More Goldfinches and other back garden news

We've had more Goldfinches in the garden. They seem to love the Evening Primrose seeds, but have now found the Nyger seed feeder that I put out for them. It's been in the garden since the summer and I'd never seen anything on it until yesterday when there were at least four Goldfinches using it. They're very delicate little birds, sitting on the rim of the feeder, carefully plucking tiny seeds out of the small holes in the side of the feeder. Hope they stay around the garden for the winter.

Using the Nyger seed feeder (at last)

The Evening Primrose seeds seem to be a favourite and first attracted the
Goldfinches to the garden

The bird cake I made earlier in the week also seems to be going down well. I covered some pine cones and stuck them in a flower pot. The Magpies and Blackbirds seem to really like those.

 

 

We seem to have a lot of Blackbirds in the garden at the moment. We had a lot of babies this summer, so they may all be related. The female Blackbirds seem to be much darker than they were during the summer - must be their winter plumage.

 

Mrs Blackbird looking very 'black'

The Sparrow family have been spending a lot of time in the little Acer by the patio. They must have found some seeds, because they're enjoying something in there.

Sparrows in the Acer

The squirrels are still around, enjoying the birds peanuts. They are quite cute and make me laugh when they hang upside down from a branch, leap through the trees and run along the fence. I saw one drinking out of the bird bath this morning - it looked like a little dog lapping water out of its bowl.