Thursday, January 7, 2010

Visitors to my garden pt 3... Bullfinch

BULLFINCH
The drawback to bird gardening is that you can only enjoy the results when the birds allow you to!
 I burnt my breakfast this morning, trying to get a photo of  the first Bullfinch I have seen in my garden this year. Needless to say I failed, he sat just out of range until the smoke wafted out of the kitchen and reminded me of the task in hand . By the time  i had rescued the sausages he had disappeared.
But I supose that is part of the attraction of trying to attract birds to my garden, there is always an element of surprise.
The male Bullfinchhas a black cap and chin, blue-black wings with a mark of pink on each wing, the back is pale blue-grey and the rump white. The underparts are a rich pink. The female is much paler, with a browner back. Juveniles are like browner females with no black cap.
The Bullfinch will spend most of it's time in hedges, thickets,shrubberies,bushy gardens and woodland with thick undergrowth. The nest is made in a thick hedge and 4-5 eggs are laid in May. they will hatch in 12-14 days and the young will leave the nest after 12-16 days.
Diet consists of mainly seeds, berries and buds. The young are reared on caterpillars.

2 comments:

  1. I admire folks that can get great bird photos - I still have to achieve that - for now most of my bird photos have not been very good. I just don't have the time to sit for long periods of time waiting for them - plus I need to figure out the best setting on the camera for fast moving objects.

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  2. Hello,

    I think much of the attraction people have for viewing birds, is that it is not always easy ;-)

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