Bullfinches (dompap) feed on a wide range of natural foods in winter from the seeds of berries like rowan to maple and nettle seeds and shoots and buds of many different trees and bushes. However, this was the first time I’ve recorded them on guelder rose (korsved) berries, Viburnum opulus. They eat the seeds, discarding the flesh. I’ve only seen waxwings (sidensvans) on these berries before.
Bullfinches (dompap) take a very wide range of seeds in my garden including hawthorn, rowan, nettle and Norway spruce, as well as buds of different trees, but this was the first time I’d seen them taking guelder rose (Viburnum opulus) seed and I could see them discarding the flesh of the berries. Even when they have a rich supply of sunflower seeds, they will continue also to take natural food.
A small flock of fieldfares (gråtrost) turned up in the garden today after a small snowfall. They were feeding on a few remaining guelder rose / krossved (Viburnum opulus) berries. A single resident fieldfare defended the elderberries, but allowed a blackcap (munk) to share the crop.
I also grow Viburnum opulus (krossved) near to the house. This is an uncommon wild species around here. The berries aren’t the first choice for waxwings (sidensvans), but keep the birds around later in the year as they start on them as soon as other berries they prefer are gone. These berries are now gone (a flock of 300 birds doesn’t take long).
Here the waxwings join a large flock of bramblings (bjørkefink) and a few other species at the feeding station.
Today there were around 200 waxwings / sidensvans in the garden most of the afternoon and I saw them eating berries on Sambucus nigra, Viburnum opulus, Berberis, Crataegus and, in this video, a white berried rowan, received as Sorbus fruticosa! I’d planted this tree right outside my front door to try to attract waxwings….I was able to sit right outside the front door in full view of the birds and make this little film only about 2-3m away:
In this video we see a bird feeding on a rotten apple still hanging in the tree, a second bird, presumably this year’s young, is seen begging for food, and when a second bird turns up it actually feeds it…a bit late in the year for this!
…and waxwings on hawthorn and Berberis before they are scared up by a passing bus!
…and waxwings on Viburnum opulus (guelder rose / krossved)
Waxwing on Viburnum opulus (Guelder Rose / Krossved)
Waxwing on Viburnum opulus (Guelder Rose / Krossved)
Waxwings on white berried Sorbus fruticosa
Waxwings on white berried Sorbus fruticosa
Waxwing meal: Sorbus fruticosa
Perennial vegetables, Edimentals (plants that are edible and ornamental) and other goings on in The Edible Garden
