Andrew commented that he saw the East Chevington flock of Goldfinch at around 80 strong. Whilst I was there birds were arriving and leaving all the time so the numbers must have fluctuated during the day. Sometimes they were down on the roadside eating grit or drinking from puddles.
Flocks are sometimes difficult to count and I estimated 200 or so. What a pessimist!
I printed this shot of the flock in flight and counted the dots not being too pedantic about double dots or large smudges and came to 467!
Seventy or so in this shot of them feeding on the teasels.
Interesting about counts 'by guesswork' and then by eye. I learned sometime ago that the numbers of birds in large flocks are impossible to guess without error, always it seems by underestimating. Lovely bird and the only one breeding outside HMV Northumberland Street this year.
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