May
16
2015
In the week I was gone my goldfinch stopped coming to my feeders. That happens every year. The goldfinch come in a steady stream to my feeders in the early spring. Then they stop. I sometimes wonder what they feed on later on but, obviously, it is something other the sunflower seed I put out for them. It is always a mystery to me.
Jan
13
2015
I am seeing how long it takes. First I put out slices of orange in the suet cage and then I put out a sock full of thistle. It has been quite long since I saw the last goldfinch. And I am curious what birds, if any, are attracted to the slices of orange. I will keep my eyes open. I like surprises. So we will see.
Mar
29
2014
It is a mystery to me when birds come to my feeders. Sometimes the dogs chase them away. Other times I don’t know why they don’t come. There is birdseed there. I just don’t know. It is always puzzling to me that I can put out a new suet cake and the birds find it almost right away. And that is after I have been out for awhile. The birds provide such pleasure. In the spring I noted we have quite a few goldfinch. Sometimes there are so many I see them at two different feeders–the sunflower and thistle feeder. It always amazes me that one will sit on the thistle feeder for five minutes at a time feeding. The males are reverting to yellow, again. We have been having three different kinds of woodpeckers come to eat the suet: downy, red bellied and now hairy. The hairy woodpecker has become a regular visitor. In the past, we hardly ever saw one. At least one knows about the suet. The hairy woodpecker is twice the size of the downy. Though somewhat similar in markings.
Mar
4
2014
I made several small discoveries today. My rubber tree in my office had new growth on four branches. I forgot that it has dormant periods. It is over three feet high. I give it a little water every day. That is the extent of my care. I never had one do well before. I will just continue doing what I am doing. I like looking at it every day and noticing anything new about it.
There were actually six goldfinch on my thistle feeder briefly and I noticed five or six also on my sunflower feeder at the same time. Goldfinch will sit there five minutes feeding. Now they are all gone. All the birds appeared to be male. That seems a little odd.
Last fall before the cold killed the two Gerbera daisies outside we brought them in. The annuals were going to die any way. And stuck both plants by the window and occasionally would give them water. The one closer to the window actually had a flower we discovered yesterday. I could not determine the color yet.
These were just three small observations I made in the last twenty-four hours.
Dec
3
2013
I put out all my birdseed. I was out of all my different kinds–regular, sunflower, suet and thistle. A nuthatch immediately found the birdseed (regular) on the platform I laid seed on. I put fresh thistle for the goldfinch. My wife said they all migrated away. I suspected the thistle (which I had bought months ago) had gone stale. I will see who is right. I almost never run out of feed for them. It was only a day so they were not out of feed too long. Anyway, I now will continue to watch the visitors that come to my feeders.
Nov
12
2013
The goldfinch finally came back. I realized I had not seen one at the thistle feeder for months. I first cleaned out the crusted thistle and put out fresh thistle (out) and waited. It took about a week for the goldfinch to rediscover the thistle. There were even three on the feeder at one time today. I did not realize the thistle had gone bad.
Nov
7
2013
I put out fresh thistle today. I had not seen a goldfinch in weeks. I tried scraping out the caked thistle as best as I could using the end of a knife before putting out new thistle. Let us see if the goldfinch come back. And how long it will take.
Sep
21
2013
The goldfinch stopped coming in flocks. In the last week. Sometimes between the finch feeder and sunflower feeder there could be seen at one time five or six or more goldfinch. In the last week they stopped coming in throes. Now I am lucky if I see more than one or two at one time. I have no explanation for this. I did nothing different. I am not sure if goldfinch migrate. That would be a possible explanation. I have to ask someone about this. I am just curious about that.
Apr
8
2013
I have been attracting the goldfinch to my thistle feeder for several weeks. The males were all in their drab winter coats. Yesterday was the first male gold finch I saw in its bright yellow coat. I want to see today if I can spot more transformed males.
Mar
10
2013
There were actually three goldfinch spotted today: two were feeding and one was on hanging on the rope to the thistle feeder waiting its turn. The goldfinch have found the newly filled thistle I put out over a week ago. It is always a mystery how birds find seed you put out. But they do.
Mar
9
2013
It took eight days for the first goldfinch to come to my thistle feeder. I was not able to identify the sex of it. In the winter they are drab looking but the male will get its bright yellow in the early spring. The goldfinch, sometimes, will position itself for five minutes feeding at the same spot. Sometimes in the spring hordes of goldfinch come some feeding on the thistle spilled on the ground. Let us see if more come.
Mar
9
2013
There was a hawk I could not identify despite looking in three bird books. He was again spotted sitting on a wire kind of scrunched up dark brown over twelves inches tall. He was near a marsh again for the third time. Last week we spotted an immature bald eagle (no white head) and a red tailed hawk (identified by my wife) both flying high in the sky. Nearby the eagle there is an eagle nest high up the cliff which could only be seen when the trees had no leaves. This could be the third year it was there. We are still waiting for the first goldfinch to come to our thistle feeder. I don’t understand why they have not found it. I did put out fresh thistle. Maybe, they have not come because I did not clean the feeder. My faucet for outside was still turned off. My wife today saw her first crocuses going into town. Every day there will be more surprises. That is the wonder of spring.
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