In one of her comments Jan (ShySongbird's Twitterings) wrote how she wondered, when she first bought a Niger feeder, how the Goldfinches would ever manage to get the seeds out through such small holes. It was something I wondered about myself. The holes have to be small to stop the fine seeds from falling out. As can be seen from this brief clip, slowed down to one quarter speed, the Goldfinch accurately puts its beak directly in the hole every time.
The juvenile Blue Tit continues to visit the feeders and at last I managed to take some brief video clips of it. The colour variations are caused by the sunlight being from different directions at various times of day. At the beginning a Magpie can be heard chuntering to itself as they often do.
Last year a pair of Magpies brought their offspring to the garden. This year I have only seen the juveniles. Mainly just one by itself but late yesterday I did spot a couple. This time it is the local House Sparrows which can be heard.
Yesterday was a dull cool day but the sun is back this morning so things are looking up again. The one lovely sight to watch late yesterday was a group of about twelve Swallows swooping about the sky over this part of the village. They were too high and too fast to photo or video but very enjoyable to watch as they banked and dived. There must have been a large number of insects for them as they stayed in the same area for well over a quarter of an hour.
Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around your neighbourhood.
Great videos again John.
ReplyDeleteThe precision of that Goldfinch is amazing to watch.
Thank you Keith. Must be nice to be able to focus on things that close - I could do with that ability when I am soldering. lol
ReplyDeleteHello again John :) This is another one I viewed on the day of posting but wasn't able to comment on (rather a lot going on here at the moment!). It was fascinating to see the Goldfinch in action (thank you for the kind mention and link) Their beaks always look so chunky but my goodness they are precise! The other thing which always amazes me is how they equate seeds growing on a plant with a plastic and enclosed, man-made tube!!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed both the other videos too. I haven't seen the Magpies much this time although I hear them quite often.
I think it is lovely to sit in the garden at the end of the day watching the Swallows :)
Hi Jan. It was only after watching it a few times that I noticed how the Goldfinch pauses briefly as though to get a fix on the hole before going in for a seed.
ReplyDeleteSwallows are always a marvel to watch. They are either way up in the sky or skimming an inch or so above the ground.