Greenfinches.

[neil cooney 10,416]

God, I miss them. I can't remember when I seen a couple last, let alone a flock of them.

Are they suffering in Britain the way they've suffered in Ireland from that bloody parasite ?

[HPR 1,161]

Not sure mate there's plenty near me in Lincolnshire . I think there a stunning finch when the sun gets on them .

[peterhunter86 8,627]

Theres plenty were i am in dublin i see good sized flocks regular

[stealthy1 3,964]

Not many here, not many finches at all here this year.

[hjckcff 1,738]

dont see many around me either. i see the odd one but they arn in any numbers

[neil cooney 10,416]

Theres plenty were i am in dublin i see good sized flocks regular

That's amazing as my father lives an hour from Dublin and used to have anything up to 50 or so Greenies on his bird table, now only the odd one.

Plenty of all the other finches around here but no Greenfinches and I mean none.

[J Darcy 5,871]

Lots of goldies, bullys and, of course, chaffys. But the greenie is conspicuous by its absence. Nice birds they are, they were one of the first birds I ever bred in captivity...

[Omanyra 2,518]

Yip, not as many here compared to what there was..a pity, a nice bird to have around to see, and hear

 

Same as JD..plenty of (good) bullies here at the minute..absolutely loads of chaffies this year, and goldies are just starting to return in numbers

I found double figures of Goldfinch nests last year, but only one greenie nest. :-(

Edited January 4, 2016 by Omanyra

[neil cooney 10,416]

One of my favourite things about the Greenfinch is the variations in colour and I'm talking about wild birds.

To watch a flock of 20 or 30 Greenfinches you might see 3 or 4 different colour variations.

As JD said they're notable by their absence. They're probably not sexy enough for our wildlife departments to help out.

[fireman 11,000]

The garden Greenfinch as such has suffered these last few years from cociososis (not a chance that's the right spelling ) and another illness i can't remember the name of and it's hit them hard for sure,although my flights are empty of greenfinches for this year they never really drew in any wild ones but out on the shoot there's plenty of them in the wild bird cover and are only second in number to the flocks of linnets about.

[j j m 6,561]

Not as many as around my way as there used to be

[Lutra Lutra 611]

Hello Neil,

I totally agree about Greenfinch numbers in certain localities, they have become quite scarce in these parts of Nottinghamshire unlike in my childhood days. I have many fond memories at my (Mothers ) house when Greenfinches were really common in numbers. However, nowadays the situation has changed in many parts of the British Isles due to certain deciding factors; intensive farming practises has been an important issue with so many farmland birds and also certain people say that high population numbers of increasing (Sparrowhawk numbers play a certain role. Regarding Sparrowhawks. In my opinion I wouldn't say even in high density populations of birds of prey that they would really have any deciding factor on the Greenfinch numbers in question.(However, I could be incorrect on that particular point)! Many "Aviculturists and birdwatchers have commented to myself that the greenfinch population was decreasing in numbers before the explosion in numbers of Sparrowhawks. It is a strange situation because certain readers have said they have many Greenfinches, so something could be said about certain parasites affecting Finches in other localities.My brother has a few visiting his garden and accompanied by also a small party of Bullfinches. The Bullfinch has been suffering for years with recorded low numbers in every part of the British Isles if in accordance to statistics. The Bullfinch however is much shyer and more secretive compared to other members of the Finch family. As mentioned previously we had Greenfinches here in the early 80s in good numbers, attracted to the red bag of peanuts. Anyway Neil, hoping you are okay and I know it is rather late ,but I wish all the good people an Happy New Year....

Regards. Lutra....P.S. I do however know of a broad-leafed woodland here in Derbyshire

that attracts Greenfinches and there are also Pied Flycatcher and Redstarts;the Redstarts occupy the surrounding farmland areas.

 

 

[peterhunter86 8,627]

Not great pics but if zoom in theres plenty of green finches in the tree

[paulus 26]

a few around here along with the usual

[steve66 3,562]

See the odd few,when out and about , nice pics paulus, they lòok well