned ourselves to see the spot where he was looking, the birds all flushed and we never did get on the Brambling. It was never seen again...

Brambling - Brockville, Leeds and Grenville United Counties

Seeing this Brambing was certainly a nice bit of redemption! Spurred on with our success we continued onward, making a few more stops on the way home. In the Brighton area Doug McRae tipped us off to some locations where Great Gray Owls had recently been seen. Our luck this day continued as we located a single Great Gray Owl perching on a utility wire.

Great Gray Owl - Brighton, Northumberland County

We watched it hunt for a while and were lucky in watching it land on a Meadow Vole and swallow it in one gulp. There were too many branches in the way for a "clean" photo, but it was a great experience watching the owl hunt.

Great Gray Owl - Brighton, Northumberland County

Great Gray Owl - Brighton, Northumberland County

Great Gray Owls are one of my favorite bird species and we were thrilled with a chance to view this one up close (especially since it was a species that I had missed on my northern trip a week or two earlier).

Great Gray Owl - Brighton, Northumberland County

Great Gray Owl - Brighton, Northumberland County