Skip to main content

Bullfinches are Back

I was glad to see three bullfinches in the garden today, two males and one female. They all came to the sunflower seed feeder but seemed to spend time foraging in the bushes as well. the goldfinches are also turning out in greater numbers, there were five in the garden at one time today.

I don't normally watch the birds from the bedroom window but doing so yesterday solved the missung dunnock mystery. They are active under the bushes at the end of the garden but simply aren't coming nearer the house. I have had to cut back on ground feeding as the softbill food and meal worms simply aren't all been taken. I couldn't put out food on the ground fast enough last year but the difference seems to be that we no longer have a pair of wood pigeons in permanent residence.

It was curious to see a robin today ignoring all the food at ground level and taking sunflower seeds instead. At one point we even had two robins in the same bush without a fight.

Among the other birds the nuthatches are still visiting and the feeder in the more open front garden gets regular flocks of long tailed tits. On the other hand I haven't seen the coal tit for a while.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Not as Quiet as I Thought

 The garden has seemed very quiet with hardly any birds seen but I hadn't been explicitly looking. I have just started putting a little food out in the front and in 24 hours have seen Robin, Great and Blue Tits and Magpies landing in my tiny front garden. Yesterday I heard a song that was unusual to me which the Merlin app identified as a Blackcap. Unfortunately for me the bird was ensconsed in the middle of my Forsythia which is still in full leaf and I couldn't get a sighting. This afternoon I saw Robins in the garden and corvids overhead. I set Merlin running while I swept fallen leaves from the front path. The app identified Robin, Rook, Wren, Jackdaw, Greenfinch and Blackbird. I also heard Parakeets but not while the app was running. 

Kites Spreading East

 I haven't been posting much due personal matters but still have my eyes open. One thing that has struck me is the eastward spread of birds of prey. I have seen buzzards over Havering-atte-Bower but the big suprise in the past month as been a red kite over the M25 near Stapleford Abbotts in Essex. The skys still look empty by Chiltern standards though. A nice little spot last week was a goldcrest during a visit to Kew Gardens.  I have downloaded the Merlin app which supposedly identifies birdsong. I have had little opportunity to try it out but a quck test in the garden showd that it correctly told me that I could hear jackdaws and a robin. I look forward to using it on the coast to see if it can distinguish the various waders for me. 

A Little More Normal

 After a couple of days of frost the garden looks more like a typical winter's day with birds visiting throughout the day. Blue tits are the main visitor plus one or two marsh (or possibly willow) tits and the occasional great tit. A flock of long tailed tits paid a fairly brief visit. Robins in the back garden have paired, seemingly a little later than the ones in the front.  Due to ill health the ivy on my back fence hasn't been trimmed and has developed a good crop of berries. The only bird that I have seen showing interest has been a wood pigeon which spent some time yesterday feasting on them. In the front I put out a fat block yesterday afternoon which, so far, has attracted a grey squirrel. The pair of robins and the occasional blackbird are active on the hanging table.