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Siskin - Carduelis Spinus
The Eurasian siskin (Spinus spinus) is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is also called the European siskin, common siskin or just siskin. Other (archaic) names include black-headed goldfinch, barley bird and aberdevine. It is very common throughout Europe and Asia. It is found in forested areas, both coniferous and mixed woodland where it feeds on seeds of all kinds, especially of alder and conifers.
These birds have an unusual migration pattern as every few years in winter they migrate southwards in large numbers. The reasons for this behaviour are not known but may be related to climatic factors and above all the availability of food. In this way overwintering populations can thrive where food is abundant. This small finch is an acrobatic feeder, often hanging upside-down like a tit. It will visit garden bird feeding stations.
These birds can be found throughout the year in Central Europe and some mountain ranges in the south of the continent. They are present in the north of Scandinavia and in Russia and they over-winter in the Mediterranean basin and the area around the Black Sea. In China they breed in the Khingan Mountains of Inner Mongolia and in Jiangsu province; they spend summer in Tibet, Taiwan, the valleys of the lower Yangtse River and the south east coast.
The Eurasian siskin is occasionally seen in North America. There is also a similar and closely related North America counterpart, the pine siskin, Spinus pinus.
heir seasonal distribution is also marked by the fact that they follow an anomalous migration pattern. Every few years they migrate southwards in larger numbers and the overwintering populations in the Iberian Peninsula are greatly augmented. This event has been the object of diverse theories, one theory suggests that it occurs in the years when Norway Spruce produces abundant fruit in the centre and north of Europe, causing populations to increase. An alternative theory is that greater migration occurs when the preferred food of alder or birch seed fails. This species will form large flocks outside the breeding season, often mixed with redpolls.
It is a bird that does not remain for long in one area but which varies the areas it used for breeding, feeding, over-wintering from one year to the next.
They are very active and restless birds. They are also very social, forming small cohesive flocks especially in autumn and winter. They are fairly trusting of humans, it being possible to observe them from a short distance. During the breeding season, however, they are much more timid, solitary and difficult to observe.
Population:
UK breeding:
410,000 pairs
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At the same day that I saw the horned grebes (flickr.com/photos/115540984@N02/54816867871/in/dateposted), there were a lot of Common Goldeneyes swimming around, and they gave me a great show!
The males clearly were bothered by their hormones, which resulted in threatening behaviour towards other males, but towards the females they were very courteous. They made very funny sounds too, another sign they were in the mood for love.
The females were off course very critical/choosy, and ignored most of the time the males. it was still rather early in spring and they hadn't decided yet which Casanova to date.
But thanks to all the hormones flying around, they hadn't the least interest in me, and they came very close. It resulted in many wonderful pictures. This is one of them.
This building is the work of two former students of Mies Van der Rohe. It shares the basic concepts put in practice by Mies in many of his buildings, but in this case the structrure is covered by a pronounced, curved skin.
One of my favourites and a 3 year old target to get a good shot. This is a small flycatcher about 12-13 cms long found in forested / thick wooded habitats across the country. They are often seen in pairs hunting insects around on the tree canopy. I had seen them before hunting in the lower canopy, but never managed a decent shot. The bird is migratory to our state when it is seen in winter, but resident in forests of the neighbouring state.
The birds fly below the canopy for a few seconds at a time hunting insects and then land on perches like this where they rest for around 10-15 seconds before jumping to another perch. The behaviour is fast and hard to shoot. But this time, we found it on the steps leading down to a forested area near a temple - specifically on a banyan tree. The place opposite the tree had several boulders and we stood on them and waited. For an hour, we had good luck - the bird continually came to the lowest branches and perched there briefly. I am delighted by the shots we managed!
Many thanks in advance for your views and feedback. Much appreciated.
experiencing some behaviour that I have never seen before from young red squirrels. These kits were unafraid of the water and would enter without any fear
It was fun to observe an intriguing behaviour of the family of Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) on a duckweed-covered pond. On the left, there are two immature chicks sharing the nest (just about) with one adult parent arriving with food. If you look closer, the heads of two recently hatched chicks looking for food can be seen at the rare of two older siblings; in fact there are at least three younger chicks. What happened next was that one of the big chicks got the food from the adults. Luckily, the third immature chick arrived at the nest and gave some food to one younger sibling (image on the right).
