OMG!
As I type I can see two goldfinch chicks outside my lounge room window. About an hour ago mum and dad arrived to feed from the nyger seed feeders (goldfinches are constant, daily visitors to our garden), shortly followed by one baby. A young baby, newly fledged, still fluttering his wings, begging his mum to feed him. He sat there on the bird bath next to the feeder, flapping furiously, pleading, BEGGING his mum to feed him. In the meantime brother/sister showed up and copied what mum and dad were doing and got on the feeder next door and started to feed him/herself. All this time, baby number one was STILL begging to mum. He begged for MINUTES, then, finally, she relented and fed him! He settled after that, and gingerly got himself onto the feeder mum and dad were on. He fluttered his wings some more, but mum was taking no notice, so he settled and finally started to feed himself. IT WAS JUST TOO CUTE!! After about 10 minutes, they all flew off. Then, about 15 minutes ago, they returned. Mum, dad and the two babies. Baby number one fluttered his wings for a few seconds, then remembered about feeding himself, got onto the feeder and chomped away. Baby number two was on the other feeder looking after himself. Then after a few minutes, mum and dad flew off and the babies stayed behind. They were out there until just after I started typing this out. They looked a bit lost at times, but kept feeding themselves. Oh, they are just too adorable. We’ve also seen baby blue tits today as well. I even saw a chaffinch as well! When we first moved to where we live now in 2003, we had a regular visiting pair of chaffinches. But, after a year or two, they stopped coming. So to see a chaffinch visiting again is brilliant. The visits have been fleeting so far, but I’m hoping they’ll become more frequent as the summer goes on.
And just to keep you informed, no hedgehog in the box for the last few weeks. We keep on putting food out which gets eaten, but the hog isn’t staying in the box. As for the bats…no sightings since that first night however long ago it was now…4-5 weeks ago?? But I keep a look out every night at dusk. The weather hasn’t been the best though lately, so I’m hoping the bat scene will improve from tomorrow onwards (when finer weather is due).
Photo supplied by: foxypar4 under Creative Commons license.