stevethehydra
Well-known member
Saw these last weekend (20th September) near Grindleford in the Peak District. There was a large flock (maybe 50+) of birds that struck me as very small (like Blue Tit/Chiffchaff sort of size), and because there was low sun behind them I couldn't make out much else beyond that they had forked tails, until I managed to get an angle with other trees behind the tree they were in (I have several other photos that are basically just silhouettes, although having seen what people manage to get out of similar photos by lightening them on this forum, I wonder if they might yield some identifiable details that way...)
I don't know if it was a single-species or mixed-species flock, but it seemed quite tightly organised - every time I moved a few steps to find a new angle to take a photo from, they all flew up in unison and then settled down again within seconds.
Going through the photos now there are a couple of obvious male Siskins, but I'm much less sure about the browner birds, many of which show no hint of green/yellow... and particularly confused by the one that seems yellowish but with a rusty/reddish "cap"... are these all Siskins of various plumages, or is there anything else in there?
I don't know if it was a single-species or mixed-species flock, but it seemed quite tightly organised - every time I moved a few steps to find a new angle to take a photo from, they all flew up in unison and then settled down again within seconds.
Going through the photos now there are a couple of obvious male Siskins, but I'm much less sure about the browner birds, many of which show no hint of green/yellow... and particularly confused by the one that seems yellowish but with a rusty/reddish "cap"... are these all Siskins of various plumages, or is there anything else in there?