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That moment when your favourite bird settles in the area

RubyLeafRubyLeaf Posts: 260
in Wildlife gardening
I love the Goldfinch, even before I saw one irl. One afternoon in at my grandparents in the countryside, I saw my first one. I never saw once since that day 8 years ago, until last year. I don't get a great deal of bird species where I am, and not nearly as many as where I once lived. So when I heard an unfamiliar bird I scramble to the internet. Couldn't quite pin point it though! Then a few days later I saw it at the bottom, too far for me to accurately see anything but flashes of white or were they yellow? The next day I saw it in the trees, and once again unable to see it. But at last, as I was sitting on the step I saw it go on one of our bird feeders. It was a male Goldfinch! He became a semi regular visitor throughout the summer/Autumn, and even brought some of his buddies.

This year? I hear its call again. One evening I heard it fly and looked up in time to see a large group. Perhaps I'll be lucky to see a family of them. I may not get tons of birds, but I have my favourite bird, and I'm grateful :)

How about you?
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  • paul_in_surreypaul_in_surrey Posts: 239
    Congratulations RubyLeaf. I adore the Goldies too. It took quite a long time initially for them to visit our feeders (I bought a nyger feeder especially), but once they did they've been coming back every day, and forming a semi-orderly queue along the branch where the feeder hangs. They're monkeys with the other feeders though, and like to sit on the seed feeder chucking everything on the ground, though the Blackbrid and Woodpigeon mop up the spillage. I've learned there's no such thing as No-Mess Birdfood. In the recent snow there was an odd black halo under the nyger feeder where they chucked the seed around.
    “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” Winston Churchill
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Lots of people find that the Goldfinches like the nyger seeds, but around here they ignore them and love sunflower hearts.

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





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  • Dave HumbyDave Humby Posts: 1,145
    Dovefromabove said:
    Lots of people find that the Goldfinches like the nyger seeds, but around here they ignore them and love sunflower hearts.
    I tried for months with sunflower hearts and nothing. Put out a nyger feeder and bingo within a couple of days we had them visiting and feeding and we've had visitors ever since. At my folks, which is only a couple of miles away, they don't touch the nyger seeds but love the sunflower hearts!
  • Allotment BoyAllotment Boy Posts: 6,774
    RL we felt the same way about a Fieldfare in the snowy weather, we have seen them up at the farm several winters but they only visit our garden in the most severe weather so this year it made the bad conditions worth it. We too have had goldfinches ever since I put out a sunflower heart mealworm crumble mix!
    AB Still learning

  • YviestevieYviestevie Posts: 7,066
    I've tried nyger seeds but no sign.  Might give sunflower hearts a go.
    Hi from Kingswinford in the West Midlands
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I tried nyger for ages and nothing happened. Swapped to sunflower hearts and now we have dozens every day. No other finches though.
  • Guernsey Donkey2Guernsey Donkey2 Posts: 6,713
    We tried nyger seeds - first year we had two goldfinches and were delighted to see them - the following year we had 4 and last year we had about 12 - 14 (two families of them). Since then we have been putting out sunflower hearts too and find that the g.f. like both types of seed. Their colours are beautiful and we are so lucky to have them here.
  • Valley GardenerValley Gardener Posts: 2,851
    I love all the birds,but my favourite is the Oyster Catcher,which of course I won't see in my garden! My dad's favourite,the Bullfinch has been a few times,and I thought I saw the flash of yellow the other day! My neighbour has assured me there are Goldfinches in the small wood at the bottom of the garden,so now keeping an eye out!🐦
    The whole truth is an instrument that can only be played by an expert.
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    I gave up on nyger seeds last year as the goldfinches made such a mess and swapped to hulled sunflower seeds which doesn't seed underneath.  Our latest visitor though for a week or so every day is a large cock pheasant (we are opposite a wood). He just stands on the lawn, looking a bit sad and calls all day, presumably to attract a mate. Today I'd had enough of the noise, so tried to chase him off the lawn - he walked through the border and hopped down onto the drive, I ran back and down the drive, he hopped back up and onto the lawn, I ran back down the drive and repeated the whole exercise three times! I gave up, result - pheasant 1, gardener nil. 
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
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