A female blackcap seen through my study window

It has been very dull and overcast all morning. I woke feeling a bit listless and planned to have a quiet day.When I started to make coffee I noticed the birds were busy at the suet feeder which was virtually empty, and it nagged at my responsibilities as I have nearly run out of suet pellets with only enough until the end of the day.

A couple of days ago I photographed a bullfinch on the sunflower feeder situated lower down on the patio, on the day I blipped a red kite overhead. Yesterday I looked at my collection of photos from that afternoon and saw the bullfinch had a severe scaly-looking infestation on its legs, which is a condition I’ve seen many times over the years on some finches. (I’ve added some info from the BTO website about it below.)

It reminded  me that I must cleanse the feeders again, something I probably don’t do often enough, especially in winter when more birds are visiting the feeders. So while my coffee was put on to percolate very slowly, I went to the garden and brought the feeders in and washed them carefully.

An hour or so later I looked out of my study window to see what birds were visiting. I was delighted to see this female blackcap flitting about on the branches of the goat willow close to my window. I picked up my camera which was on my desk and without opening the double-glazed window I managed to grab some pictures without it being scared off. They are very shy birds and usually sit behind the leaves of a large evergreen bush by the goat willow. Seeing it out is a good sign that it is less  wary. We have also have two male blackcaps which are usually in close attendance of the female, though not today.


From:    British Trust for Ornithology

Mites and ‘scaly leg’
Mites of the genus Knemidocoptes can cause scaly-looking legs in birds. These mites are members of a wider family of mites that cause mange in domestic animals and scabies in humans.

The ‘scales’ which appear on birds’ legs are dry encrustations made up of material produced by the bird in response to the irritation caused by the mites, together with skin debris thrown up by the mites as they burrow into the tissues. As well as forming on the legs, the scales may also form around the beak.

Viral warty growths
Another cause of warty growths is the Fringilla papillomavirus which affects Chaffinches and Bramblings. These growths may vary in size from small nodules to larger warts that engulf the whole leg.

The warts develop slowly over a long period and affected individuals may otherwise appear quite healthy, although some individuals may become lame or lose affected digits.