It’s been an interesting week of bird sightings at Bracken House, the highlight being a first ever recorded appearance of a siskin. This sole small finch was seen at the bird feeders on Friday 8th February. A common bird in Wales and Scotland, these birds are less common in England, but are more frequent in winter. They occasionally visit bird feeders searching for peanuts, though they do feed on seeds, especially of conifers, alders and birch. Also noted at Bracken House on the same day was a pair of mallards, who spent most of the day alternating between the two ponds. [Read more]