Goldfinches

https://images52.fotki.com/v1211/pho...SCF9257-vi.png

Fledgling and parent.

Nice, we have some in the garden and the fields around, too.

Best
Jens

They are a delight! We also have siskins, greenfinches, bluetits coaltits and great tits to brighten up our day.

I used to get loads of them on my Niger seed feeder but, for whatever reason, they currently don't seem to like it. Very sad. :cry:
I have photos of my feeder with several Goldfinches on there that I can look at as a memory. :)

My goldfinches went off niger seeds too, but they're queuing up for sunflower hearts!

once, I had a goldfinch too...

https://live.staticflickr.com/4493/3...eb86a5b3_b.jpg

he came from germany and went to mexico.

c.

https://images20.fotki.com/v207/phot...SCF9272-vi.png

Our resident herring gull couple. Herring gulls mate for life but I think this may be her second marriage as she (on the right) is an older bird and he looks to be in the full flush of youth. He's a toy boy. Gulls are not universally popular. One of the newspapers, The Star - an adult comic - even has a drive to eradicate them. They are well-liked in this seaport. When incomers complain about the noise they make or the fact that they shit on cars the usual answer here is, "If you don't like seagulls why did you move to a fishing town?" Here they are known as scorries and the local football team is colloquially called after them.

They can be a problem, though I've never heard of a gull snatching food from someone's hand here. Ours are better behaved. The reason they are a problem is that we have fished out the seas and there's no food for them there. Also, people eat in the street and drop the remains of their food wherever they happen to be, encouraging the seagulls. Open land-fills are another problem that the seagulls did not make.

I like seagulls. They are long-lived (around 40 years), intelligent and adaptable. The stupid among us blame them for our faults.

I have to say I'm less keen on Herring Gulls than Goldfinches. :blink:
I don't mind not having any of those in my garden. :)

As I said, they're not to everyone's taste. They are declining in numbers, like all seabirds. While they are in no danger of extinction they suffer from the Panda Syndrome, where people are concerned and generous about the decline of pretty or cuddly animals but don't care about the less attractive ones.

The goldfinches were, for long, too attractive for their own good, being captured and sold as cage birds until they became rare in Britain. Thank goodness for sensible legislation.

I just read a tagline on the news that said Thailand are going to close all of their parks for two months every year because of the fact that wildlife has done so well during the pandemic. Hopefully, prospective visitors will know when this might happen before they book. :)

I saw some great videos of feral goats wandering round towns during the lockdown. Bad for one species, good for others!

https://images15.fotki.com/v1669/pho...MG_6846-vi.jpg

Frankie at the window letting me know it's feeding time. When isn't it? It drives the cat mad.