Card of the Day - 2022-01-06

Now a sad tale, for birdwatch reports that finches are having a tough time, for they are continually dropping further down the leader board. The Goldfinch just clung on to the top ten in number eight, but the Greenfinch and Chaffinch have dropped out.

Even sadder is that the text on our card says that “This is another gaily plumed Finch and is regarded as one of the most common birds throughout Great Britain” and that “Its numbers are considerably swelled in the autumn by immigrants from the continent”.

However, it is not totally bleak, because the RSPB website says still that “the chaffinch is one of the most widespread and abundant birds”. And they also say that chaffinches are not too keen on bird feeders, which gives us the truth behind the story, for most of us watch birds by getting our seat ready by the window, going out to lay some food, then returning indoors and seeing who comes to our tables and bowls. If the chaffinch does not do this you will only glimpse him flying past. And there is a further clue in their name, for chaff is another name for cut hay, squarely suggesting that these birds are more seen in the country where hay is frequent, but human habitation, and bird watchers, are not so plentiful.