I have seen this amazing behaviour for the first time and somewhat puzzling to me until I read Tim Welling’s narrative (www.flickr.com/photos/timmelling/54682384374/in/dateposted/). Tim so well described this unique behaviour of Moorhen when more than one generation lives together and helps each other – thanks Tim!
The scientific name translates as a ‘little hen’ with ‘green foot’ derived from the Latin species name ‘Gallinula’ and from the Greek specific epithet name ‘chloropus’, respectively.
The Botanical Gardens, Royal Victoria Park, Bath, BANES, England, UK
In Greek mythology, Narcissus was a hunter from Thespiae in Boeotia who was known for his beauty.
He was proud, in that he disdained those who loved him.
Nemesis noticed this behaviour and attracted Narcissus to a pool, where he saw his own reflection in the water and fell in love with it, not realising it was merely an image.
Unable to leave the beauty of his reflection, Narcissus lost his will to live. He stared at his reflection until he died.
Narcissus is the origin of the term narcissism, a fixation with oneself and one's physical appearance or public perception.
These here, with a salmon trumpet, is a fragrant variety.
I (maybe wrongly) make a distinction, based on that fact, between Daffodils and Narcissus...
THANK you for ALL your comments and visits, so appreciated.
Have a wonderful day, filled with love, M, (*_*)
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A male black tern brings an invertebrate offering to its mate.
The female would land on a post and wait for delivery. When she spotted the male, she would open her mouth and call out. The male would come in and do a low speed handoff (beakoff?) to the female. If they couldn't quite connect, the male would hover/flutter and move in closer again for another attempt. On occasion, the offering would be dropped. This behaviour would be repeated a number of times before the female would fly off.
A coupled pair of emerald damselflies that my mum kindly found for me when we met up last weekend at David Marshall Lodge in Aberfoyle. I think this is the first time I've seen these little beauties.
The robin is on high alert. There was another robin in the garden and he did not like that one bit. So after chasing him around and making him leave the garden he found himself a high perch to stand guard :-). You gotta love them
A cute little caterpillar that I found in the leaf litter in my garden last weekend. I'm not sure what species it is, or whether I've captured enough detail for an ID.
Every once in a while you are surprised by the behaviour of the critter you are photographing. In this case, the great grey owl kept flying down the fence line, from one post to another, towards me. It would pause and check for voles, then move yet closer again. It then flew right past me, went across the road, and perched again to continue hunting.
This image was taken in the fall of 2024. I posted a shot of the same owl flying previously (www.flickr.com/photos/40724294@N04/54144281190).
Hypopyrrhus pyrohypogaster
(Red-bellied Grackle / Cacique candela)
La Ceja, Colombia
Some male birds will bring food to a female as part of courtship to show he can provide for any chicks she may produce. He may simply bring the food for her to eat or in some cases actually transfer it directly to her mouth just as he would to hungry nestlings.
www.britishbirdlovers.co.uk/articles/courtship-behaviour-...
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I know that hundreds of Northern Hawk Owl images have been posted, over the last couple of months, but I wanted to share this one as well. I hope that you don't mind.
It shows the behaviour of caching. If prey is abundant, Northern Hawk Owls will take advantage of this by caching food for later consumption.
This owl had caught a vole and flew to this branch. It spent nearly 5 minutes attempting to stuff the vole into the crack of this broken limb. It rotated the vole several times trying to make it fit. Ultimately it was unsuccessful and finally flew off to try another location.
Image created on Jan 8, 2020 west of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Image cropped slightly for composition.
A Black-winged stilt and a Pied avocet face to face, or beak to beak, in a territorial dispute. Although close cousins of the same family, these birds don't seem to like each other very much.
Black-winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus).
Pied avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta).
© 2022 Marc Haegeman. All Rights Reserved.
