I hope you enjoyed reading ‘Urban Birder’ David Lindo’s latest piece for Birds magazine on his encounters with bullfinches. If you haven’t read it yet, do turn to page 77 of the Spring 2012 issue.
We asked you to let us know about your own experiences with these chunky finches in the magazine, so I thought I’d share one of my experiences with bullfinches to help get things rolling.
It’s always nerve racking meeting your partner’s parents for the first time, but even more so when you make that first trip to go and stay at their house. Amidst desperately trying to avoid all those social faux pas and remembering my manners on that first weekend in Yorkshire, my eyes were drawn to the bird feeders hanging outside.
Remembering that it is probably quite rude to stare out of the window when I should be making that all important first impression, all hope went out the window (literally) when a rose-breasted vision of beauty dressed in a silver jacket dropped down onto one of the seed feeders: a bullfinch!
From that first encounter forth, it has always been a pleasure to go and visit my girlfriend’s parents, Sue and Graham, because up to two pairs of bullfinches are a near constant presence in both front and back gardens. I should also state that it is also a pleasure to visit Sue and Graham because they are sparkling company and excellent hosts. The finches are merely a bonus! Waking up to the finches’ soft ‘peeuh’ calls outside the window is a very pleasant experience indeed. They are often the first birds I see each day.
As David says in his feature, bullfinches are sadly so much rarer now, making sightings like these even more precious.
Does your home for nature, include a place for bullfinches?
What do your bullfinches do?I’m not lucky enough to have bullfinches coming to my feeders in my garden, but it would be great to hear from anyone who does. Please let us know by posting a comment below (you’ll need to register on the RSPB Community first), or emailing Nature's Home magazine at natureshome@rspb.org.uk and I'll add your stories to the blog.
Barbara sent this email into the Birds magazine inbox:
Yes I have seen bullfinches towards the end of 2011 but only singly and not on more than three occasions. I live in a rural position with a smallish garden backing onto a railway line but this in turn is skirted by trees and fields, I am about 5 miles south of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, not far from the Emley Moor TV mast. So there are mainly open fields and countryside around. A beautiful spot, I am very lucky and see a variety of birds including long tailed, great, blue and coal tits, finches, greater spotted woodpeckers and the delightful dunnocks and house sparrows. I rarely see a blackbird nowadays and miss their beautiful song.
Linda sent this email into the Birds magazine inbox:
I am a subscriber to Birds magazine and saw the article regarding sightings of Bullfinches, well since Christmas I have seen one it has visited 3 times at the hanging feeder I have out, which I can see from my bedroom window, as I live in a bungalow I can see the birds come every morning. Not only the Bullfinch but I also have a pair of Blackbirds a pair of Dunnocks also Blue Tits and Great Tits, Collard Doves, also several Robins who fight over the territory.
When I first saw the Bullfinch I wasn't sure what it was so I looked in my trusty Bird book, and there it was I could not believe what a beautiful bird it was until I saw one for real.
Keep up the good work you are all doing for Nature.
My property backs on to a small conservation area so we can watch the birds building their nests in Spring, and bring their young to the gardens to feed when they have fledged.
Graham G sent this email into the Birds magazine mailbox:
I have a number of feeding stations in my garden, surrounded by trees and small bushes. It's a good, safe site for birds so I get lots of customers. In the very cold winter of two years ago, I had new birds coming to the feeders. These included a mob of long-tailed tits (great fun to watch) and a pair of bullfinches. Last winter, in the snow again, only a male bullfinch turned up, feeding but looking very solitary. This year, even in this mild weather, two pairs of bullfinches are regular visitors. It's quite clear who's boss in each pair and it's not the brightly-coloured one!
Tudor sent this email into the Birds magazine mailbox:
We occasionally see a few bullfinches every year in our garden usually during December – February. Since Christmas we have seen a couple of males and a female feeding on the remaining berries on our Rowan tree and then moving to eating the buds on our honeysuckle which has just started to bud due to the mild weather. Always a great sight brightening up any dull or overcast day
Margaret sent this email into the Birds magazine mailbox:
I have a gravel path in my garden and had allowed White clover (Trifolium repens) to grow as it is rich in nectar. Late summer I was sitting in the garden when I heard a rasping sound - a pair of bullfinches were pulling away at the dead flowers/seed heads to get at the seeds - another excuse for not weeding out the clover!