Look out for a flash of colour
Sun-soaked summer picnics and the Chancellor’s meal deals in pub beer gardens were still delighting families when the first heralds of winter appeared overhead.
Early August with its glorious blue skies and temperatures topping 30C now seems a hazy dream, but some of our most delightful finches were already on the move to survive the harshest season on the calendar.
Siskins are one of those much-welcome birds that bring flashes of colour during the dreary days of February, when nature’s harvest has dwindled and survival hangs in the balance.
Indeed, balancing life’s challenges is very much part of a siskin’s daily routine. With the agility of blue tits, these cousins of the goldfinch are adept at hanging upside down to pick at pine seeds high up in conifers.
A century ago, siskins were found in Scotland’s Caledonian Forest, but their numbers expanded with the growth of timber plantations and the success story continued when feeding wild birds became popular.
Garden feeders topped with niger seed and sunflower hearts have proved successful at drawing siskins and goldfinches into the midst of suburbia.
Participants in the British Trust for Ornithology’s (BTO) Garden Birdwatch Survey have been monitoring such behaviour over the past 25 years, but this autumn is witnessing unusual influxes.
My first indication of siskins being on the move came during a picnic in the Chiltern Hills during the school summer holidays.
Swallows and swifts were still cutting a dash over the chalk grasslands but then came the distinctive sound of flocks of siskins as they dashed across blue skies.
Maybe they were post-nesting parties heading away from Breckland forest, or perhaps early arrivals from Scandinavia.
But whatever their origins, BTO researchers suspect the movement relates to the lack of conifer seeds in the siskins’ natural haunts.
They predict that this winter and spring will be bumper times for these emerald jewels to be spotted in our gardens.
Anyone can take part in BTO Garden BirdWatch and submit their observations to the BTO. It is free and a great way to entertain children as well as delivering valuable science (bto.org).
These cousins of the goldfinch hang upside down to pick at pine seeds