Juvenile Siskin

The hot weather kept most birds away today, but we did get this little lady - a baby Siskin, seemingly straight from the nest. Mum and Dad were on the same feeder at the same time.

"Whoops. I'll get the hang of landing soon"

"What is this thing?!"

"What's that in there?"

"Look what I found!"

"Dad! Come and look!"

"Yummy!"


She took exception to a male Chaffinch landing next to her









An hour or so later she was back, and this time she had a little help from her Dad

Rainy Days

A couple of rainy days has resulted in a slight increase in the activity in the garden this week. Fourteen species have so far been recorded (only eleven were recorded in total last week), but my favourites, the Blue Tits, are still busy elsewhere it seems!I have brought the bird table out from hiding - it hasn't been in use much since we moved here twelve months ago due to the lack of level ground to stand it on. So anyway, I decided to give the birds, and me, a change and I have placed it over the hole where the rotary washing line should be (the hole is in a slab which makes part of the path). Obviously this means I can't hang any washing out. Shame ;o). It wasn't there earlier as I didn't want to put the table too close to the bird box, but that is empty anyway!

A Great Tit pays a visit to the table
As does a Siskin (table has since been dusted!)
Another Siskin on one of the hanging feeders
Male House Sparrow collects sheep's wool for his nest. He doesn't seem to mind that it's wet!

It's not very often the Sparrows come to this feeder (the Chaffs and Greens hold the monopoly)

I always manage to focus on the feeder rather than the bird when they perch here

From the Garden

It has been a quiet start to the week in the garden (recording begins on a Sunday), even though fourteen species have already visited. Chaffinch numbers are still down, apart from a forty-strong flock for a few minutes on Monday following a hail storm and snow shower.

Siskin and Goldfinch are still arriving in slightly larger than normal numbers.

I saw my first bumblebee of spring at the weekend but he didn't stop to pose for a photo.

No butterflies yet; nor any ladybirds.

Swallows and House Martins are still to arrive.

On Sunday, Birdboy (just turned three-and-a-half) sowed some Sunflower seeds which will be planted outside in a few weeks time.

I picked up a few sprays of millet whilst in a pet food shop (looking at sunflower heart prices!) at the weekend. As far as I know, there have been no takers yet. A female Siskin has landed on it, but she was just waiting her turn on the sunflower seed!

Male Siskin (I'll have to change the blog title to Borders' Siskins, if I'm not careful!):

Crocus:

Male Siskin

It has been a slowish start to the week with a big reduction in the number of Greenfinch and Chaffinch visiting but an increase in the number of Goldfinch: ten today, usual is 3 or 4 and our record is 12.

Today, a single Coal Tit made regular visits to the mixed seed feeder (I haven't managed to tempt him to feed near the window yet) and we've had a record five Siskins. Talking of which ...

Male Siskin

Female Siskin:

Male & Female Siskins

We've had the highest number of Siskins recorded in the garden so far - a small family of four visited throughout the day. They appeared to be in two breeding pairs.

Three of the four:

Female in morning sunshine! (disappointing quality but nice record shots)

And a male, keeping his back to the camera, as usual!

Bits 'n' Bobs

Well, the bad weather continues ... Another week of dull days, snow and rain.

We had a Blue Tit in the garden today with a couple of damaged primary feathers which has left him (or her?) unable to fly. I watched him for a while as he fed on the lawn ... He managed to scale the three foot mesh fence which we haven't bothered removing since we moved in ten months ago! ... Then he hot footed it into next doors garden. I didn't see him again after that.

All the species recorded in the garden so far this week had made an appearance by Monday, with the exception of a Coal Tit and Wren, both of which finally appeared this afternoon.

A pair of Siskins (male and female) have been in the garden most of the week, and our single Brambling is still here but it shouldn't be too long before it returns to Scandinavia (or thereabouts!)

Random images:

Robin:
[photo missing]

First time I've seen a Siskin feed on anything other than peanuts: (female)

Male Greenfinch:

First time I've seen a Blackbird feeding on the fat-filled coconut:Another Goldfinch:

An Experiment

Whilst perusing one of my many garden bird feeding catalogues I came across something called a Feast Wheel. Interesting, I thought, and so read the blurb that came with it:

Feast Wheel - A tasty blend of black sunflower seeds, peanuts, safflower seeds and red millet, bound together with gelatin and shaped into a BIG ring complete with it's own strong cord hanger. At 9" in diameter, over 2" thick and weighing over 900g, 'feast' is arguably an understatement!

