The Lincolnshire Bird Club

Hi I have Siskin back in my garden first time since 2013

It looks like this is another good year for Siskin passage - I have ringed over 50 in an Osgodby garden in two visits on Friday and Monday - I estimate there are twice as many in the immediate vicinity.

We have also had a male siskin for the last couple of days, and one mid-Jan. - the first in the garden since 2013.
Also up to 8 lesser redpoll on the nyger feeders from Feb. 20th until today, the first I've ever seen in our garden (N.Thoresby)

We have had between one and three for the last ten days and on another five dates in February. Lesser Redpoll have been present every day (with the exception of three days) since they arrived back in numbers on November 11th. We also had a sole bird as far back as Oct 26th

Three Siskins arrived in our Dunston garden on 14th Feb and up to 7 have then been daily visitors since then feeding exclusively on sunflower hearts (ignoring nyger seed and peanuts - as well as other seed mixes). Today I noted one of the male birds is ringed.

Up to 4 in our Sleaford Garden since 27th Feb which is only the second time we have recorded Siskin in our garden in 21 years!

C&S

Siskins and Lesser Redpolls have frequented my Broadholme garden in good numbers just lately.
I have recorded 10 Siskins & 34 Lesser Redpolls today, Siskins only feeding on the Niger Seed.

Around 20 Siskins on the garden feeders today. They seem to ignore the Niger seeds and go for the sunflower hearts. Also 3 redpolls, tree sparrows, reed buntings, greenfinch and goldfinch. We also had a yellowhammer 2 days ago. Pheasants and crows are also daily visitors.

Dave

New Waltham garden - amongst the Greenfinches on the sunflower feeders this morning was one solitary female Siskin. The first one recorded in the garden for approx 5 years. Hopefully more to come.

It seems like a County-wide phenomenon. I have been waiting all winter for siskins to find my sunflower heart feeder, as normally happens, and the first three arrived this morning, with the bonus of one of the two males singing from the top of an old pear tree for about ten minutes. I have heard a flock in the Cromwell Avenue area of Woodhall for the past nine days and wondered if some would get here - and they have. While watching them I also had the first goldcrest in the garden this winter.

John

We have had at least 9 Siskins today on our feeders at Grasby.

Roy

As well as ringing 97 Siskins in an Osgodby garden in 3 visits there has also been a lot of Goldfinches with them at a ratio of 3:1 - anyone noticed the same in their garden?

Goldfinches have been present with us in good numbers all winter, well before the first Siskin was seen.

Roy

We have had goldfinch every day for months now. Cannot remember the last day I didn't see one and probably in the region of a dozen to three. Siskin have also visited the feeders for the last three weeks in small numbers - maximum count seven together but constantly visiting throughout the day now so it is difficult to know the true number but suspect no more than about ten. An unusual visitor on three days during the last week has been a male reed bunting - unusual when you see where I live - urban. Regular as well is the ta-wit-ta-woo of the barn owl calling - never actually seen it but hear it regularly and even before it is truly dark. Not so unusual when the woods of Swanholme Lakes are only a few hundred yards away. Of course Lesser Redpoll are here every day too. Just three days with no occurrence since November 11th. The numbers of these are well down on what I got last year - between 20% and 30% roughly i.e. the first eight days this month I have counted 105 but the same days last year 279

At Bob Sheppard's garden and the adjacent Bourne Wood, Siskins have only just started coming to artificial food over the last three weeks or so, having previously been feeding on larch and alder. Whilst undoubtedly there are huge numbers around, the availability of natural food has limiting them until now visiting feeders. They will increase in numbers over the next few weeks as their natural food runs out, but I don't think we will match our record 750 ringed in 2008 (Interestingly we caught no Redpolls that year!). In 2013, the last 'big Siskin year' we ringed 670 Siskins and 370 Redpoll, but numbers vary from year to year and last year (2015) we ringed no Siskins at all.

This year we have ringed around 20 Redpoll and only 2 have been first year birds suggesting a very poor breeding year last year. We have also caught four ringed at Bourne in previous years, one from Jan 2011 (and also retrapped in 2013) showing that Redpoll do often return to favoured wintering locations. We've never had any Siskins returning in subsequent years.

Only two Siskin controls (birds ringed elsewhere) so far this year.......... are D815xxx and Z841xxx yours Stuart?

Alan