Baby Goldfinches Evicted from Nest by Sparrows.

In an earlier blog, I mentioned a male and female goldfinch that were building a nest in our magnolia tree.

All seemed to be going well and as the days progressed we realised that the goldfinch couple must have had fledgelings. They were coming backwards and forwards and we could hear the chirping birds as they were being fed.

Today my wife called me from the garden, instructing me to catch Bob, our big fat Ragdoll cat. He had reacted to a little fledgeling bird falling from the nest of the magnolia tree. I managed to rescue the bird as he dropped it when I scolded him. Then as we looked up into the tree, there was a commotion occurring with common sparrows attacking the goldfinch nest. More baby goldfinches started to fall through the leaves and branches of the tree. They seemed robust and fluttered to the grass. I say fluttered, but it was more a mishmash of falling while fluttering. Enough to lessen the impact upon the soil. 

We managed to rescue four out of five fledgelings. The fifth was dangling upside down and close to the nest. It was caught between the branches and had suffered an attack by the common sparrows. I got my ladders and tried to rescue it. However, the little goldfinch was already dead with blood about its head. I think it had been pecked to death. The other fledgelings had abandoned the nest - desperately throwing themselves from the nest.  

The four survivors have been put into a box with a towel and we have phoned the local wildlife sanctuary of the Fens to see if anyone can help. I got an answer and someone will phone back at around 9 am. 

Let's hope the poor little things can be saved. They seem rather traumatised and we have been told to keep them warm and in a dark place. Therefore, they are in this box awaiting attention from a wildlife rescue centre.