Spring
More criminal birds!
Following my 'trip down memory lane' with my painting of a Blue Tit on a milk bottle I have been looking at, in order to paint, more of our native British birds.
Other examples of my paintings are available in the gallery Animals and Birds and also in the gallery of New Paintings.
Following my 'trip down memory lane' with my painting of a Blue Tit on a milk bottle I have been looking at, in order to paint, more of our native British birds.
Other examples of my paintings are available in the gallery Animals and Birds and also in the gallery of New Paintings.
Bullfinches are usually shy birds, except in spring when seeds and berries are scarce and they come out into the open to feed on the buds of fruit trees. They cause such severe damage to crops that in the past they were trapped. *In the 16th century Henry VIII condemned their 'criminal attacks' on fruit trees, and an Act of Parliament declared that one penny would be paid for every bird killed. Unlike today there were hundreds of thousands of acres of English Orchards. The best were in Slough and Heathrow, if you can image that.
In more recent years Bullfinch numbers have been in decline and they've been on the RSPB red list of endangered species - because they were trapped? Or because English orchards were grubbed-up as a result of an EU directive? Or major supermarkets only stocking cheap, "perfect" imports? We, the consumer, apparently only interested in looks and size.
I now have a greater respect for our fruit trees. I read that traditional orchards are defined as having "at least five trees widely spaced and allowed to grow gnarled, hollowed and eventually fall where they stand. They are not intensively managed, are treated with few or no chemicals and are often grazed by animals such as sheep or geese or cut for hay". So, we have an orchard! We'll continue to encourage birds, bats, bees, moths, lichens and fungi to live in it.
If you haven't signed up to receive my newsletter you can do so here.
Next on my list - A Goldfinch on Teasel.
Eleanor
*Scottish Wildlife Trust
In more recent years Bullfinch numbers have been in decline and they've been on the RSPB red list of endangered species - because they were trapped? Or because English orchards were grubbed-up as a result of an EU directive? Or major supermarkets only stocking cheap, "perfect" imports? We, the consumer, apparently only interested in looks and size.
I now have a greater respect for our fruit trees. I read that traditional orchards are defined as having "at least five trees widely spaced and allowed to grow gnarled, hollowed and eventually fall where they stand. They are not intensively managed, are treated with few or no chemicals and are often grazed by animals such as sheep or geese or cut for hay". So, we have an orchard! We'll continue to encourage birds, bats, bees, moths, lichens and fungi to live in it.
If you haven't signed up to receive my newsletter you can do so here.
Next on my list - A Goldfinch on Teasel.
Eleanor
*Scottish Wildlife Trust
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