Siskin

It was another dour day, the fierce wind making no obvious impression on the thick, lowering cloud, and my mood matched the weather pretty closely. I spent the morning at my desk, thrashing through boring computer tasks, but by lunchtime I needed to be outside, so I went to Hillers.

The small birds seem to be getting used to their "improved" environment, and the new feeders installed by Hillers were doing brisk business. I didn't see one myself, but a couple of birders who were leaving as I arrived told me that they'd even seen a Treecreeper. My own list for the day came in at eighteen species, which is more than respectable, and included a Nuthatch and a couple of Siskins. Someone in the hide had photographic evidence that there were also Bramblings and Redpolls there yesterday, but neither showed this afternoon.

Reading up on Siskins this evening, I'm surprised to find that they're now regarded as common in the UK, with over 400,000 breeding pairs - which represents a ten-fold increase over the last half-century. In my life however, they're almost vanishingly rare: the last time I photographed one was almost exactly five years ago, also at Hillers. It's thought that their recent success is down to the maturation of conifer plantations, which is where they tend to live, feeding on spruce and pine seeds, though they can also be found in mixed woodland, feeding from alders and birch trees. In summer they eat invertebrates and wild flower seeds, and in times of hardship they will visit garden feeders.

I spent quite a long time in the hide, in the hope of catching one of the two male Siskins that were making regular visits to the sunflower hearts on a more natural perch, but it wasn't to be. Then on my way from hide to café I searched the garden, but couldn't find them there either. So a feeder shot it will have to be.

Almost as unexpected as the Siskins was the impromptu blipmeet I had with Technophobe, in the hide and then again a little while later in the farm shop.