Each year, once in the fall and once in late March or early April, we enjoy flocks of migrating goldfinches and smaller numbers of other finches in our coastal North Florida yard. Sometimes, they stay in the area a few weeks; other times, they are here (at least in our yard) only a few days. We felt privileged to be home a few days ago to watch a flock in our backyard. Because they swoop in and out quickly and flit around, it was difficult to count them, but we had somewhere around 30 goldfinches that afternoon--possibly more. About 1/3 of them were males. Their song is sweet, long, and canary-like--a lovely spring chorus.Finches love the thistle seed feeder we keep out for them and were also happily cracking the larger safflower seeds in the companion feeder. Most of all, they delighted in wildly splashy communal baths in the shallow birdbath at ground level. With trees, vines, and bushes nearby for safety, they seemed to feel free to frolic and sing up a noisy storm of joy. In my birdbath photos, some of the goldfinches are a fluffy blur of splash while others prepare to chase them out for their own turn.
I didn't dare open a door or window or step around to the back to get photos, so the best I could do was to give my simple little Canon its maximum 4X zoom and shoot through the patio door windowpanes. I hope you enjoy our cheery friends, too.
Question of the day: Don't you marvel at the beauty and variety of life on our precious Earth?
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