We're starting to get a bit of blossom in the garden, with the Japanese quince the first to show, though we've a couple of trees that will be out before long, and a rhododendron well in bud. We've also quite a lovely pale pink and sweetly scented bush by our front door, but I've no idea what its name is. Anyway, with the blossom coming I realise that one snag about feeding the birds through the winter is that, come spring, they're right there on the seed to attack your buds and blossom. But I don't mind too much; I think there'll be enough to go round.
This morning our pair of bullfinches was joined by a second female; I don't know whether this was a menage a trois, but I have to say they all looked pretty chummy together. This is the first time we've seen more than two bullfinches at a time. Anyway, they showed no interest at all in our feeding station - they were there for the buds, and were having a whale of a time processing through our little row of four blossom trees.
How could I really protest, though? Even the fattest, greediest bullfinches can't take all our blossom, and the fruit bushes, which I might worry about, are all safely contained within a cage. And the bullfinches are quite the showiest birds we see, so I'm glad they're there.
There are something approaching 200,000 pairs of bullfinches in the UK, and they have increased in numbers in recent years after a distinct fall in population numbers previously to this. The UK resident population is increased by overwintering bullfinches from the continent, but I'm pretty sure those in our garden are resident birds.
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