I have just set up my bird feeder ready for the winter. I've had major work done to my garden so I had to take it down for a few months. I really love watching the birds feeding from it, although I have had problems in the past with the food attracting unwanted visitors like rats. so I will have to keep an eye out for them.
A few years ago we had a large conservatory built on to our house. A conservatory, for those who aren't British, is a glass sun room. It's been great for me as I can sit in it and enjoy the sun and daylight even in the winter months. Our lounge is quite dark. I also like to look up at the clouds passing by. The roof has been tinted blue, so I'm always looking at blue tinted sky. The conservatory has a large picture window which I like to sit next to, and I've positioned the birdfeeder quite close to it so that I can see my garden visitors.
This morning was treated to a visit from a family of Goldfinches. Goldfinches are my favourite British birds, however they seem to have declined in number in recent years. I used to see flocks of them, particularly in the winter, when I was growing up, but I rarely see any these day. So I was extremely happy to see this family appear in my garden this morning. In fact I had to look twice, they were so unexpected.
These birds always remind me of my childhood as they often used to visit our garden, to feed on seeds. I love their red faces and the bright yellow streaks on their wings. Although they are small, they are among the more colourful birds that visit our gardens in the UK.
I would have loved to have taken some closeups but my camera isn't good enough. Also, these had to be taken through the window so there are reflections in some of them. I had thought about getting the camera right against the glass, but these birds are very shy so I would almost certainly have frightened them away had I got any closer. But I think these are better than nothing.
I'm hoping that they will become regular visitors to my garden. A second-hand DSLR camera is on my list of things to buy. Maybe Santa will be kind to me this year.