Brent Nature Network-More Bird Watching

Ms V here again with an update on bird watching. Since my Easter post about the bird watching, I have seen a wonderful array of birds I hadn’t seen before in my garden. I am really hooked on ‘the bird watching lark’. Every moment I am home, my D200 is right by my side. I must admit, I am just finding it soo interesting.

Robin update: The juvenile robins have grown very fast, I have been fortunate enough to catch sight of one of them as it took its flight out of the nesting box on my neighbour’s garage. It did well to get as far as it did and landed on a pot in my garden very close to my conservatory. As usual, on seeing the movement I had my camera ready and managed to capture the beautifully fluffy bird as it sat at the edge of an old hanging basket resting on a terracotta pot. The juvenile make its way around the garden with a series of hops in an attempt to fly. I had caught on camera several young birds since my Easter post.

During the Easter period I had seen a rather pretty yellowish brown bird with a very distinctive red face. When I first spotted the bird on my neighbour’s roof aerial, I took several shots of it and immediately the pictures were downloaded I was searching on the internet to identify it. It was a goldfinch. WOW! It was the first time I had seen one and I was excited in the hope that I would see it again.  Just a few days ago whilst hanging out my washing (this seems to be the best thing to be doing to capture the birds), a goldfinch landed on my fence. I was prepared, my camera around my neck I slowly aimed and fired the motor wind and took several bursts.

Here are 5 interesting facts about goldfinches:

1. Goldfinches love Nyjer seeds
2. They can feed upside down
3. Goldfinches lay about 5 greenish blue eggs that hatch in about 12 days and the babies leave the nest after about 12 days after that.
4. Goldfinches are sometimes called wild canaries
5. Male goldfinches have longer beaks than females, allowing them to feed on teasels.

In the last month, I have seen a jay, another bird I had to identify online; a number of blue tits, a coal tit, black birds, magpies and a house sparrow. I have put out a number of feeders and seed balls to attract more birds to my garden putting them high enough so that the cats and foxes that patrol my garden can’t get to them.

What birds can you see in your gardens? I’d be interested to hear about the birds you have seen in your gardens add your comments.

Listen to the bird call can you identify the bird?