Tuesday, December 01, 2009

First frost

There was a good frost last night so it was out first thing to top up all the seed and nut feeders and stick the first lot of fatballs out for the winter. There were already plenty of birds around the garden but soon the feeders were crowded with finches and Tree Sparrows. Mid-morning I spied a female Brambling briefly below one of the feeders. Whilst searching the bushes I spied a flash of white rump. It disappeared but didn't seem right for Bramble or Goldfinch. I watched intently for a few minutes when another movement revealed a fem/imm Bullfinch! Only my second here with the previous one being in March 2003! Looks like the hard weather stirred things up a little. As well as the Bramblefinch and Bullfinch, there's been the first Yellowhammer of the winter in the garden, and there are clearly more Greenfinches, Chaffinches and Goldfinches plus at least five Linnets buzzing around.

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