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Post by alf1951 on Oct 23, 2015 9:04:03 GMT
Summer last year and, for the first time in the almost 20 years we have lived in this house, a bullfinch visited the garden. It seemed attracted by a crop of prickly sow thistle growing on our boundary with an adjacent field. Bullfinches and goldfinches attacked the fluffy seed heads with gusto so I encouraged seedlings to grow on our side of the boundary and now have quite a crop in the garden - my wife is not impressed! We have seen the occasional goldfinch but sadly I've not seen a single bullfinch anywhere near us this year.
One possible explanation is that the farmer totally blitzed the "wildlife corridor" around his fields this year. Firstly with herbicide prior to sowing winter barley, and later with the flail he uses to keep the hedgerows in check. I guess my little crop of seed heads is now too isolated to attract birds which would otherwise work their way along the hedgerows.
Any suggestions as to what I could grow that just might attract the finches next year? Not fruit trees - too slow growing and we may be moving house in the next year or so! Alf
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Post by aeshna5 on Oct 24, 2015 4:28:12 GMT
In some areas people get Bullfinches on their feeders with black sunflower seeds a favourite. They will eat a variety of seeds with even nettles used.
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Post by shirl100 on Oct 24, 2015 14:20:09 GMT
We have bullfinches as regular visitors throughout the year, they always go to the feeders which contain the high energy no grow mix, there are 3 of them out there now - with the chaffinches, goldfinches, greenfinches, siskins etc . Seems like the finches like the high energy stuff although occasionally they will go for a more general seed mix.
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Post by alf1951 on Oct 25, 2015 8:22:28 GMT
Sunflower seeds and sunflower hearts are both on the menu at this establishment! The greenfinches, chaffinches and, when they are around, the goldfinches seem happy with that - maybe there just aren't many bullfinches in this area.
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Post by ayjay on Oct 25, 2015 12:06:16 GMT
maybe there just aren't many bullfinches in this area. I'm not sure that Bullfinches are faithful to an area (outside the breeding season), I see them reasonably regularly throughout the year but if I had to go and find one right now I wouldn't know where to start.
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Post by rowanberry on Oct 25, 2015 19:58:53 GMT
Alf- maybe you could try collecting the fluffy seed heads and save them in a paper bag... once winter sets in, you could put them in something like a fatball feeder or something similar and see if any bullfinches come for them then. I tried this last year in the vain hope of attracting ANY finches... I can't seem to tempt them into our garden! and I have to say in my case it didn't actually work although come spring the sparrows collected the fluffy bits for nesting material. If you've got bullfinches nearby to start with, you might have better luck than I did.
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Post by alf1951 on Oct 26, 2015 9:03:06 GMT
Thanks for the suggestions - will give it a try. Alf
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Post by NellyDee on Oct 31, 2015 9:44:20 GMT
I agree, they are a bit fickly where they feed, but the occasional ones that appear here seem to go for the heathers when they are in seed and the dandelion's seeds. They have never come to the feeders.
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Post by Cotham Marble on Nov 6, 2015 12:35:46 GMT
Whether a particular species visits a garden probably has more to do with the overall structure of the garden and surrounding habitats (the corridor you mention)than specific food availability. Bullfinches are a bird typically found in dense undergrowth or tree canopies and reproducing this in a small garden may not be feasible; the only planting that might quickly produce a result would be Gorse and Bramble or possibly Broom, although the former two can be somewhat difficult to incorporate into a garden. Sometimes the absence of a previously seen species is a good sign - i.e that there's plenty of food elsewhere. Teazels and perenniel thistles such as Meloncholy Thistle are worth growing both as bee interest and then seed interest for a number of finches, from which you may get occasional visits from Bullfinches if they are in the area.
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Post by alf1951 on Nov 7, 2015 8:26:45 GMT
Thanks for the additional suggestions. Although we have open fields on one side of our property, the beck running along our boundary and on through the fields is lined with mixed, mature trees and, normally, a dense undergrowth including bramble, thistle and a host of other wild plants (although increasingly also himalayan balsam). This is part of the "wildlife corridor" that has been largely destroyed this year. There is also a fairly heavily wooded area which starts just a couple of hundred yards away. Maybe I just can't compete with what's available near by!
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Post by accipiter on Nov 7, 2015 8:56:44 GMT
Thanks for the additional suggestions. Although we have open fields on one side of our property, the beck running along our boundary and on through the fields is lined with mixed, mature trees and, normally, a dense undergrowth including bramble, thistle and a host of other wild plants (although increasingly also himalayan balsam). This is part of the "wildlife corridor" that has been largely destroyed this year. There is also a fairly heavily wooded area which starts just a couple of hundred yards away. Maybe I just can't compete with what's available near by! What you need is an orchard Alf to complete the picture; we had plenty of bullfinch’s that was until the old orchard was removed to make room for a housing estate! It is a great shame about your wildlife corridor though but I think you will find (improvements") are becoming quite common! Alan, still wandering in the serenity of the greenwood reviewing the whole situation
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Post by htcdude on Nov 9, 2015 16:27:27 GMT
Last year I had a lovely male that hung around for a couple of days. Fed mainly on the fatballs.
Nige
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hank
Junior Member
Posts: 71
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Post by hank on Dec 5, 2015 23:27:47 GMT
We've had a pair of Bullfinches on the feeders for the past 4 years. They often bring their offspring. We think they nest in a wood at the bottom of the garden where there are large areas of brambles. Brambles are a favourite nesting place for these birds.
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notpop
Junior Member
and I think to myself.............
Posts: 50
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Post by notpop on Dec 6, 2015 10:44:49 GMT
Strange how some species have shown large increases having taken to bird feeders. Woodpigeon,Greater Spotted Woodpecker,Goldfinch and Siskin are examples. I do hear of Bullfinches using some feeders ,but the habit just doesn't seem to be spreading among them. Surely if it did we could look forward to an increase in bullie numbers.
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Post by eeyore on Dec 8, 2015 17:59:17 GMT
I was going to say grow some apples - we have five orchards in the estate (at work i mean not mine personally) and all of them attract finches (of course more bull finches means less fruit as they have a tendency to decimate the blossom and the young fruit but cest la vie
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