We have had a hard time attracting goldfinches to our yard. We tried thistle feeders before but the goldfinches never came. I decided two weeks ago to try again and this time….they arrived right outside my window!
I can’t tell you how thrilled we were to see them in the feeder, lined up along the branches, and sitting in the top of the tree. Their bright yellow color is amazing to see flash across the yard and their sweet little song is so beautiful coming in the windows.
Mr. B came in yesterday with a gift for me.
He found a goldfinch feather under the feeder and brought it in for me to see. Doesn’t it look as if someone dipped the tip in yellow paint?
This is going in my nature journal! We found the goldfinch in the Handbook of Nature Study and now we are going to read up on them and do some of the suggestions in Lesson 10.
“Goldfinches are seen at their best in late summer or September, when they appear in flocks wherever the thistle seeds are found in abundance.”
Handbook of Nature Study, page 57
Hopefully they are here for awhile so we can get our fill of finches.
Barb,
We get scads of goldfinches at our thistle feeders! I have two thistle feeders and at times I have counted at least 14 or more goldfinches at the feeders! They are delightful, beautiful little birds, aren’t they?
Samantha
B and I were just talking on our walk to today about how Goldfinches are certainly at the top of our list of favorite birds! So glad to see you enjoying them!
Barb, I’m jealous! We have tried to attract them too without success. You’ve encouraged me to give it another whirl.
We have a family of Great Tits and Blue Tits ordering snacks on our balcony. In a city we can not expect much more. Although Belgium pays attention to biodiversity, there is only so much we can expect. Certainly not goldfinches. Maybe we get to see them on the countryside.
Enjoy your birds!
I love to see & listen to birds, especially in the Spring time.
Hooray for the goldfinches! While thistle is a bit more expensive, it is well worth it to enjoy the beauty of the goldfinches! Glad our Creator God sent them your way. And, by the way, I’m really loving your blog!
Great Job Mr B!!! Love the finches – they have been our favorite. We have a “thistle field” in the forest behind us. Hundreds?Thousands? Millions . . .? Na. 50ish ‘s of gold finches there this summer. I never could sneak up enough to get a photo, but the glorious site of them retreating to the pines and spruce trees. 🙂
We enticed a few goldfinches to our yard this Spring. They are usually in our area from March to April and their entire bodies turn gold during that 6 weeks or so! In March I put a photo of my mom’s thistle sock on my blog. It is in this post: http://becauseofourchildren.blogspot.com/2010/03/birds.html
Hopefully next spring the goldfinches will remember our yard and thistle!
What a beautiful site. We too have had a hard time getting them to our feeders. Last year we found out that all imported thistle seed is irradiated or fumigated.:( Guess our birds know better than we do when something isn’t good for them.
That is an interesting idea about the imported thistle seeds. I will pay attention to the seed we use.