Seven winter finches

I have had a few complaints - mainly from the small birds who turn up in the garden every day hoping to have their photos taken but who say they never feature on this blog.  They think there are far too many squirrel, badger and deer pictures and are completely unimpressed by all the sparrowhawk photos.  So here are some finch photos from this week.

The most numerous finch in the garden is the goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) with dozens visiting every day.

The most constant finch is the chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs), here almost all the time.

Also a regular visitor is the greenfinch (Chloris chloris).

And at this time of year I expect to see a pair of bullfinches (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) every day.

I don't usually take photos on the feeders but the last three birds are rarer winter visitors and feeder photos are all I could manage this week.  I saw a couple of lesser redpolls (Acanthis cabaret) in December but this week they have been regular visitors.  These are males.

The first siskins (Spinus spinus) of the winter came to the feeders last week.  This is a male.

And most exciting of all, a male brambling (Fringilla montifringilla), the first I have seen in the garden for two years.