Spring Siskin passage

[A McLee]

Is it just my garden or has the March movement of these finches missed out the county? There has been none on my feeders in Kirklevington.

[Neil Simms]

Snap. None in my Guisborough garden either.

[ETJ]

I've had a single bird in Nunthorpe on 6th March and that's it.  The BTO is blaming the present lack of Siskins in gardens on the massive supply of natural food (sitka seed - 2014 was a very good year for it) and the mild winter.  At the end of 2014, Garden BirdWatch saw the lowest proportion of gardens reporting Siskins since the survey began in 1995. So we're not alone in missing them.

Eric

[Neil Simms]

There are still big numbers of goldfinch and chaffinch in particular feeding on Sitka cones in Guisborough Woods. There are the odd pair of siskin among them and redpoll too but not in any great numbers.