I had been ticking over with about 40 until the beginning of this week when there was a sudden jump in numbers to about 80 - presumably birds returning north were attracted by the regular flock. Numbers have then fallen and I`m down to the last 25. I shall miss their noisy presence, though not the need to shovel out the sunflower hearts...
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An invasion of siskins (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Elizabeth Bigg
- Start date
Darren Oakley-Martin
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Report I received from RSPB, The Lodge, Sandy on Saturday:
'Siskins everywhere'
'Siskins everywhere'
songbird6666
Registered User
Well I've still only got my three! One male, two females, feeding on the peanuts all day nearly. They ignore the sunflower hearts and niger!
Ever since putting a small nyjer feeder in my garden, Siskins have been very regular visitors and they seem to visit all year round. I don't get a lot, maybe about 10 max. Originally put it up to attract Goldfinches and they do visit occasionally but nothing like as regularly as the Siskins. I also see the odd bullfinch taking an interest sometimes but that is quite rare. The funniest thing was a Collared Dove balancing precariously on the feeder at the weekend having a go too!
Gill Osborne
Well-known member
Haven't had any Siskins in my garden yet but today I saw my first Siskin in about FIVE years!!! Unbelievable I know!!! Saw two, male and female, at Wallington Hall in Northumberland...over the moon with them!
GILL
GILL
RockyRacoon
Well-known member
Where can I see Siskins?
44 Siskins! I've never seen one! Let alone in my Garden, I do live in an area where it is very unlikely to see any Siskins, our surrounding nature reserve has three conifers, could anyone give me any information on reserves where I could find some? Thanks!
Elizabeth Bigg said:
44 Siskins! I've never seen one! Let alone in my Garden, I do live in an area where it is very unlikely to see any Siskins, our surrounding nature reserve has three conifers, could anyone give me any information on reserves where I could find some? Thanks!
Hi Jake,
If you can identify an alder tree then you have a great chance in winter as sometimes fairly large flocks come to feed on the cones in a stand of alder trees. I have some reliable sites nearby and this species is such a delight to both watch and particularly hear with their wheezing, straining notes interspersed with sweet trilling. Jake, they don't visit alder trees outside of winter and instead tend to rely on larger stands of conifers in Northern woods and forests. However they would be harder to see at this time of year, owing to the habitat change. Good luck !
If you can identify an alder tree then you have a great chance in winter as sometimes fairly large flocks come to feed on the cones in a stand of alder trees. I have some reliable sites nearby and this species is such a delight to both watch and particularly hear with their wheezing, straining notes interspersed with sweet trilling. Jake, they don't visit alder trees outside of winter and instead tend to rely on larger stands of conifers in Northern woods and forests. However they would be harder to see at this time of year, owing to the habitat change. Good luck !
RockyRacoon
Well-known member
AnnieW said:
Hi Annie I saw a Redpoll around my area, this one seemed to stick with the Linnets.
Tanny
Well-known member
Hi Elizabeth, great thread on the Siskin. I've had the odd one or two on the niger seeds this past winter, videoed them. Two days ago I visited Lake Vyrnwy in North Wales and the R.S.P.B. bird hide there had a dozed Siskin feeding on niger seeds, obviously this is their favourite food and must contribute to their increase. I will try to put the picture in the gallery but I think I will have trouble as its not Jpeg.
Elizabeth Bigg
Addicted member
That's another bit of my morning gone - I just had to go back and read it all again! The last time we had a siskin in the garden (all alone) was between April 4th and 10th, from my BTO record for week 2 of the spring count.
I still have a 12½kg sack of niger seed in the hall, and ½ to ¾ of another sack in the kitchen!!! I can't keep them in the garage, unless I buy a fourth bin, because we have mice in there. With a tripod and camcorder behind me in the study, and a mini video camera on the scope-on-tripod in the sitting room I have a feeling that the birds have taken over the house.
I still have a 12½kg sack of niger seed in the hall, and ½ to ¾ of another sack in the kitchen!!! I can't keep them in the garage, unless I buy a fourth bin, because we have mice in there. With a tripod and camcorder behind me in the study, and a mini video camera on the scope-on-tripod in the sitting room I have a feeling that the birds have taken over the house.
