Sunday, 3 April 2016

Kitchen sink birding

If any bird were to wake you on April fools day, which would or should it be? Yup, a Green Woodpecker, yaffling its head off. That’s what I got on the 1st April at 7am. Oh the irony. This morning, it was the Collared Dove who, year on year, in spite of my best dissuasive efforts, insists on singing under the amplifying eaves outside my bedroom window just after dawn. I love spring but first light serenades, not so much.

Momentous news from yesterday. I did not leave the house. And, I had my first ever visits to the garden feeder by Siskins. I’m guessing the two events aren’t connected. The Siskins visited throughout the afternoon, staying in the immediate area and returning, on average, every half hour. I had all the get up and go of a heavily sedated Walrus and so the chance to pull up a kitchen chair, fling open the kitchen window and position myself behind the kitchen sink to watch the garden was ideal. The streaky pair lifted the day completely.







As well as the Siskins, I had my usual visitors. Nearly all in pairs. So, pairs of Robins, Greenfinchs, Goldfinches, Chaffinches, Coal Tits, Great Tits, Blue Tits, Collared Doves (grrr), Blackbirds and Dunnocks. Singles of Wren and a few House Sparrows.
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6 comments:

  1. Simon Douglas Thompson3 April 2016 at 16:01

    So it is sunflower hearts the siskin like. Will remember that! Lovely shots of a bird that always evades me.

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    1. Lucy @ A Natural Interlude4 April 2016 at 12:30

      Thanks Si. Yes, apparently so, although I have been putting them out for the last 9 years without Siskin success. The birds obviously have to be in the area to begin with and this year has been exceptional for Siskins in Hemel.

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  2. Dylan Wrathall3 April 2016 at 18:43

    Lucy,
    They are superb images - great stuff from the kitchen window! My only garden record of Siskin is also an April sighting, a pair paying a fleeting visit to my sunflower heart feeder. Coal Tits would be a bird of my dreams, here on Thanet, I've one record in sixteen years!
    Keep looking, stay safe, and stay strong! - Dyl

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    1. Lucy @ A Natural Interlude4 April 2016 at 12:35

      Thanks Dyl! Yes, the Coal Tits are lovely to have in the garden. I'm fortunate to have some woodland at the back of the house which brings in Nuthatch and Goldcrest too, as well as the occasional Chiffchaff and Blackcap family. I was very envious of your Bramblings. Only had the one garden visit in 16 years, back in Oct 2010 by small flock of half a dozen birds. Needless to say, it's a very happy memory.

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  3. Wendy3 April 2016 at 20:22

    Hello - lovely photos of your garden birds from the kitchen window. I've yet to see a Siskin on my feeders here, so I'd be thrilled, too!

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    1. Lucy @ A Natural Interlude4 April 2016 at 12:51

      Hi Wendy. Many thanks for your comment and I enjoyed looking around your lovely blog. I marvel at how simple yet wonderful it is that beautiful birds come into our gardens :o).

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