Stupid Fellow

I've never photographed a bullfinch before so I thought I'd better Blip him, even if he is a bit boring. It was his sad-sounding little call that caught my attention. "Phew, phew."

When I was a child these birds were quite common, in fact they were the bane of fruit growers as flocks would strip complete orchards of buds. I remember taking a dead female into junior school for the nature table. They then went into steep decline and were on the RSPB Red List. Their status is now Amber, I've seen a few around this year for the first time in ages. They're not easy to photograph as they lurk amongst the branches.

They traditionally have a reputation as a caged song-bird. The birds were trapped and taught to whistle in tune with a special bird flute and had a readiness to comply with this training. Bullfinch was historically slang for a fool or simpleton!