Over the weekend of the national garden bird count (hagefugltelling) the temperature was stable between -1 and +1C. I registered 23 species in the garden, 7 of which sang or drummed, here they are with maximum numbers of each: Siskin (grønnsisik) 18 Brambling (bjørkefink) 22 Nuthatch (spettmeis) 1 Fieldfare (gråtrost) 6 Bullfinch (dompap) 6 Greenfinch … Continue reading Bird count weekend
Early this morning and the bullfinches were grazing on cherry buds…and as I zoomed in I noticed a goldfinch sitting with them!
Two hawfinches (kjernebiter) on the bird feeder yesterday. There was also still a flock of 20 or more bramblings (bjørkefnk) and 9 goldfinches (stillits), the latter still feeding on natural food!
It’s about as like winter England as it gets here this morning, grey and drizzling….so nice to have a flock of 17 goldfinches (stillits) brightening up the day and lots of other birds too! Hawfinch (kjernebiter) Robin (rødstrupe) with brambling (bjørkefink) There was also a flock of 100 waxwings feeding in the garden, nuthatches and … Continue reading Bird paradise!
One of my favourite multi-purpose vegetables and one of my first unusual vegetables that I grew in my garden in the 80s was burdock or borre, more specifically various Japanese cultivars of Arctium lappa, hardly used in Europe and North America apart from a few foragers, even though it’s a common wild plant and hardy. … Continue reading The many faces of burdock
A highlight of my visit to British Columbia (apart from the plants) was to experience springtime birds in a different part of the world, and most species I hadn’t seen before. There are two albums below plus some videos showing a selection of pictures taken with my handheld Panasonic DNC-TZ80 which has an amazing zoom… … Continue reading Birds and mammals of BC
21 species of bird registered in the garden this weekend feeding both on natural food and at my bird feeder: Great spotted woodpecker Redpoll Nuthatch Bullfinch Hawfinch Goldfinch (25+) Chaffinch Fieldfare Blackbird Robin House sparrow Greenfinch Yellowhammer (7) Magpie Hooded Crow Jackdaw Woodpigeon Waxwing (20 Hooded Crow Blue tit Great tit
A flock of 8 hawfinches, a couple of nuthatches, 20 goldfinches, chaffinches, greenfinches and blue and great Tits made for colourful views in the garden today!
The Goldfinches (stillits) are back. They are winter visitors here and, as far as I know, it isn’t known where these birds breed, perhaps in the Baltic states /Finland, moving westwards to overwinter in our warmer weather! These beautiful birds started appearing in my garden some 15 years ago as I grew and saved seed … Continue reading The Goldies are back!