In winter, small passerines tend to “mix flock” and it is very common to see Redpolls and Siskins feeding together along with various Tits.
Their most popular quarry is Alder, as in the winter these bare tree have last year’s mature female catkins hanging for birds to feed off. Last weekend we were at Lynford arboretum, which has a large population of Alders along the river bank that divides the arboretum from the paddock. We walked it one way and saw nothing, then walking back we noticed movement in one tree, it was several Blue Tits feeding.
We didn’t have to wait for long before another ten or so small birds arrived. Against the overcast sky identification can be tricky, but you soon get to spot the Siskin and if you keep tracking the birds jumping from branch to branch with a bit of luck you’ll see the red spot on the forehead of a Redpoll, nine times out of ten these will be Lesser, but with a bit more observation and some sunlight you may be lucky enough to get a Mealy or and Arctic.
East Anglia Year Count: 93
Life bird count: 399. Year bird count: 93. Month bird count: 45.
Photo: Lesser Redpoll (Carduelis cabaret); Siskin (Carduelis spinus)
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2 comments:
Lovely shots. I've been trying to photograph siskins and redpolls (lesser I assume, they are tiny)in my Huddersield garden Feb/March. They love the niger seed feeder, which isn't very photogenic!
Lovely shots. I've been trying to photograph siskins and redpolls (lesser I assume, they are tiny)in my Huddersield garden Feb/March. They love the niger seed feeder, which isn't very photogenic!
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