A ‘charmuration’ of goldfinches in the garden

Nearly every day just before dusk during the winter months goldfinches gather in large numbers and flock together in the tree tops around our garden. Mostly they congregate on the highest branches, of a sycamore at the bottom of our garden before they fly off together, circle around a couple of times and then land on another perch.

I was in the cabin when I saw them gathering and just sat and watched the spectacle which I call a ‘charmuration’, since a flock of goldfinches is called a charm. I tried to get a picture as I often do, but usually the light is poor at dusk and the sun has set behind the hilltop on Rodborough Common across the valley.

I managed a close up of a few of them taking off from the sycamore, and then a few minutes later as the light was retreating further they landed on the power lines in our neighbour’s garden. In one shot I counted forty-five goldfinches, but there are only about eighteen on the power cables. I love to watch them.

I’ve blipped the cables as I’ve never seen them all together on them before, but I also love the close-up showing their wonderful silhouetted feathers in flight, so I’ve added it as an ‘Extra’.

Jeff Beck  RIP
I don't often add links to music on my journal but today I want to pay my respects to the guitar maestro Jeff Beck who sadly died yesterday, aged 78. I've been avidly listening to him since I was about fourteen and managed to see his band play live in the late 1960s.

Here he is playing a long set with a small group and some guests at Ronnie Scott's Club in Soho, London in 2008. It has excellent sound quality.