Monday 14 March 2016

A double win today.

Last time I ordered sunflower hearts I also ordered a new, and different sort of feeder. This, so the website said, "A specialist sunfower heart feeder featuring a twist and lock lid which is easy to fill with sunflower hearts" and the reviews also stressed how easy it is to clean.

Two things happened today. After three days when hardly a bird had gone near the new feeder I caught a glimpse of a yellow rump disappearing from it, and then two Goldfinches feeding on it.

The significance was double. It looks as if it will be useful and used by my regular customers and secondly I've had a signal that spring is on the way. Each year, around halfway through March, the regular birds are joined for a while by Siskins. The numbers have varied each year and so far this year there have only been about four around the feeders.

In the "old day's" the general wisdom was if you want to attract Siskins you need to put out peanuts in a red plastic mess bag.I think those days have now gone, I certainly try to use as few plastic bags as possible for whatever.

Today they used both types of feeders, but this females seemed to be a regular on the mesh one. I'm looking forward to the number of Siskins building up, if they around as it gets warmer there are normally a few males in song before they move on, and, although not a top song in melodic terms, it has loads of fun and energy.

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