The bullfinch family pairing up

I noticed a male bullfinch in a small tree hanging over the fence halfway down our back garden. I watched for a few minutes as it flew away and then  before long it returned accompanied by a female. I grabbed my camera which was on my desk and added an extender because they were quite a distance away.

The pair of bullfinches came and went whilst a goldfinch flew up and landed close by in the same tree. There seemed to be a lot of activity amongst various small birds most of them flying further up the garden to the sunflower feeder and returning to eat the seeds.

Then the male and female landed on the same branch and slowly hopped towards each other in short leaps. At one point they did actually rub their heads together but they were shrouded by other branches so I couldn’t get a good shot.

At last they found a new branch which gave me this clearer view, and then they moved towards each other. I like this image where the female has lowered her head and body and came very close the the male. Unfortunately the male’s beak was obscured by a bud on a nearer branch, but hey, I felt very lucky to watch their proximity before they hopefully produce a small family. I feel privileged that they deign to regard our garden as home. Another pair may be doing the same as I saw three males and a female on another tree yesterday, and I often see two females feeding on the seeds.