Cold snap brings them in..

Male Bullfinch in the Brambles (c.O O'Sullivan)

With a welcome break in the seemingly never ending sequence of wet days, it is cold, bright and windy, for this week anyway.. the Chaffinch flock is up to twenty or more , can't be long before a Brambling joins up?

A male Bullfinch almost went unnoticed as it sat in tight in the bramble hedge: for a bird with such a showy plumage, they can be subtle, particularly with only a soft mournful piping note to draw attention to them as they methodically search out winter seeds from cover. 

The male that visited us is taking some seeds from the brambles.  So far, I haven't been successful in attracting them to any of the food on offer in the feeders.  They always look well fed, the stubby beak often with seed and fruit pulp stuck to it and the stubby neck gives them a thick set appearance.

Even from behind though, the combination of a cool mid grey upper parts, black wings and crown ,white rump are distinctive.  Then there's the rosy underparts of the male, a real show stopper!

Distinctive white rump and sharp contrasts (c. OOS)

The dry remains of the blackberry season get a Bullfinch by in January.. (c. OOS)