A nuthatch resting on a branch

Today I’ve participated in the annual RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch spending an hour watching the birds visiting our garden. I also sat for a while in the cabin with my camera.

I’ve submitted the results online and here are three of the subjects I’ve seen and noted. The nuthatch visited sevewral times and I think it is one of a pair but I didn’t see them together. Surprisingly this nuthatch happily perched on the branch for several minutes. Normally they just fly straight to the sunflower feeder bully off any other birds which are there and once it has stuffed itself it flies straight back down the garden to the shelter of the tall trees.

In the ‘Extra’ I’ve added this great spotted woodpecker which I’m always pleased to see. It didn’t try to feed but landed on the middle of the pole and then climbed straight to the top, looked about for a minutes before flying off over the neighbouring gardens.

I’ve also added a shot of a male bullfinch in the ‘Extras’ taken as dusk approached. I have shown it because it is a worrying sight. The bird has succumbed to the common ailment afflicting finches, especially chaffinches but also bullfinches. It is a bad instance of unusual warty growths on its feet probably caused by the Fringilla papilloma virus which affects Chaffinches and Bramblings. These growths may vary in size from small nodules to larger warts that may end up engulfing the whole leg. The warts develop slowly over a long period and affected individuals may otherwise appear quite healthy and can live with it for some time

We have had birds with this affliction before but I haven’t seen an outbreak for a couple of years. I removed the sunflower feeder today, washed it throughly and then soaked it in a dilute bleach solution which is a recommended course of action to try to minimise the spread of diseases, before rinsing it clean once again. Here’s hoping it helps to stop any further spread.