Goldfinch wars

So after about 17 years of us putting out nyger seed, the goldfinches have finally noticed it and come down in numbers. Unfortunately this resulted in 6 goldfinches trying to use a feeder with 2 perches and a certain amount of pushing and shoving, so we got them a bigger one with 6 perches, plus another triple feeder that you can put nyger seed in beside other things so they can share nicely with the other birds. The next photo shows goldfinches studiously ignoring beautiful shiny new feeder and continuing to fight over the tatty old one. Then we had the bright idea of switching their positions and putting the new one where the old one had been......they soon twigged, and we've had up to 9 at a time all stuffing their little feathery faces. However there is one who seems to feel that he should have exclusive use of the new feeder, so spends most of his time intimidating the others when they try to land on it no matter how many perches are free. The blue tits have also decided that if the goldfinches like it so much this nyger seed must be good stuff, so have been seen tucking into it as well as decimating the bird cake. Nobody seems to like the cheapo fat snax from the pet shop, oh dear because we have rather a lot of them, except whoever it was that managed to take the whole thing down on the ground and eat the lot. We suspect M. Le Squirrel....but if it keeps him full enough not to dig up my bulbs and eat them I think it's worth it.....

So have done the usual thing of putting in lots of bulbs and immediately forgetting where they are so it will be a nice surprise when they appear in spring, or don't. We paid our first visit to Dawyck and bought a Inula hookeri in their plant sale, so it's now installed in the back of the bed all set to be bee-friendly we hope, and I've moved the Caryopteris to the front of that bed, in the process another bit fell off and has become a cutting, so we'll see if it makes it......

Most things dying down now but the flying-saucer squash in the greenhouse is still fruiting away, nobody's told it the season is over which is nice....I also bought some new pansies to replace the ones in the pots at the front and then they decided they weren't dead after all and perked up again so the new ones will have to go elsewhere......