A Changing Population

During the last month, there's been a huge change in the bird population coming into our garden. The mass of birds who stayed with us through the winter have largely gone, leaving a small number of privileged pairs who continue to enjoy the food we put out.

One of the biggest changes is the loss of our siskins (above). We had six to eight on the peanut feeders for most of the winter, the most we've ever had. The Diary even designed a special feeder for them which was chaffinch-proof. We haven't seen any for several weeks but, walking along the road toward the shop, we still hear them, so they're around.

We had goldfinches galore until April. A few still visit, concentrating on the nuts, but most have dispersed. At the moment they come in singles or pairs, and there are plenty of them in the surrounding countryside. Come autumn, they'll have gathered in great flocks, feeding on the thistle seeds; and with winter, hopefully, they'll be back with us.

One major difference between this winter and last was that we've seen far more house sparrows - in previous years, we became quite excited if we saw just one. By February we were seeing three or four at a time, but they were always hopelessly outnumbered by chaffinches: on one occasion we counted over thirty chaffinches, almost plague proportions, quarrelling over their food. Our new sparrow friends have remained faithful to us, coming constantly to eat both seed and peanuts.

We have, however, gained some new visitors. There have been collared doves around The Ferry Stores for some years but they rarely ventured up this end of the village. Now we see them every day, canoodling on the chimney pots, and their distinctive coo-coo-cu call has become part of the local chorus. In the last few weeks they've started to come down to join the sparrows at the bird table.

We are still putting out some mixed seed. There seems to be a difference of opinion as to whether the birds should continue to be fed through the summer. We do it because we love watching them close to the house. Of one fact there is little doubt: the range of small birds visible around the village has increased since last year. New on our list down this end of Ormsaigbeg, along with the doves, are bull finches (not seen by us but by Ricky Clark), red polls and a flycatcher, as well as a considerable increase in the number of warblers. And we, too, think we may have heard a corncrake.