A Flock of Goldfinches

A  flock of Goldfinches arrived several days ago here in my neighborhood.  Our neighbor across the street here has recently put up a bird feeding station with great success, and another family behind them also has a feeder (the blue feeder shown).

The Goldfinches and other songbirds just love the Sunflower Seeds, a “Finch sock”, Dried Meal Worms, and a Suet block that are available at that neighbor’s feeder station.  The finches love the “Finch sock”, and the Black Oil Sunflower Seeds.  I think the small birds also like the tray feeder a lot.

These are the first Goldfinches I have spotted here in my new neighborhood.  I think they are a migratory flock just passing through and resting here a few days.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger picture.  Enjoy!

 

I Finally Spotted a Goldfinch Here!

A Goldfinch happened to be grabbing a seed from a native plant that was growing on the shoreline of the little farm pond when I snapped its picture.  This is the first Goldfinch I have seen here this year.  The males have a small black patch on their forehead, and the females do not.  This bird is still in breeding color but likely has begun to molt and will be a lighter yellow soon.  The Goldfinches eat seeds and small bits of fruit, berries, and nuts.  They are beautiful small birds.

I had almost given up hope of seeing a Goldfinch here.  My husband had seen one several weeks ago and I was wishing I would spot one as well.  There were a lot of these yellow black and white birds around my former home at the lake, which is about twelve miles from here.  I am just delighted!  I took these pictures yesterday at dusk.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

A Few Snapshots From the Yard

Mourning Dove

Because of our on-going dock construction, there have been few birds, ducks, squirrels, chipmunks and geese here.  I am showing a few snapshots that I took in the past few days here in my yards.  I had Red-headed Woodpeckers, a Downy Woodpecker, Goldfinches, a Mourning Dove, and the resident lake Canada and Greylag Geese around.  I am quite happy to see any birds here right now.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

Male Downy Woodpecker

Canada Geese, Greylag Goose

Greylag Goose

Male American Goldfinch

Red-headed Woodpecker

Golden Beauties

There have been American Goldfinches here in both my front and back yards all year.  I noticed a great many of the Goldfinches were enjoying my front yard bird seed feeder.  That feeder is next to a number of Purple Coneflower plants that are presently in bloom.  The male American Goldfinch is now still in his breeding colors.  The males are now bright yellow with black and white and have a small black cap on the top of their heads.  The females are a duller yellow with black and white but do not have a black cap on their foreheads like the males.  After the breeding season ends in fall, the finches molt and change to a color that looks a lot like the female presently does (but the males keep that black cap).  Finches love to eat Niger or Nyger Seeds, Millet, and Black Oil Sunflower Seeds.  I keep a mix of finch food mixed in with the other general bird seed in both of my feeders.  That way, a lot of different birds are happy and can use either feeder station as desired.   click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

Finches on and Around the Feeder

Occasionally I will look out my window and catch a sight of many little finches all trying to eat at the tube feeder at once.  It is a genuine feeding frenzy!  This hanging tube feeder has four perches.  The feed mix I have put into this feeder is Niger, Millet,  and Black Oil Sunflower Seed.  The birds all seem to like that Black Oil Sunflower Seed.  It is the single most popular seed for almost all seed-eating birds.  These finches in the picture are House Finches and Goldfinches.  The red colored House Finch is a male.  The male Goldfinch is the more brightly colored yellow with that little black cap.  I am going through about a half-tube of feed daily now.  Some of this is in part due to the Grey Squirrel raiders but as you can plainly see, the feeder is super popular with the finch crowd!  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

Sunny Little Goldfinches Really Brighten the Day

The Goldfinches are now in their breeding plumage.  The males are now almost neon yellow with black and a touch of white.  The males also have a small black cap at their foreheads.  The females are just a tad less brilliant in coloration and lack that black cap.  They are both gregarious and sweet-tempered birds.  They are seed eaters and prefer Niger (also spelled as Nyger) Seed, Millet, and Black Oil Sunflower Seeds.  I have those seeds plus Safflower Seeds in my front yard tube feeder.  The various finches really go for this mixture.  I sometimes will have six or seven finches at once all trying to crowd into position among the four perches on the feeder!  These cute little birds also enjoy the multi-bird seed mix that I have in my larger tray-style, backyard feeder.  That feeder looks like a little house.  The various finches sometimes just hang out on the perches under the little roof overhang.

The Goldfinches are a lot less colorful in their Winter non-breeding plumage earlier in the year.  During that time, the males and females are very close in looks and are a rather washed-out almost Mustard yellow in color with the same black and white markings.  I was very happy to have taken these pictures from my window and my deck over the last several weeks.  Please click on the thumbnail version to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!  I am going to close today’s post by wishing all Mothers a wonderful and very happy Mother’s Day!

