Last year, I showed one of my larger projects, where we built a covered way so that Mal my wife could sit out, rain or shine. At the same time, I made our garden into a bird friendly place, even managing to keep Vinnie the Mog off the top of the surrounding fence by the use of plastic fence capping spikes. So unless the visitors are real dim, they will have no trouble from our cat.
In summer last year we had one Goldfinch visiting our garden, but never regularly. These are one of the rather rarer birds to get to come into your garden to feed.
About a month ago, a pair of them started to turn up, raiding the niger (thistle) seed feeder. The one last year took about a quarter of a feeder full in the whole season, this pair is actually consuming a whole feeder in two days, calling in every couple of hours, from very early morning until late at night, so we suspected they had young to feed.
Well today, the two adults appeared, followed by two young, which stayed at the bottom of the garden in a tree, while the parents flew from the feeder and fed them.
So it now looks like we are classed as a safe place to be by these very shy birds.
Over the last few weeks, we have been host to the whole range of garden birds bringing in their young to be fed. This is a young starling being shown how to pick up it's own food, at one time, up to about 6 young in one tray at a time, no further than six feet away from where we sit. In fact we have a blackbird that walks in and out around our legs, picking up food, and sits outside the back door waiting to be fed, first thing in the morning.
And this is our pride and joy this year, a breeding pair of goldfinches coming for a feeding session.
Mal sits outside, sometimes from about 5 in the morning until late at night, just getting enjoyment from watching the visitors to our garden.
The best project ever that I have done.
Bogs
