Just delighted this morning to spot this cheeky little fellow sitting in our Lilac Tree (a male Siskin!) (Sorry this isn't the best quality picture as it was taken through our office window at a reasonable distance too!) Over the last two years we've had a little collection of Siskins visit our garden each spring - I never had them in the UK and so was v. excited to see them visit our garden here in Brittany. They've normally arrived at the beginning of January but this is the first sighting I've had of them - this one is a male with it's predominantly dark head. It has similar colour plumage to that of a Greenfinch but is only the size of a large Blue Tit - the females in comparison don't have the dark head but a still a mix of the green and dark plumage. They really are cute little birds and before they left us late spring in 2009 they were really becoming very tame - often at the bird table when I was working in the garden close by!
We've not had our regular spring visits from either the Nuthatch or the Brambling this year - these are the two that I'm missing... so will keep you posted as and when they appear... here's hoping!
I'll post again over the weekend but thought this would keep you going for the time being...
13 comments:
Lovely to see a Siskin, we had them here last year but haven't seen them since! No doubt they'll pop in again as they pass through :)
HI Miranda...such beautiful birds and always a pleasure to see in the garden. My father lives five minutes from me and sees them in his garden....I have not seen them in mine.....
Have a good weekend......
The siskin is very handsome :-) Never seen one in our garden but we live in hope.
Hi Miranda, what a treat to see a Siskin in the garden! We had two or three visit for just a few days two years ago but never since. That same Winter we also had Bramblings galore and they stayed for weeks and weeks, unfortunately I didn't have a decent camera then :(
Thank you, I followed the links which you left for me and thoroughly enjoyed them :)
Hi Liz - thanks for popping over it was great to see the Siskin again - this is the first visit I've seen from one this year... they're a bit late but probably down to the v. cold weather and maybe wind direction too perhaps? Hope yours' arrive v. soon - have a good weekend - Miranda
Hi Cheryl - thanks for visiting - hoping you're having a good weekend with NO snow! Let's hope that the Siskins from your Dad's garden take a visit to yours - they are such dear little birds - Mr Siskin was quite active on the bird table today - mostly on the fat blocks! Take care Miranda x
Thanks for visiting Chris - hope you're having a good weekend - I'd never seen Siskins before coming here - they are migratory birds which spend most of the summer months over in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia as far as I know and spend the winter months elsewhere - like here - they were here till about the end of March 09 - do hope some of his lady friends arrive too :-)
Thanks for your comments Shy Songbird - I was so excited to see him - was sat at my computer with a mug of coffee and suddenly spotted him - with the bright plumage not too difficult to spot against the rather dull plantlife at the moment... here's hoping the Bramblings will arrive late too! I live in hope... Glad too that you enjoyed the other links - Have a good weekend - Miranda
What a pretty bird, and lucky you to get the photo! I have terrible luck photographing birds. It seems my camera is never handy when I need it.
They are just such a delight - I had them visit my garden down south - but have never seen them here in wales.
K
Hi Debsgarden - I know what you mean - there have been many times when I'm out walking and really wish I'd had my camera with me - had a great sighting of a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and also a Goldcrest - both times without my camera! Have a good week - Miranda
Hi there Miranda, what a treat for you to see the siskin visit there!
Funnily enough we had a group fly in the same day. Never thought of them as seasonal. We see them quite a lot, will take a note of when I see them now.
Have a great week :-D
Hello Miranda
Great to see a photograph of a siskin. I've never seen one close to like that.
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