Charming

I managed to catch this flighty little bird by waiting for it to turn up in the tree at the back of the garden and holding my camera in front of my face ready for it to land!

The collective noun for a group of Goldfinches is charm and the charm to which this finch belonged announced its presence with their distinctive, tinkling song. Charming as they are, the word actually comes from the French for song, charme.

Notice the long pointed beak. The Goldfinch is able to use it to extract seeds from teasel heads and also from the thin holes in this niger feeder. They can nibble through these tiny seeds at an astonishing rate.

Sadly for the Goldfinch, the Victorians also enjoyed their beautiful song and trapped them in their millions for caging. The trade was not reduced until 1934 when the Wild Birds Act was introduced. Goldfinches suffered a further decline in the 1970s and 80s when herbicides severely reduced the number of weed seeds in fields.

180mm f2.8