Bullfinches

I love birds. I am not able to pick a favourite because so many birds are my favourite but these are one of my many favourites.

I love their bright colours and solid shape. Their paired behaviour is so sweet that despite myself I can feel my heart melting every time I hear the soft whistling coming through the trees. They are normally seen as a male and female pair who will keep in constant contact by whistling to one another. I once saw the female on the bird feeder by herself. She would eat a seed then whistle to her mate. When the mate was no longer audible she became agitated and quickly flew off to find him.

I made a short video of a courting pair last spring. Warning-contains scenes of cuteness.

Bullfinches are regarded as a pest as they eat the buds of fruit trees. It was still legal to trap and kill Bullfinches up until 1996 when the bird had long been on the red list and was in serious danger of being wiped out completely. The best way to keep them from your fruit trees is to grow comice pears and bramley apples as they turn their beaks up at the buds of these varieties. These two may well be responsible for the fact that my pear tree has never produced any pears but I don't mind. :-)

180mm f2.8