In my previous post I noted that the male Goldfinches were in the process of transforming from their subdued winter plumage into their brilliant yellow of summer. It's fun to watch them get a little bit brighter every day.
I managed to catch a few pix of a couple of guys on one of our feeders, looking quite mottled:
Surely not looking at their best in this awkward in-between stage but, hey, it's what they've gotta go through to regain their flash, right?
I'm also happy to note that the Fox Sparrows are still around. We now have at least four. I couldn't resist snapping a few more pix of one today:
The second one is a tad blurry, as I caught him/her in the middle of doing the Fox Sparrow Two-Step; i.e., their characteristic two-footed scrape in search of some edible morsel.
I've had a noteworthy lack of Am goldfinches this winter, but over run with com. redpolls. so curious how the populations fluctuate so radically over a winter. And, this spring, five Fox sparrows where in years past it's usually one to none. This is a very high, possibly highest feeder count for this species for me. They are beautiful birds, but hard to capture well with their constant movement and preference for darkness and ground. I wish that they had five steps to their scratching because my brain is versing away, "Five Fickle Foxes fiesty in a five step........." Doesn't that make you want to dance?
ReplyDeleteHi Robin--Goldfinches have probably been our most abundant birds throughout the course of the winter. Some days the feeders have been pretty full of them, and many more can be heard in the woods, twittering away. We were visited by large flocks of redpolls on only a few occasions.
ReplyDeleteHahaha! Your title made me laugh. You're so lucky you have Fox Sparrows. We had them in 2008 and 2009, but none since.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kelly--glad I gave you a chuckle! Alas, the Foxes seem to have moved on now, but the Goldfinches have pretty much completed their transformation.
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