Goldfinches on the feeder
It’s been a good week in the garden. We now have an established population of Goldfinches and when they aren’t on the feeders we can often hear them singing in the area. No wonder they were so popular as songbirds in Victorian times.
This morning we had a young one on the feeder, so they are even bringing the kids to meet us. They are streaky and lack the facial markings of an adult.
Earlier in the week we had our first Greenfinch. They are grumpy-looking bird at the best of times and this one appeared to get even grumpier as it struggled to get out of the squirrel-proof feeder. They are bulkier than a Goldfinch and lack their dexterity. However, she (for I believe it is a female, judging by the plumage) seemed to get used to the feeder and was soon back in it.
Greenfinch struggling
Greenfinches have always been fairly common at previous feeding stations I have had but took a hit a few years ago after a virus swept through them. That’s why we do a lot of feeder cleaning these days. Chaffinches were also affected, and despite them once being a very common bird we are yet to see one in the garden.
I also had an acceptance. I had to wait a while for this one but it was worth it. I sent off nine submissions last month. All results are in now, seven successful, two not. Or, if you just count editors/magazines seven submissions and seven acceptances, as both the unsuccessful submissions were to magazines with editorial boards that accepted one of the forms I submitted but left another.
Even better, two of the three haibun I had accepted had been rejected last month. That’s what people say – rejection is only the opinion of one editor on one particular day. However from seven out of nine to nought out of eight, is a very fine line. past performance is no guarantee of future success.
Greenfinch on the fence
I also got my new driving license today. The photograph takes years off me, as my beard is no longer white. It was definitely white when I took the picture. However, that’s the least of my worries, as I still look like a Balkan gangster. I wouldn’t mind if I looked like a high-level one, but I look like the sort of gangster who guards doors.
And finally, a Peacock butterfly sunning itself on the bungalow next door.
Congratulations on the acceptances, the new beard that is no longer white, and the birds at the feeder, Simon! The peacock butterflies are beautiful too. We don’t see them here.
Just checked a website – you have 750 species. Just being telling Paol Soren he has 420 species in Australia. We have 55. There’s a whole new world out there . . . 🙂
We don’t have such beautiful butterflies here. Further north in Queensland there are many. I am rather jealous of yours.
We have had a good year for butterflies. You, according to a website I just opened, have 420 species. We have 55. Once again, I question my decision not to emigrate.
And I could move to Queensland and live with my brother or my sister and I might see some of those 420.
But you have magpies and a Bear and much else besides. Just as I have not yet seen all 55 of our species. 420 would be wasted on me.
Actually life is very similar wherever you are. I have brilliant brothers and sister, terrible ex-wife, next door neighbours who haven’t spoken in five years and a fellow over the street who won’t stop talking to everyone.
Yes, I’m sure you are right and deep down we are all much the same. Our new neighbours are all much the same as our old ones when you get down to basics.
Deep down I know I would have trouble identifying so many species (I can’t even identify all 55 of ours reliably) 🙂 Probably best to stay at home.
Excellent news about the successful submissions.
We have stopped feeding the birds in our garden, for the moment at least, so it was good to see goldfinches and greenfinches in your garden.
I think some of our surge in activity may be due to people stopping feeding for summer. We watched a rat last night, foraging under the nyger feeder and am wondering about the wisdom of feeding again.
It is the spreading of disease which is my main worry.
Greenfinches used to be one of those species we had too many of, now they are a rarity, and we still haven’t seen a chaffinch in this garden, so I share your worries about disease transmission.
Oh, that peacock!
Congratulations for the many acceptances. I do admire your drive and persistence.
I am currently summoning all that drive and persistence as I have to do a month’s submissions in a week. 🙂 Planning is one of my weaker points.
Same! It seems that creativity and organization seldom go together. Sometimes, but not often.
🙂 Just been for a blood test. Now working on creativity. Perhaps a cup of tea will prepare me for a spot of lunch and set the poetry flowing . . .
I may have said the magpies have seen off most of our small birds this year
Yes, a triple attack of magpies, squirrels and cats virtually emptied our garden in Nottingham a bout thirty years ago and it took many years to recover.