Spoonbills Spoonbills have become a fantastic highlight at RSPB Blacktoft Sands in Yorkshire, my count of 18 birds feeding and preening on the Marshland lagoon. Preening together—known as allopreening—is a social and affectionate behaviour where mated pairs or close companions groom each other's hard-to-reach feathers, especially around the head and neck.24/07/26
One of the behaviours of Atlantic puffins to to flick their heads upwards and vocalize. They will repeat this a few times in succession. I've tried to photograph this previously and on this trip to the colony, I was rewarded with a nice view of it happening.
Here is what Ms. Google has to say about the behaviour when I searched for it.
"The Action: Males flick or snap their heads backward repeatedly so that their large, colorful, triangular beaks point straight up into the air.
The Sound: With each flick, the male emits a low, rhythmic grunt (often described as sounding somewhat pig-like).
The Goal: This enthusiastic combination of body language and vocalization advertises the male's health, vigor, and his availability for mating."
The 'male only' part was new information for me. But, I wouldn't call the action enthusiastic. It is relatively low key, both in intensity and sound levels.
The robin is one of the few birds that hold a territory all year round.The sole purpose of a robin's red breast is in territory defence: it is not used in courtship. A patch of red triggers territorial behaviour, and robins are known to persistently attack stuffed robins and even tufts of red feathers
This is a companion piece to yesterday's shot of the parent bird trying to distract me. I shot from the rolling red Toyota blind - saw some movement in the grass, and there it was! It took one look back at me and then scurried away, into the concealing grasses. I don't know if it had surviving siblings. Only after I had spotted this little one and made a few shots did the parent birds appear, making a great fuss and show to draw me away. I made a few shots of this behaviour, wished the little family well and then vacated the area. I felt that staying any longer would be too disruptive. And I want them to come back next year!
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2025 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
HALLOW MANOR 2026
Welcome to Hallow Manor 2026
Presented by Juniper Events & Punklist
October 23rd - November 2nd
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www.flickr.com/groups/juniperevents/
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Thank you to our event sponsors:
Angry Store
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Whats Lost Spirits
Showing off some of the fun stuff you can pick up at the event:-
SUM - F00L clown makeup and eyes
Pariah - Arcadia Stiletto Nails
Synthesis - sandworm plugs
EVERFRAME - Set #311 Pose
And from outside the event...
From Opulein @ ABSTRAKT
Oct 28 - Nov 21
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Apple%20Bloom/120/190/23
Amarat Hairstyle
- Includes EvoX Hairbase and unrigged bun
- Available in 50 tones
- Includes Tintable
After the event you can pickup Lisa from Opulein
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Opulein/138/118/21
Other stuff:-
utopia - mika / ghost / brows / evo X
Influence - cheeks Deformer Lvl1
LELUTKA - MADRID 4.0
eBODY - REBORN 2.0
Goth1c0: Scary Clown Dress - REBORN
Lyrium - Ebody Realistic Length Fingers lvl 5
Void - Demure Lashes (Madrid)
ContraptioN - Depthglass BOM Eyes
VELOUR - ANGEL Skin for Reborn (MUSCULAR/GHOST) S
The Dutch Park Ducks are a hybrid of different breeding forms and the wild form of the Mallard. They can only be distinguished from Mallards by the colour that deviates from the wild form and sometimes by their behaviour (less shy). Background: In the past, Ducks were often kept free-range around farms. These Ducks were selected for a high egg production and were more productive than chickens at the time! When duck eggs went out of fashion, many of these Ducks were left to their fate. These Ducks have mixed with the wild form of the Mallard and this forms the basis for the current Park Ducks. The process of mixing is still going on because Ducks are still kept in a semi-wild state today. These 'modern tame Ducks' are usually ornamental ducks (selected for appearance), which are sometimes descended from old utility breeds. As a result, the number of colour varieties among the Park Ducks is constantly increasing. Consequences of natural selection: Domesticated ducks show a great variation in size and body shape. After one or two generations, nothing of this variation can be seen anymore. Apparently there is a very strong natural selection that mercilessly excludes all ducks with a 'deviating body shape'. Ducks with a deviating body shape or size are therefore almost always tame ducks that have been released (dumped) by their owner and not 'real park ducks'. Value of park duck observations: There are different opinions about park ducks and some would rather keep them off observation lists. However: they form a significant part of the (wild) avifauna in the Netherlands. They are often the first birds that children come into contact with and so they are an important step on the way to a 'perception awareness'. After all, they are a living consequence of our cultural history, which is nowhere in the world as prominent as in the Netherlands. All reasons not to ignore them. Colour variations (in progress): In addition to the wild colour and the white colour (not albino), all kinds of mixed and intermediate forms occur. There are also almost entirely black specimens known. It would be nice if a photo series could be collected on this site that shows the colour variation in park ducks. The large variation in colour varieties often leads to confusion, partly because these colour varieties are not depicted in bird guides.
