Brambling and masses of Siskin

A male Brambling was seen in the garden today. Only the 3rd record of the winter with others, both males, seen on 21st Nov 2009 (stayed to the 23rd) and 16th Jan 2010. In previous years Brambling numbers have picked up in February and later recorded off and on into April. In 2009 the last record was a female 14 Apr 2009 and the year before again a female 13 Apr 2008. Our garden backs onto the Gnoll Grounds and over the last few years we have been able to attract good numbers of finches who seem to like the sunflower seeds that are on offer very much! Today's Brambling was too quick for my camera skills so hopefully I will get more opportunities over the coming months.

Also today the Siskin numbers in the garden and surrounding trees easily numbered over 100 birds and probably nearer 140! These are remarkable numbers for our garden and smash the previous record of 63 on 16th Jan 2010. "Budgie" was amongst the masses of Siskin today. He has obviously been spreading the word.

An old friend returns to Cimla

Let me introduce you to "Budgie." We have named him this because of his bright yellow forehead and cap, which is normally black in adult male Siskins. This plumage mutation sets him apart from all the other Siskins that visit our garden and is the only colour mutation that I have noticed in Siskins. His distinctive appearance has allowed me to get to know him quite well.

He first turned up in the garden in October 2008 and was seen almost daily with other Siskins up until 19th April 2009. He didn't spend a great deal of time in the garden, often coming an hour before dusk to have a quick feed. Although we get small numbers of Siskins, including juvenile birds, throughout the summer months we never saw him among them at that time. Presumably he spent last summer somewhere else.

Budgie returned to the garden this winter on 17th November 2009 and has been seen on an almost daily basis since then, but he has been particularly prominent during the recent snowy days. Siskin numbers in the garden this winter have peaked at 34 so far (compared to 35 last winter) but it is likely that many more visit over the course of a day.

Budgie is distinctive in appearance and we are always extra pleased to see him in the garden and hope he will return for more winters to come. He's not as quarrelsome as some of the other siskins in the garden, but he is fit enough to hold is own and he is in not subordinate to the other normal-plumaged males.