The Cowbar grassland is now covered in many species of seed heads – a feast for birds, insects and the creatures that live here. The Goldfinches especially love the thistle seeds and knapweed seeds and there is plenty here for them. It is a delight and a privilege to watch them in their flocks – sometimes more than 30 at a time, perching on the dry stems and feasting then rising up in a cloud to move on to the next patch, the flashes of yellow on their wings catching the sunlight, as golden as the sunflowers in the nearby field.
You can read another appreciation of Goldfinches in Derbyshire in a recent ‘Country Diary’ article by Mark Cocker which you will find here.
In it, he suggests two possible reasons why they may sometimes be called ‘tailor birds’.
Mary Oliver, an American poet, was inspired by nature and her poems are often full of reverence and joy for the tiny details she would notice on her walks and meditations in wild landscapes or closer to home. You can read more about Mary Oliver and her work here. Her poem, ‘Goldfinches’ is a celebration and a warning. You can read it in our post from last year. Cowbar Autumn Goldfinches.
