Goldfinches and common blue

Goldfinches pass through our garden every day, but recently a pair of goldfinches have been visiting. I have caught a quick glimpse of them in the bird bath from time to time.

This morning I noticed a pair of goldfinches feeding in the track next to our house.

Not long a go the track was full of dandelions which went to see and blew everywhere. Maybe some of the seeds are still laying on the ground.

Later on in the afternoon a common blue butterfly was feeding just over our garden wall on the same track.

We often get holly blue butterflies in the garden, difficult to distinguish unless they settle. You can see the top and under wing markings in this picture

Drizzly day activity

It drizzled with rain yesterday, but I was surprised to see the black female bee still visiting the flowers. She disappeared just before the heavy showers and re-appeared afterwards. A pair of goldfinch were feeding in the apple tree in the garden behind ours.

Another drizzly day and the goldfinches were in the apple tree several times today. At one point, one of the goldfinch spent a long time preening its feathers.

This may be pair considering nesting as they seem to do a fair amount of singing from the same TV ariels, chimney and tree top.

A blue tit crossed from the apple tree to the bird-fat ball hanging at the end of the garden. Anyone who has been following this blog will remember that this was an attempt to encourage birds into the garden. Many birds pass the end of our garden on a flight path but as our garden is shorter they don't come into the garden in large numbers. This has had limited success. The thing with birds and bird feeders is they may take months to discover them and then become a regular feeding stop off. So when you start to pout food out for birds, its worth persevering

I also noticed a chiffchaff foraging in the apple tree. The male blackbird seemed to be collecting food today, possibly for the female if she is on a nest.

Birds in Easthill Park, Portslade Old Village

On the way to the post office I passed through Easthill Park. I took a slight detour to walk through the small wooded area at the north end of the park. The area is small but dense and many birds pass through this area. A small flock of 5 blue tits passed by foraging in the high branches. I also noticed a group of three chaffinch squabbling in the branches just above the leaf litter. Even though I walked slowly, I could not help disturb the occasional blackbird, perfectly camouflaged in the half light of the leaf litter. The first I knew of them was the rattling alarm call as they flew off staying low to the ground. 2 goldfinches were feeding on a few remaining tree seeds high in the branches, probably part of a larger foraging group. I came across a single blue tit preening its feathers (see below).



Blue tit


Goldfinch


Also of note were a pair of robins and 2 thrushes. I caught a glimpse of what might have been a red wing through the branches, but too far off to be sure. Red wing are winter visitors often seen in parks and gardens in very cold weather. It appears that locally they tend to be mainly found in the surrounding countryside and move into parks and gardens for shelter when the weather is very bad. (See also earlier posting Wednesday 30 th January). I also observed a cormorant flying over the park, an unusual sight in Portslade Old Village as we are a fair distance from the sea or any rivers.

On the way back through the park I came across a male blackbird having a wash in a puddle on the path.

Damselflies and goldfinch

Yesterday's observations. I managed to chase two damselflies (clasped together) out of the conservatory. If not they end up dead behind the curtain. They flew off across the garden and formed the heartshape courtship position.
About 10 minutes later they flew off, still clasped together to the pond. There were three pairs laying eggs in the pond and several single damselflies.
In the evening, while I was watering he garden, I noticed a goldfinch singing from TV ariel across the road. It would fly off to the tree behind our house and back again. There was a quick squabbling with another goldfinch.


This morning the goldfinch was singing from the same tv ariel. As I walked our daughter to school I noticed both great tits and at least one coal tit in the trees outside the local school. As we reached Easthill we saw a thrush with nestingmaterials in its beak fly over the wall and into the walled garden. I had a look on the way back. I did not see the thrush but there was a beautiful robin singing. A warbler of some kind was singing from a high branch but I could not tell what speies because of the angle.


Back home and the goldfinch was singing from another tv ariel alternating with tree top end of garden. I went up stairs and got a clear view from the loft window. (The goldfinch was not visible from the ground).

This evening I noticed a baby grasshopper on the lawn out the back

Gold and Greenfinch

A row of tall trees along the roadside just north of Easthill Park are used as a meeting place for both goldfinch and greenfinch before they head off to roost. The goldfinch and greenfinch appear to stick to adjacent trees instead of mixing. They are very noisy and difficult to miss. However, up in the top most branches they can easily be mistaken for sparrows by passers by.

There were about 12 goldfinches as I past at 3.20pm (on my way to pick our daughter up from school). The adjacent tree had about 30 greenfinches. As I watched a flock of noisy starlings descended into the next tree along. Goldfinches really are beautiful birds and this is a good time to spot then as they travel around in small noisy groups. Goldfinches will also visit gardens at this time of the year. They are particularly fond of the black sunflower seeds. These goldfinches appeared to glow as they caught the last rays of the sun