Friday, July 24, 2015

Addictive Attractions

My volunteer sunflowers are proving to be an addictive attraction for the goldfinch that I rarely see during the summer months.  One would think that with their bright yellow neon glow an observer would see more than the odd yellow leaf falling in the forest.  Yet I rarely see the goldfinch in summer months, and I have a number of year-round of this species.  (All photos taken through a window, so they are not as sharp as those from a good bird photographer.)


As I sit in the living room with my laptop, or reading or watching TV these little flecks of gold frequently catch my eye as they dart across the windows to the deck.

The mom, dad and a few little ones spend mornings, afternoons and early evenings at the sunflower heads.  They destroy the flowers ever so slowly.  It seems that the sunflower seeds ripen from the outside rows toward the center rather than all at once.  These finch pick and pull at the center and even grab a yellow petal and toss it to the deck floor if it is is in their way.  Since the sunflowers are in pots, they often wilt early with their huge root systems and I have to go outside and water and when I do, a flurry of yellow zips across the air into the dark green oaks trees in my back yard.



I watch a mother feed herself and then fight with a young(?) male when he thinks it is time for her to give him one of the seeds.  He grabs the shell held in her mouth and she shakes hard and he must release and then falls almost to the ground as she scolds him. 


 




At first I thought this was a young male in the photos below, but I researched and found they do not get full breeding colors until the second season, and since goldfinch molt twice a year, this might be just an adult male in molt.  He still looks very young!



He does seem babyish with all his tufts and soft head!  Such a cutie.

9 comments:

  1. Beautiful birds! The state bird of New Jersey, send them back.

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  2. My wife always likes to grow a few big sunflowers for the Chickadees and Goldfinch. But this year the groundhogs/rabbits/deer or whatever, ate every single one off when they were hardly started!

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  3. Beautiful and hungry! There are shops here selling sunflowers in pots, i wonder which birds down here would eat all the seeds off.

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  4. They are cheeky little ones. :)

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  5. So cute, I miss seeing them. They nibbled off the sunflowers at my old house until the squirrels cleaned them off. :-)

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  6. Awesome shots of these little performers. I see them in the fall although they are here all summer.

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  7. Incredible photos. Enjoyed them.

    A friend made a cake the other day and used sunflower petals as decoration. Chocolate chips for the center. Was quite tasty.

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  8. I am envious of your goldfinch entertainment. Here in the suburbs it's the chick-a-dees that visit our sunflowers. They never park themselves on a food source, but snatch and grab and fly off to a nearby perch to eat.

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  9. Our British Goldfinches are a different species. Not nearly such a bright yellow as yours - they're beautiful.

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Glad to hear from you once again. I really like these visits. Come sit on this log and tell me what you are thinking.