Five Black Drongos - Chennai, India.
I HAVE REVISITED , AND REPOSTING THIS PHOTO FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT SEEN THIS EARLIER. THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVOURITE. THANKS.
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The Black Drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus) is a small Asian passerine bird of the drongo family Dicruridae. It is a common resident breeder in much of tropical southern Asia from southwest Iran through India and Sri Lanka east to southern China and Indonesia. It is a wholly black bird with a distinctive forked tail and measures 28 cm (11 in) in length. Feeding on insects, it is common in open agricultural areas and light forest throughout its range, perching conspicuously on a bare perch or along power or telephone lines. The species is known for its aggressive behaviour towards much larger birds, such as crows, never hesitating to dive-bomb any birds of prey that invades its territory. This behaviour earns it the informal name of King Crow. Smaller birds often nest in the well-guarded vicinity of a nesting Black Drongo. Previously considered a subspecies (Dicrurus adsimilis macrocercus) of the African Fork-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis), it is now recognized as a full species.
The Black Drongo has been introduced to some Pacific islands, where it has thrived and become abundant to the point of threatening and causing the extinction of native and endemic bird species there.
Source : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Drongo
The Black Turnstone occurs only on the west coast of North America including Alaska (which is its sole breeding location.) [The related Ruddy Turnstone {or simply Turnstone} (Arenaria interpres) has a much wider distribution — breeding in northern North America and Eurasia, and then migrating to southern locations in much of the globe.] This individual Black Turnstone was apparently feeding on barnacles exposed at low tide. This intriguing behaviour was observed near the Tsawwassen ferry terminal in southwestern-most mainland British Columbia, Canada.
A group of visitors momentarily framed as the exhibit, pressed up against glass that inverts the usual roles of observer and observed. The image plays on the quiet absurdity of the zoo experience, where containment and curiosity work both ways. For a moment, the animals are elsewhere.
One cooperative behaviour you may see honey bees do is clump together at the entrance to a hive in an attempt to regulate the temperature or humidity within the hive. That is typically done on hot and/or humid days. The clumping is called bearding in the bee-keeping parlance.
This image was taken on a very cool morning, so heat wasn't an issue. There was lots of dew, so maybe humidity was a problem.
In trying to figure out what I was seeing, I checked out a few websites. The Honey Bee Suite site seemed to offer the best explanation: "Once the bees begin to finish their work in late summer, you are more apt to see bearding, especially in large colonies. This occurs because the cells are already full of nectar, but summer dearth means flowers are scarce, so no new cells are needed. Simply put, the bees are left with nothing to do.
Too many bees in the hive block air flow, which slows down the drying of nectar, so the bees hang around outside. New beekeepers often misread this behavior as preparation for swarming, but it has nothing to do with swarming. In fact, many of these bees will die at the ends of their natural adult lives of four-to-six weeks, and most will not be replaced in order to bring the colony down to a manageable winter population.
Then too, bearding often increases after the beekeeper removes honey supers, thus forcing the bees into a smaller space. Since there isn’t enough room indoors, the bees stay outside, just doing their thing."
In this case, two hives were exhibiting the behaviour, and both looked to have been downsized recently, meaning the extra summer storage areas for honey and pollen (supers) have been removed by the bee keeper. So, perhaps I happened to show up when there was simply no room in the hive and all these bees were just hanging out at the entrance.
If anyone knows of other explanations for this behaviour, please share your knowledge.