Siskins in the Alders

30 Tuesday Jan 2024

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birding, birdwatching, British birds, Forest Farm, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, Siskin, Siskin feeding on Alder cones

It was easy to hear their sibilant chatter (if you’ve never heard it, SoundCloud has a good recording). With their green, yellow and black colouring, they were well camouflaged so it was hard to pick them out among the Alder branches and cones. And, because of all those twigs, branches and cones, it was even harder to get photographs, which is my excuse for not getting better images of the noisy Siskins I found feeding near the Glamorgan Canal at Forest Farm Nature Reserve last week.

240130 siskin

Alder-cone-seed-nibblers

08 Monday Mar 2021

Posted by sconzani in birds, trees

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Alder, Alder cones, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Siskin, Siskin feeding on Alder cones

In yesterday’s post I mentioned the birds I’ve been seeing recently in Alder trees, in particular the Alder-cone-seed-nibbling Siskins.

210308 siskin (1) 210308 siskin (2)

At Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, in the Cwm George woodland behind Dinas Powys, at Grangemoor Park and, yesterday, at Hamadryad Park – this year the Siskins seem to be everywhere there are Alders, nibbling on seeds, squabbling with Goldfinches, hanging upside down from slender stems … it’s been a joy to watch their antics.

210308 siskin (3) 210308 siskin (4)

350/366 S s s s … Siskin

15 Tuesday Dec 2020

Posted by sconzani in birds, trees, winter

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Alder, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Carduelis spinus, Grangemoor Park, Siskin, Siskin feeding on Alder cones

Siskin (Carduelis spinus) are not finches I see very often so, when I heard their high-pitched whistles at Grangemoor Park last Saturday, I immediately looked up to try to spot them.

201215 siskin (1)

And there they were, perhaps six birds, feeding on Alder cones, high above me. There were other trees in my sightline and the light was shocking so it wasn’t easy to watch or photograph them.

201215 siskin (2)

Still, I lingered on the muddy path for 20 minutes or so, enjoying their upside-down feeding techniques, listening to their noisy interaction, enjoying the fleeting glints of yellow when the sun lit their feathers. What a treat!

201215 siskin (3)