I moved house just before Christmas, and one of my first tasks was to hang up bird-feeders in the back garden. I bought a big bucket of bird feed, filled the feeders and waited for the crowds of birds that would surely arrive. The garden backs onto some overgrown gardens on Bohermore road and there is plenty of cover for small birds. At the same time, I planted plenty of bulbs in pots so that I would have plenty of crocuses, daffodils and other Spring flowers to welcome in the new year.
Alas, the cold snap did for both enterprises. For the first couple of weeks, there were plenty of sparrows, finches and tits clustered around the feeders. But once the temperature dropped well below zero, the numbers died away (as did the birds). I had even left out thawed drinking water but there were days on end when no birds landed in the garden. Likewise, the soil in the pots froze, and not a single bud burst through the soil. Before I left for a trip abroad last week, I dragged all of the pots out of the shade down to the back wall of the garden. At this time of the year, the sunshine reaches the back wall for most of the day, and sure enough, when I returned this weekend, buds were finally emerging in most of the pots.
There has been a revival too in the bird numbers. Sparrows appear better than other species at surviving the extreme cold (pr maybe there were just more of them to begin with) but finches are also showing up [not a single Blue Tit or Great Tit appears to have survived in the neighbourhood – they were regular visitors before the freeze]. On Saturday morning, the goldfinch pictured above visited the garden – the first since December – and feasted for about 30 minutes. The feeder he chose was one that most of the other birds shun – because it is close to the kitchen window (and so located for photography reasons).
The picture shows the goldfinch chewing on a sunflower seed, and was taken with a Canon 7D attached to a Canon 100-400mm lens – picture was taken through the kitchen window. The colours have not been enhanced – the plumage really is that beautiful.
interesting – your goldfinch looks little like what we in the northeastern US would call a goldfinch. Plus – what we call a goldfinch here only eats niger seeds – from special feeders that have small slits which require the bird to pull the seed out one by one – apparently this mimics they foods they eat naturally (a weed that grows a kind of cotton ball leaving behind the niger seeds). The weeds used to grow alongside roads but have rapidly disappeared with all the neat mowing going on so there was a big effort to get the special feeders and seed used by back yard bird lovers to prevent extinction. Seems to be working – I get dozens at a time in the summer and since they are so pretty lots of people use the special feeders.
Our goldfinches – or at least what we are calling a gold finch -also has no lovely red like the Irish fellow pictured and is gold all over – tiny birds but a brilliant color
I so enjoy your photos and narratives- they are a real treat. Thank you
Goldfinches in the wild in Ireland will eat seeds from thistle heads in winter, but equally they will eat nearly any grain or seed from birdtables
Beautiful! How do you like the 7D? I have wanted one for a while, but I’m just a beginner, and am also concerned about lugging a lot of gear when I’m hiking, so I’m keeping an eye out for reviews to come on the Fuji HS10 p&s camera for that purpose. Any thoughts?