Goldfinches

[Toadspawn]

I have been scattering special wild bird seed (no wheat), niger seed and sunflower hearts over my lawn as well as having feeders available and today I had 22 Goldfinches appear at the same time. Is this luck or what?

[Toadspawn]

[Carol]

Wonderful   :D :D :D  these little birds are on the increase. 

;D ;D

[Chrissie]

That's brilliant  ;D - if you keep feeding them they'll keep on coming. Especially if you give them sunflower hearts in hanging feeders. We started putting these out in our new garden a few years ago and it took the goldfinches several months to find them. Once they did there was no looking back; now they are by far the most numerous garden bird all the year round and I buy sunflower hearts by the sack (much cheaper that way!).

Hope you know what you're letting yourself in for!

[janet h 1948]

ATM Wilkinsons are selling sunflower hearts at £1. per kilo.

[Toadspawn]

Hi Chrissie
I buy all seed by the sack. It may be a lot initially but much cheaper than buying by the 1lb or 1/2 lb.
I don't mind paying for the seed because of the pleasure I get watching the birds. 
Goldfinches prefefer sunflower hearts to niger seed. I have been filling a feeder nearly every day for several months now.

[Carol]

I have noticed that the goldfinches start their day off by eating the Nyger seed and then go onto the sunflower hearts.   I need to get a life eh?   Unless off course its different birds, but I notice that there is a marked increase in the amount of goldfinches visiting now.  They are in my garden most of the day whereas a few years back they were just an occasional visitor.   ;) ;) ;)

[Chrissie]

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Carol wrote: I need to get a life eh?

Good for you Carol - what better way to spend your life??  ;)

£1 per kilo at Wilko's is a very good price, and useful if you can't transport heavy sacks (or if you have nowhere to store them). That's normally the price for sunflower seeds in their shells which are far worse value and make all that mess.

Keep up the feeding Toadspawn, obviously you DO know what you've let yourself in for and think it's worth it, like the rest of us. To quote the RSPB blurb - Aren't birds brilliant?