A goldfinch awaits its turn for sunflower seeds

More meetings today and most importantly the Lansdown Hall Working Group which I have chaired for the last five years.  We are in the middle of a   contract to build a new extension to the rear of the building  which should be completed in about four weeks.  Then another contract will start to do a variety of repairs to the stonework, replace the gutters and downpipes using new and improved design, more insulation into the roof structure and the replacement of the windows and frames of the Bank Gardens side of the building, which I blipped two days ago.   The windows are a very important job which require a re-design of their frames with new double-glazed units, all of which also need to support the stone surrounds which are not in good condition.

When I got home this afternoon I was quite exhausted and rather suffering from having twisted my knee, so that I can't go on a jaunt tomorrow to the Gardener's World show at the NEC in Birmingham.

I sat in the warm sunshine on the patio and having replenished the feeders  I watched all the young fledged birds arrive with their parents to learn how to use the sunflower seed feeders which hang from the rhus tree.  I saw loads of tits of various sorts, several bullfinches, a robin  and four nuthatches which came from two different directions indicating two different families, which is excellent news.  

But I was particularly pleased to see this goldfinch stopping by.  We used to have quite a flock usually called a 'charm of goldfinches', but their numbers are down.  Bomble brought a dead one into the house earlier in the year, although I am not sure whether he killed it, or if he found the body and pretended to be the killer.  

With luck there will be some new members of the goldfinch family to bring their beautiful chirruping song to the garden and charm me with their beautiful colours and good looks.