DMC #2: Sociable Seed Specialist Traditional Cache

DMC#2: Sociable Seed Specialist

This is the 2nd cache of a 20-cache circuit,  consisting of 16 new + 4 existing caches adopted from Santos L Helper, which takes you anticlockwise through lovely mixed countryside from near Denton village across to near Middleton hamlet and back.

See DMC #1: Intro & Start for background info on the series, a map (also found in this cache's Gallery) and parking waypoints.

The cache, a camo-taped preform tube, is hidden close to an impressively twisted old hawthorn bush from which came the distinctive summertime call of this familiar bird (listen here) . . . some facts:

1. The (European) greenfinch (Chloris or Carduelis chloris) is one of Europe’s most widely distributed birds, breeding from the Mediterranean to the Arctic, but absent from Iceland. The species name khloris, the Ancient Greek name for this bird, from khloros (green). Nearly all local names refer to its colour, including green linnet and green grosbeak. Of the 10 recognised subspecies, the one found here is the British greenfinch (C.c. harrisoni)
2. Since the 1950s it has become increasingly common in towns and villages, nesting in parks and gardens - few birds show as much enthusiasm for feeders as it loves peanuts, sunflowers and other seeds.
3. Though it generally feeds in groups or small flocks, 100s of birds may gather together in autumn. A flock of greenfinches is called a charm, company or trembling.
4. Ringing has shown that some individuals will move 2,000km, but British breeding birds seldom move more than 20km from their birthplace. It also reveals that greenfinch from the Norwegian population move to British in the winter.
5. They are sociable birds, and often feed in company with other ground-foraging species, including tree sparrows, linnets, yellowhammers and reed buntings.
6. The song flight of the cock is distinctive as he flies with slow deep wing beats, singing continuously.
7. British birds generally start breeding in early April, with their first clutches of 4-6 eggs complete by the end of the month. Incubation takes 11-15 days, with fledging 14-18 days later. Two broods are usually attempted by each pair.
8. Young greenfinches can be confusing to identify as they lack the distinctive yellow on their primaries and tail that the adults show.
9. The plumage of adult male greenfinches from northern Europe is olive-green and yellow, and only looks bright in sunlight. Birds from south-eastern Europe tends to be distinctively brighter.
10. In Victorian times considerable numbers used to be caught for the cage-bird trade by trappers using clap nets, but they were never as popular as goldfinches or linnets. The English poet William Wordsworth wrote a poem about this species, entitled The Green Linnet in 1803 (see below).
11. There has been a marked decline in the British population since 2006 due to Trichomonosis a parasitic disease. Birds with this are lethargic and puffed-up and have difficulty swallowing food. Death can take days or sometimes weeks. It is spread by birds sharing dirty feeders or drinking water.
12. See videos here (good clips + calls), here and here (garden feeder invasion).

The Green Linnet

BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

Beneath these fruit-tree boughs that shed
Their snow-white blossoms on my head,
With brightest sunshine round me spread
Of spring's unclouded weather,

In this sequestered nook how sweet
To sit upon my orchard-seat!
And birds and flowers once more to greet,
My last year's friends together.

One have I marked, the happiest guest
In all this covert of the blest:
Hail to Thee, far above the rest
In joy of voice and pinion!

Thou, Linnet! in thy green array,
Presiding Spirit here to-day,
Dost lead the revels of the May;
And this is thy dominion.

While birds, and butterflies, and flowers,
Make all one band of paramours,
Thou, ranging up and down the bowers,
Art sole in thy employment:

A Life, a Presence like the Air,
Scattering thy gladness without care,
Too blest with any one to pair;
Thyself thy own enjoyment.

Amid yon tuft of hazel trees,
That twinkle to the gusty breeze,
Behold him perched in ecstasies,
Yet seeming still to hover;

There! where the flutter of his wings
Upon his back and body flings
Shadows and sunny glimmerings,
That cover him all over.

My dazzled sight he oft deceives,
A brother of the dancing leaves;
Then flits, and from the cottage-eaves
Pours forth his song in gushes;

As if by that exulting strain
He mocked and treated with disdain
The voiceless Form he chose to feign,
While fluttering in the bushes.