Chaffinches: Aiming for World Domination?

I didn't ever really expect to see many more Chaffinches in the garden than the flock of 65 we had last week. However, today I counted approximately 80! It's no easy task counting that many active little birds, so I could be a few out either way. The weather was bitterly cold with a slight wind and a mixture of sun (yes! really! sun!) and regular snow flurries throughout the day.

Yesterday and today I noticed a female Chaffinch suffering from Fringilla papillomavirus or, if you prefer, crusty leg warts! It is quite common in Chaffinches and Bramblings but there is no treatment for it. The warts can eventually take over the whole leg resulting in a lame bird ... and sometimes the leg drops off. Let's hope that doesn't happen!

Received delivery of another 50lb sack of sunflower hearts for our hungry (or greedy?) garden birds. We order them from W.E. Howden's Pet Shop in Coldstream - the oldest pet food shop in Britain. The original owner of the shop invented sheep dip in 1830, no less! Click on the link to see the shop. (Just for the record, the last 50lb sack we bought lasted five weeks!).

Here are a few random images from today:

Female Siskin (again, sorry!)

Sometimes there just isn't enough room!

Not my exactly my favourite garden visitor but Starlings do appear quite striking in summer plumage and sunshine!

You can just make out the green & purple sheen of the feathers

It's not hard to understand why the collective noun is a 'charm of Goldfinches'