For a very long time know i have wanted to see a Bullfinch but i have never had the luck :( Which is why, as u would all agree i am extatic this morning. As i was watchin gthe birds from my usual spot, friut and fibre in one hand orange juice in the other two newbies landed on my sunflowe seeds. I knew right away they were bullfinches but i wouldnt believe it until i got the bins on them, so i ran upstairs as quick as poss and managed to get the bins out the back window, and there they was 2 beautiful bullfinches!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldnt believe it, all the time ive spent looking for some and they came to me lol!
My question is though, will they come back? and what seed do they like??
Thank you, Owain
That is brilliant Owain, I am so pleased for you.
I have been feeding the birds for years and, funnily enough, spotted my first bullfinch a couple of weeks ago. They are beautiful birds and I was thrilled to see them. (I say them because while watching the male I spotted a female just behined a young ash tree. They were eating sunflower hearts. However, I haven't seen them since......:-( hopefully someone more experienced will answer your question, then I may be able to tempt them back again.
I did get a photo but a very poor one as they were right down the bottom of the garden.
Kind regards Jane.
You jammy sod, mate!
I've been waiting for most of my life to see one and never have. The closest I got was when I was a lad and found one on the road, hit by a car and freshly killed. I couldn't count that as a live sighting and have never had the pleasure to see one since. Good on ya.
Colin.
On earth there is no heaven, but there are pieces of it - Jules Renard
Cheers guys, sorry to rub it in lol.
Yeh they are the most beautiful british bird!! Hopefully urs will return jef and im hopeing mine will too!! well if you saw them eating sunflower hearts and i saw them eating sunflower seeds im guessing they like sunflower products lol.
I would say ur allowed to call that a sighting even though he wasnt alive you still saw one lol. Im told if u learn their call they are easy to find (even though i did do this and still couldnt find them lol) so maybe if u try that u might have some luck!! fingers crossed.
Thanks again!!
We have a regular pair in our garden, which joins onto a wood, but we also see them because of the fruit farms around, as they do like to eat the buds of the fruit trees. As you have found, they will eat sunflower hearts. I hope they become regular visitors for you.
I thought I'd post the photos anyway, the male is to the right of the picture and the female can be seen on the left lurking at the base of the tree. The other photo is just of the male.
Brill. if mine return i will do my best to get a pic, i doubt ill be ready for it though lol. the male and female are so hard to tell apart!! how do you do it from such a distance?
I was actually watching the birds in the garden through my binocculars, when I spotted the bullfinch. I checked in my bird book after I had taken the photo, I did get a reasonable view of the female through the binocculars. I tried to memorise things like beak shape, any special colouring, leg colour etc. because I have only seen the male bullfinch once before, so I am not familiar with them at all.
I took the photos as quickly as possible which is another reason they are not very good.
I can spot a male or female chaffinch from miles away because we get loads in our garden and you just get to know them ! (miles away is a slight exaggeration, but you know what I mean) :-)
Great news on the Bullfinches, Owain! Fingers crossed they will come back for you - it seems in terms of feeder foods they like sunflower seeds. I've never had them in the garden - although recently spotted them on the walkway, they're simply stunning! Hopefully they'll follow the other finches that have started visiting me :o)
The male Bullfinch stands out a lot more than the female, well in my opinion at least :o)
Wonderful news Owain. You must be over the moon, and now they know you have sunflower seeds they may be back. Just have that camera ready and with you all the time!
Cheers, Linda.
See my photos on Flickr
Good news, they came back!!!!!!! though it was very early this morning and i wasnt up but my partner saw them!!!!!! So unfortunately i still havent managed a picture but im gunna keep trying!!!!