mystery pretty birds - ID

genevieve · #1 (**permalink**) 30-10-2009, 10:18 PM

hello! my sister took these photos from our garden,south coast, and im not sure what they are. the one with the flash of gold looks very goldfinch-ish but then the rest of it doesnt really, and cant see red face, so im not sure.
the yellow one - is that a golden oriole or a lesser goldfinch? again, i dont know so hope you can help!

Jason Claxton · #2 (**permalink**) 30-10-2009, 10:21 PM

They are all Greenfinchs Genevieve

2dogs2000 · #3 (**permalink**) 30-10-2009, 10:23 PM

I agree. I haven't seen greenfinches in my garden for ages and today one turned up.

Jason Green · #4 (**permalink**) 30-10-2009, 10:32 PM

Evening Genevieve,

Yep - all bog-standard Greenies!

Take care,

Jason

Tracey.A · #5 (**permalink**) 30-10-2009, 10:57 PM

Yes, I agree with everyone else, they are all Greenfinches.

Tracey

david156 · #6 (**permalink**) 30-10-2009, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by genevieve

hello! my sister took these photos from our garden,south coast, and im not sure what they are. the one with the flash of gold looks very goldfinch-ish but then the rest of it doesnt really, and cant see red face, so im not sure.
the yellow one - is that a golden oriole or a lesser goldfinch? again, i dont know so hope you can help!

These are greenfinches. Great birds to see , especially when you get a few on feeders in the winter.
Golden Oriole is a bit bigger than that and the male is very bright yellow while the female is green. Saw my first this year sitting on its nest at RSPB reserve - Lakenheath Fen.
Lesser Goldfinch! If that had been a wild one of these there'd probably be about a thousand twitchers on their way to your garden!!! I think that would be a first for Britain!

florence · #7 (**permalink**) 31-10-2009, 11:06 AM

oh yer - it seems obvious now you've said it! but thanks because it was reallly annoying me not knowing what bird it was.

p:s - im genevieve's sister who took the photos.

genevieve · #8 (**permalink**) 31-10-2009, 11:11 AM

haha yeah like flo said, why did we not just go for greenfinch in the first place? wishful thinking maybe :P thanks for all the help!

wizzo · #9 (**permalink**) 31-10-2009, 11:13 AM

Florence, if that had been a Golden Oriole, I'd have thrown an overnight bag in the truck and I'd be on me way to yours with all my gear lol

david156 · #10 (**permalink**) 31-10-2009, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by genevieve

haha yeah like flo said, why did we not just go for greenfinch in the first place? wishful thinking maybe :P thanks for all the help!

I think we all do a bit of wishful thinking when it comes to bird identification. You get that little buzz that its something differant but about 99% of the time its something common. Thats all part of the fun!