i went for a wonder today in the BP by aberavon and during my time there was was a massive flock of golfinch around 74 -78 birds eating the nijar seed bushes as i went towards the back of the BP i noticed some strange noises when i looked i saw about 7 – 8 bigish birds land on a pylon and when i looked i knew they were a Thrush not finch lol, of some kind but i couldnt tell whether it was a fieldfare or mistle thrush, thy made a discintive noise which i hope can be picked up on my video
location: 
(couldnt get the SS code)
i have got one single but blurry image of this bird
Glamorgan Bird Club 
Hi Leah, It’s a Mistle Thrush alright and they make a rather strange harsh rattling sound like a mini football rattle from the old days [don’t think they’re used these days – people just shout]. Point if info tho’ they are not finches, assuming you were referring to these birds when you said you knew they were finches of some kind. They are thrushes, as the name says 🙂
…. and what I shd have said is that it is quite common for them to flock at this time of year, even into double figures.
o good, what i meant to say was i saw 7 – 8 mistle thrushes and before i saw them there was a massive flock of goldfinch there were loads, and i knew they were them by the red on their face and the bright yellow flash on their wings too hehe 🙂 theres loads of nijar growing in the BP hehe i didnt bother taking pix of them because i have allready got quite a few images of them and my craze this year is to take as many good images of different bird species in a year and put them into a photo album 🙂
Good luck with your album! Just some info about Niger or Nyger seed, which some folk refer to as thistle seed due to Goldfinches liking it. The plant is not actually a thistle and does not grown in the UK. It is commonly know as African Daisy, scientific name Guizotia abyssinica, and belongs to the Aster family. It is grown commercially in Africa. SO what your Goldfinches were feeding on was most likely ‘proper’ thistle or perhaps even Teasel. Hope that helps.
thank u that’s some good info 🙂