Friday 10 May 2013

Siskin Surprise

Had just returned from our afternoon walkies and glanced at the feeders. At first glance I thought there was a Greenfinch. Earlier in the week there had been a pair of Greenfinches (male and female) feeding side by side. On closer inspection this was no Greenfinch but a rather handsome Siskin. Possibly only the second time I have seen one visit the garden. The previous visit appears to have been in April 2009. As is often the case when something interesting visits, the Sun hid behind dark clouds so the shots I managed are rather grainy:

Siskin_5601c

Siskin_5604c

Siskin_5602c

At least the surprise visitor made up for this morning's missed opportunity. There were two Robins on the edge of the bird bath. The male was feeding the female, something I have only seen once before. They should be nesting nearby fairly soon.

Not long after that a Grey Squirrel came bounding across the lawn hoping to raid the bird seed feeders. Just as it reached that part of the garden Penny decided to go out. The squirrel was out of view behind the summerhouse so she didn't spot it. Next thing the squirrel was on top of the summerhouse watching Penny for a while before deciding to try for a free meal elsewhere:

Grey Squirrel_5587c

Mrs Great Tit continues to incubate her clutch of eight eggs. Hopefully by the middle of next week there will be some chicks hatching and activity in the nest box will become more interesting.


15 comments:

  1. cute little striped siskin. and daring grey squirrel. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Siskins seem to have done well this year. Perhaps I've just been in the right places. Argumentative little birds but good to have around.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Adrian: According to one book they appear to be rarer here than further north.

      Delete
  3. Good to see the Siskins still about.

    ReplyDelete
  4. A lovely visitor John. Well done on getting the photos. I've only seen them in my garden once and looking back at my records it was March 2008 and unfortunately before I had a camera. Love the Squirrel pic too :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was Jan. Pleased it stayed in one place long enough to get some shots.

      Delete
  5. Lovely surprise to still see the Siskin around John

    ReplyDelete
  6. A brilliant garden visitor, John! Here's hoping you get more Siskins coming on a regular basis now. We get lots here, all year round and they have brought quite a few other species with them. I believe they are responsible for our newest visitor (Redpolls) which have been visiting daily for 3 weeks now. Enjoy your new visitors - I can't imagine my garden without them. Keep your video/camera pointed at your pond waterfall too as they enjoy taking a drink :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shirley: As always it's a question of looking out of the window at the right time but they seem to be rare garden visitors here.

      Delete
  7. Greta views of the GT this morning. I have missed her the last few times I've logged in.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Adrian: She spends more time out of the nest than I would expect, especially as she often leaves the eggs exposed.

      Delete
  8. Love the Siskin! - we had a whole flock of them here for quite a number of weeks in the early spring - we've never had that many ever but they've all gone now which is a shame... hoping they will be back again next year. Will keep a look out at your nest cams... I should get some for here really as we've got both Blue Tits and Great Tits nesting this year that I know of.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Any comment, or correction to any information or identification I get wrong, is most welcome. John

Related Posts with Thumbnails