26 November 2013. Burlington, ON. I’m really not sure why I’m writing this, except that I saw a couple of American Goldfinches in our back yard today and was delighted and impressed by them. Goldfinches are a bit of an enigma at the moment because the bird observatory where I spend and inordinate amount of time, has witnessed a crash in numbers. I quote from the Ruthven blog, “…On the other hand the 198 American Goldfinches banded was 340 less than our average going back to 1999. “ There seems to something amiss.
Anyway, as I left the house a couple of goldfinches flew up into the cedars chiming their tinkling calls as they vanished. Nothing remarkable in that, except that they were almost the only birds I saw today. Seeing them reminded me of a handful of American Goldfinches from a couple of months ago, the memory of which enhanced today’s encounter. With a snowstorm pending and early flurries of sleet in the air, not much of anything was moving, It was a grey, bare sort of November day, doing exactly what it’s mother told it to, we deserve goldfinches at a time like this, so here are a few from that September day. Perhaps that’s why I’m writing this.
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