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Still no Goldfinches! (1 Viewer)

david2004

Well-known member
As I have said before in my previous post I put out nyjer seed in a nyjer feeder hoping to attract goldfinches and maybe siskins. (http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=20569)

It's been at least 8 weeks, and nothing has touched the seed except for a quick peck from a Blue Tit or Greenfinch waiting for the nut feeder to be free from bigger birds. Are there actually any Goldfinches and Siskins in Kent, and does anyone know why I have never seen one? HELP!
 
A bit too early. Keep at it and just wait for the Autumn and Winter, then you'll get your rewards.... maybe a Redpoll as well ;)
Andy
 
Some people seem to report instant results with nyjer attracting Goldfinches. So I suppose it depends if they are already in the area. We persevered with it for about seven months before they started visiting. The other day we had three adults and three juveniles which makes it worth the effort.

Best of luck!
Des.
 
Having been very popular during the winter, the nyjer is being ignored now - sunflower hearts are the flavour of the season. I'm wondering if it could be something to do with varying nourishment requirements at different times of the year.
 
We're finding the same, we only have two or three Goldies at the moment. Come Autumn and Winter we get 20+ queuing to get on the feeders.

There are loads of them in the countryside cloe by, so I'm sure they will be retuning soon.

Give it a while longer.
 
just to echo what everyone else has said;

1 This is the one time of the year when food is plentiful and there is no need to fly to your garden

2 Goldfinches stick together in flocks and it will then take a short while for your local flock(s) to find your feeder.

It took months when I first put mine out and now I need 2 for the winter to cope with the demand. I have also had to hang a circle of green coated garden mesh around the feeders as the local sparrowhawks soon get accustomed to their new "goldfinch feeder" given the goldfinches tend to sit there for long periods oblivious to the danger! The wire prevents them snatching goldfinches on a quick "flypast" which I had witnessed on at least 2 occassions. The mesh blends in and introduces some uncertainty in the hawks mind giving the goldfinches a second to escape.
 
It was almost a year after putting out nyger seed before I saw my first goldfinch. The most I had in the spring at one time was 12. No sign of them this week though, and only two at most over the past month or so. Don't give up, they will come eventually!
 
It was almost a year after putting out nyger seed before I saw my first goldfinch. The most I had in the spring at one time was 12. No sign of them this week though, and only two at most over the past month or so. I am convinced what finally caught their attention though was the fact that I stuck lots of teasels into a flower bed that I collected, the goldies appeared almost instantly, worth a try maybe if you can get hold of any (I was lucky as there is a whole plantation of them at a nearby beach)
 
My gut feeling is that putting out nyger seed doesn't make that much difference. They are more than happy with sunflower hearts, and if they've located your garden and know there's a supply of sunflower hearts there, they will be just as happy and ready to visit as if you've gone in for the nyger seed and feeder.

I'm not sure whether I agree with Tony Knight who says they will come when they start flocking and that it isn't yet time for that. All spring and summer I've had a pair, and sometimes two pairs (but never more) come to the feeders around half a dozen times a day, and they are still doing it with the same regularity. Several of my friends have the same experience.

Alan Hill
 
My garden has had no birds for last couple of days wondered if they are moulting (I call it gone on their hols. to Blackpool, silly me). Seems to happen they go missing about this time each year looking at my BTO garden bird records.

Time to get food, stocked up again, Goldfinches here definitely prefer sunflower hearts to nijer, feeders emptied and cleaned ready and waiting for them all to come back soon.

Ann
 
I'm not sure whether I agree with Tony Knight who says they will come when they start flocking and that it isn't yet time for that. All spring and summer I've had a pair, and sometimes two pairs (but never more) come to the feeders around half a dozen times a day, and they are still doing it with the same regularity. Several of my friends have the same experience.

Alan Hill[/QUOTE]

Alan

certainly they are the commonest bird in my garden in winter (frequently 12+ at a time) but almost non existent every year in late summer. That is despite the fact that sunflower seeds are also on offer 24 x 7. They have a choice when they visit and show only passing interest in the sunflower hearts if the nyger seed is there.

I have to top up the feeders every couple of days in winter but no need in summer - currently I have not topped up for > a month. This must be down to the fact that there is a good natural seed supply and they have no need to fly from the local parks/scrub to my garden. Once this is used up they are back again !

Perhaps it depends on geography ie how far you are from their preferred habitat ?

Tony
 
Thanks for everyone's helpful advice, but talking to older residents in Kent, they have said they haven't seen a Goldfinch for 20 years! Are they still found in Kent? That also goes for other birds I've never seen here, such as Goldcrests, Whitethroats and warblers (apart from Chfifchaff - saw my first out the front 3 days ago!)
 
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