Our garden list has expanded lately, since the arrival of Siskins for the first time in seventeen years we now have regular visits to the seed bowl of some delightful Crested Tits. We have seen them previously in the pine trees near our house but this is the first time they have actually come onto the terrace and taken seeds.
Crested Tit - lophophanes cristatus
The one on the right here appears to be offering or at least showing a seed to his companion but I didn't see any acceptance of the proffered gift, in fact the bird on the left looks a bit taken aback by it.
Crested Tit - lophophanes cristatus
Great Tits are another regular species attracted to the feeders at this time of year, this one looking quite imperious on the perch. It is however a long time since we have seen any Blue Tits, they used to visit infrequently but now not at all. Also the number of House Sparrows has declined drastically to virtually none, strange.
Great Tit - parus major
Greenfinches on the other hand are prolific, the most numerous of all the birds on our terrace. I suspect Elena's restaurant supports the entire local population which has increased year-on-year with the ready supply of food on demand.
Greenfinches - chloris chloris
Another notable visitor to the pine trees just beyond our boundary is the Long-tailed Tit. A sizable flock passed through one morning this week and I managed a couple of hurried shots, this little bird is always on the move and is hard to get a bead on.
Long-tailed Tit - aegithalos caudatus
It is a great pleasure to observe the continuing presence of Siskins amongst the feeding flocks. As I said earlier this is the first year this species has shown up here.
Siskin - carduelis spinus