And the price? £13.95 plus £2.50 p&p. Total £16.45.

And here it is:
Nice!

I decided it was something which must be reasonably easy to make. I looked in the cupboard and found a 9" silicone baking ring a bit like this one:

No idea why we have one, or what the hell it's used for, but it looked ideal and being silicone it is completely non-stick and totally flexible. Next, I knew I had plenty of seed to fill it, but I didn't have any gelatin in the house. That was easily fixed with a quick trip to the Co-Op. £1.19 for 70g (6 sachets). I found some string to put in the middle so I could hang it up. There! I had everything ready:

Mould
Seed
Gelatin
String.

I filled the silicone ring with mixed seed, chopped peanuts and sunflower hearts. Total weight: 964g. Next, I melted three of the six sachets of gelatin with around 1/2 pint water, tipped the seed mixture into a pan and poured the gelatin onto it and gave it a good mix. I've never used gelatin before (as a vegetarian I don't have much need for it!) but this seemed to work! It was turning into glue! I poured half of the gluggy (is that a word?) mixture into the ring, placed the string around the middle, poured over the rest of the mixture and then popped it into the fridge to set.

And here is the result:

Da da daaa! 9" in diameter and just over 2" thick!

Note the pretty pattern!

Total cost: 60p
(well, 59.5p really)
Total saving: £15.85!

It's the same size and weight as the shop equivalent.



Next up, would the birds actually like it?

Siskin did:

Starling did:

Goldfinch did:

Robin did:

Greenfinch and Chaffinch bothe fed on it, too.

You can see the string I used for hanging purposes ... I abandoned that idea after the ring span constantly in the wind and so I just hooked it over the hangers instead.

I am yet to see any Tits on it - but I'm sure they'll find it eventually.

It looks like it's going to last considerably longer than a fat cake usually does (around thirty minutes if the Starlings are about!). The ring has been out for two days and it's still intact - and that's with plenty of visitors feeding away on it.

Conclusion: RESULT!

More from the Siskins

Much less rain today ... but more wind and still very dull. Spring is definitely on the way though. The garden is coming slowly back to life, the dawn chorus is starting; although it's not yet the cacophony it soon will be. The summer plumages are starting to appear on some species; male Chaffinch are starting to look brighter and male House Sparrows are beginning to get their large black bibs.

Less rain meant fewer birds in the garden but the Siskins did return many times throughout the day:

Female Siskin Feeding Near Kitchen Window

A male Siskin can be seen feeding at the same place in this post here

Male Siskin Feeding Near Kitchen Window

Here's one I've been waiting for! This morning a male Siskin came to feed on the peanuts in front of the kitchen window.

Once the subarctic weather conditions are over I'll actually open the window to take some photographs!









A male and female Siskin both visited the window feeder last month.

Female Siskin Visits Window Feeder

Apologies for the bad photo! This morning, a female Siskin landed on the window feeder. I wasn't expecting it and nor was I ready for it; the camera wasn't ready and the blinds were drawn! Despite that, I decided to give it a go and this photo was the best of a very bad bunch. Later in the day, Mr Siskin came for a visit to the same feeder - I tried to take a photo but the battery died! I changed the battery, looked at the feeder ... gone! Maybe tomorrow ;o)

Edit: Male Siskin visit here

A New Garden Tick - Siskin!

We've had our first Siskin today - a solitary male on one of the mesh peanut feeders. Unfortunately he was too far away to photograph this time.

I am planning to either move a feeder or get a new one (ANOTHER one? Our neighbours must think we're mad!) and place it near the kitchen window or door to try and photograph each species.

It has been very busy in the garden again today; there was a flock of 30 Greenfinch and 28 Chaffinch at one point - and it's not easy to count that little lot!

The male Yellowhammer from Tuesday made another appearence today - he examined the ground feeder and then flew down to the bottom border where he was promptly bullied by a male Greenfinch. Exit Yellowhammer stage left!