THE siskin, a small, but colourful, seed-eating bird measuring just under five inches, has been very much under-recorded, largely because of its secretive habits, but it is certainly well worth looking out for.

Like other members of the finch family, the male is much more brightly coloured than the female.

Even in winter his plumage is dark yellow green with darker streaks.

There is a prominent yellow rump, wing bars and patches on the obviously forked tail.

The head of the male has a black cap and there is a clear yellow stripe above the eye.

During the breeding season, the males’ plumage is even more brightly coloured, while the female is much duller and lacks the black cap.

The siskin is much more common in the north west of Britain, and in winter it is joined by large numbers of migrants from the colder parts of northern Europe.

They need to be looked for at this time of year, but do explore the banks of East Lancashire water courses that are lined with trees, especially birch and alder.

If you resist the temptation to record all yellowish little birds and blue, or great, tits, you will soon get to know the acrobatic siskin.

Because they eat the seeds of birch, alder, and especially conifers, the siskin probably survives the winter conditions better than others.

They begin to nest early in the year and raise between three and five youngsters, with two or three broods every year.

Get out and about now and you will unravel some of the secrets of the siskin – or at least some of them.

Beauty of Mother Nature

EVEN though we do not have much daylight, and the temperature is low, there is still much to enjoy in our local countryside.

I walked around a little wood, near Hapton, just after an early morning frost and saw a hogweed, its flowers almost dead, but the plant was outlined in frost.

There is no doubt in my mind that the best of our wildlife artists would be hard pressed to compete with a lady called Mother Nature, whatever the time of year, but especially in winter.

I always wonder why Christmas decorations start going up in November, but on the day of my chilly walk I saw an abundance of red holly berries, also outlined in frost, and a robin singing on top of the tree.

Christmas 2012 has indeed started early!

Watch thousands of waders

I WAS recently reading some old diaries, written in 1905, which described one November at Heysham when “vast numbers of waders and wildfowl swept into Morecambe Bay following high winds.

“There were eiders, velvet scoters, shelduck and three great northern divers, as well as thousands of geese, which provided sport for wildfowlers.”

I also located an old postcard showing Heysham village in 1907, and it persuaded me to revisit the place to see if I could see some of the same species feeding in the bay.

I was not disappointed.

My list included more than 100 shelducks, even more eiders, but no divers.

There were wading birds in their thousands, including curlew, dunlin, knot, redshank, and one bird watcher spotted “several yellow legs”, which are rarities.

I suspect that these were, in fact, young redshanks, which do look yellow in their early stages.

As the tide came in, I did see one velvet scoter and two black guillemots, neither of which are common these days. I also saw a Manx shearwater, This is the time for East Lancashire birdwatchers to keep their eyes open for uncommon birds, especially following a period of strong winds.