A remarkable month, with a number of unusual visitors. These included not only Pied Wagtails, Longtailed tits, Chaffinches and Goldcrests which have been seen before, but also our first sightings of a Great Spotted Woodpecker. Unfortunately the Woodpecker didn't hang around long enough to be photographed. Even more fleeting was a probable sight of a Songthrush, sadly a rare bird in our garden nowadays.

There was though nothing fleeting about the visit of the female Pheasant which appeared out of nowhere and practically took up residence for the next fortnight - very odd!

A Wren also put in its first appearance for several months only to be pounced on by the neighbourhood cat. However, either it had a miraculous escape or there was more than one of them because we did have further sightings a few days later.

Stars of the month though have been the Goldfinches. After the visit of the lone juvenile last month, this month we have regularly seen adults feeding in the garden and on the feeders, sometimes three or four at a time. This is a most welcome development - must get some Nijer seed and see if we can persuade them to stay around a bit longer!

TJH
October 2003