Lovely Linnets in the garden
Each year at Einar, the Linnets build their nests and raise their chicks. It takes two weeks from laying to hatching and two more from hatching to fledging. It’s an astonishing rate of growth.
They stand guard on the wind-burnt Sycamore twigs. I love them.
There are two or three nests deep within the bushes every year.
Linnets lay either four or five eggs and seem to have two broods and no more here on Westray.
In a few weeks the individuals in these eggs will be flying around my garden.
I was sure that Linnets must have been constant companions of humans on these islands, so I checked Reverend George Low’s Fauna Orcadensis from 1813:
May be caught? Easily tamed? Confined in cages? Oh dear.
More Linnets
A dull day enlivened with a sprinkle of Linnets It's a dull day in Somerset but it's enlivened by the sound of Linnets in the air. There's a mobile… read more
Perching Linnet I loved seeing this male Linnet perching on the wind-burnt twigs in the garden of Einar this summer. He's a… read more
Linnet There's a small flock of Linnets on Yarner Heath. I hide in a gorse bush and wait for them. And… read more
Linnet at West Kirbest A trip to West Kirbest results in a beautiful view of this male Linnet in full breeding plumage: It's a… read more
Prickly problem We're sitting in a thistle patch in Orkney. Luckily they are relatively sparse. We have company: There's a juvenile Goldfinch… read more
Flutters a thing of light It's a wonderful evening, with soft evening light, on Trendlebere Down on Dartmoor. There's the familiar sound of twittering as… read more