Small Confusions

The small birds are now in full mating finery, like this male chaffinch who was singing his heart out in Dunrobin woods this morning, carefully perching by a birch which matched his breast feathers. However, his song wasn't a normal chaffinch song but confusingly like that of a willow warbler. These little birds are back from their migration to the savanna lands south of the Sahara as are the chiff-chaffs, the latter now very audible in the local woods. In due course I may have a picture of them but they are, as the saying goes, very small and elusive brown jobs.

For the latter part of the winter, perhaps because of the sparrow hoards, the greenfinches seemed to avoid the garden though their harsh call could be heard in the nearby woodland, but now they're back, the male very pretty while....

....the female is much drabber. To add to my confusion we're also seeing more....

....siskins, the males in their finery very like the greenfinches but smaller.