Sunday 6 November 2011

The Bullfinches are back!

A male Bullfinch (Russell F Spencer)
I'm very happy at the moment because a small party of Bullfinches (a male and two females) have taken up home within Chats Paddock in Wormwood Scrubs. Two pairs of Bullfinches used to breed on my patch including a family that nested within a scrubby enclosure called Chats Paddock. All was beautiful until disturbance during the 2006 breeding season caused the Paddock pair to desert. The remaining pair did the same the following year, thus by 2008 they were extinct as breeders.

Gone also were the parties of birds that used to visit my beloved patch during the winter. Overnight they went from being a regular sight to being recorded perhaps once a year for a few moments. Indeed, I heard one call once from deep cover last winter and that bird turned out to be the only one recorded that year.

So I hope that the birds that have taken up residence for the past week stay. Perhaps they may stop and breed. I'll report back.

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