Friday, April 24, 2009

The siskin roundabout.


This month has seen the arrival of swarms of colourful siskins, one of the smaller members of the finch family. The male is a bright yellow-green with a black crown and the females are more streaked and less yellow in colour. In the breeding season they build their nests in coniferous woodland. At one time the species was confined to the pine forests of the Scottish Highlands but the 20th century practice of pine planting in Britain has greatly benefited the siskin and they are now seen more commonly throughout the country. They feed on the seeds of pine and spruce trees in Spring and early Summer although the crowd in our garden have taken a great fancy to the sunflower hearts in the feeder. Ray designed the tray underneath it to catch any food and stop it falling down onto the ground as we do not want to feed all the mice in the forest as well. The tray tends to act like a roundabout and increases in speed with the volume of birds on it...great fun to watch.


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