Lots and Lots of Goldfinches

The Goldfinches have been here in a big flock.  I was really shocked the first day I looked out the window and saw at least fifty or so Goldfinches in the backyard and a similar number in the front yard!  Whew!  At times, the tube feeder in the front yard had all of the perches full and birds waiting on-line on the post and on the ground underneath.  The males have been getting much more of the bright Lemon-yellow coloring that they show during the nesting season.  Both genders have black and white bars on their wings but the males will have a small patch of black on their foreheads during the breeding season.  The males will be much more vividly colored than the females.  The Goldfinches eat Millet, Niger or Nyger, Safflower Seed, Black Oil Sunflower Seed (Unshelled is preferred) and other wild weed and plant seeds.  Occasionally the Goldfinches enjoy a bit of cracked peanut or berries.

The Goldfinches are very social and like to be with other small birds such as the House Finches, Tufted Titmice, White-breasted Nuthatches, Chickadees, and Juncos.  I have had so many Goldfinches here at once in the yard, it almost looked like the ground was moving with little yellow birds!  It was especially cute when the Goldfinches were browsing for seed in the leaves.  The birds were so tiny that the leaves almost covered them up.  It is entertaining to watch the Goldfinches here.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

P.S.  We were under a tornado warning here on the lake late this afternoon.  We so far only had a severe thunderstorm.  Unfortunately for us, one of our big Oak Trees fell – and hit our pontoon boat.  Hopefully the damage will only be slight to the boat and dock.  I’ll let you know in a future post.  We are fine and are safe in our basement.  Just thought I’d let all know.  Wildlifewatcher.

 

A Feeder Full of Finches

Goldfinches have been here in a big flock this week.  I saw about thirty in the backyard trees plus another ten or more in the front yard.  At one point I had seven finches on the front tube feeder at the same time with all of the perches filled and a finch waiting on the pole.  The males are getting a lot brighter in color.  The male Goldfinch is that bright lemon yellow color with the female a much duller greenish-yellow.  The male House Finch is a salmon-red with brown underneath and the female House Finch is a medium-brown with darker brown streaks.  The finches love Niger Seed, Millet Seed, Black Oil Sunflower Seed and small bits of nuts.  In addition to my tube feeder, I mix in the Finch seed mix into the general birdseed that I put into the big backyard feeder.  I also throw out a bit of the Finch seed mix on the ground in both of my yards.  Finches will eat off the ground if they like the seed offered.  I try to be choosy where I do put seed on the ground as I do not want a lot of mystery plants sprouting.  Even this morning I am seeing a huge group of small birds, mostly finches, here in the yards.   I am happy about having the Finches here.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

The Male Goldfinches are Undergoing a Change of Color

Goldfinches are lovely little birds.  Very soon the male Goldfinches will be showing the bright taxi-cab lemon yellow of their breeding feather color.  Both genders will keep the black and white bars on their wings.  For several weeks now, I have been seeing this slow change from the fall and winter non-breeding dull yellow color to the strong hues of the breeding color.  The males, especially younger ones, want to dress to impress the ladies!  There’s been a small flock of about fifteen Goldfinches here in my front yard for most of the last week.

I have been seeing a few individual Goldfinches all winter long at my front yard feeder.  This particular feeder is a tube with nice-sized ports and the feeder is full of Niger, Black Oil Sunflower Seeds, Millet and a tiny amount of Safflower Seed.  The Goldfinches love using this feeder!  I also have some of the seed mix that I throw out on the ground here and there for the crowd.  The Goldfinches do patiently take turns using the feeder but usually a maximum of three birds is on the feeder at once.  These Goldfinches will continue to have their feathers change color for a few more weeks.  The females stay a dull yellow all year long.  I am happy to have so many lovely birds here.  I took these pictures from my window just yesterday (3/8/11).  Please click on the thumbnail version to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

Pictures of Pretty Songbirds

Male Northern Cardinal

Today’s post is all about some of the gorgeous colorful songbirds that have been around my yards in the last two weeks.  I have had a lot of the yellow Goldfinches, the red or brown Northern Cardinals, the blue and orange Eastern Bluebirds, and the blue and white Eastern Blue Jays.  All are coloring right up in preparation for their nesting season.  The males are usually a bit more brightly colored than the females.  The birds have been enjoying the bird feeders, ground feed stations, and the insects that naturally live in the lawn and in the forest floor.  I just love watching all of the birds browse or hunt for their food.  I also enjoy seeing the birds at rest perched on twigs and branches.  I took these pictures in the  last week of February, 2011 from my window. Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

Female Northern Cardinal

Goldfinch

Eastern Blue Jay

Eastern Blue Jay

Eastern Bluebirds

Male Goldfinch