American Goldfinches are small finches with small heads, conical bills, short notched tails and long wings. Males in breeding plumage are bright yellow with black foreheads, black wings with bold white patterns. Females are much duller.
Yesterday morning, I photographed my first American Goldfinch here in Arkansas. The beautiful goldfinch unexpectedly landed over the feeder and surprised me.
When I was at Farmington Bay WMA last week, I had a chonky American Goldfinch fly in and land on a greasewood in front of me. Of course, I took photos of it.
The heavy snowpack is still making it impossible for me to get into the mountains to photograph birds like this male American Goldfinch in breeding plumage.
I was happy to have this male American Goldfinch perched with ripe serviceberries in front of him for a few moments yesterday high in the mountains.
Right after I photographed a juvenile Lazuli Bunting two days ago a female American Goldfinch landed in a patch of thistles in front of me.
Today I am keeping my post short and simple with a male American Goldfinch in his breeding plumage perched high above a Wasatch Mountain creek.
This morning I wanted to share some photos of the birds and blooms that I took images of one morning last week while I was high in the Wasatch Mountains.
Last week I spent some time with American Goldfinches in their winter plumage in my viewfinder and had fun photographing them.
At the end of June I had a few moments to focus on an adult male American Goldfinch perched on a chokecherry tree high in the Wasatch Mountains.
Yesterday I photographed this male American Goldfinch and thought about how he is as bright as the dandelions that are blooming now in the mountains.
Yesterday morning the first birds I spotted and photographed was a pair of adult Red-tailed Hawks side by side on a rocky ledge in early morning light.
Two days ago the first bird I photographed high in the mountains was an adult male American Goldfinch clinging to thistles that were covered in ants and aphids.
The bright yellow bird that flew into my field of view was a male American Goldfinch that stood out like a ray of sunshine against the shadows of some tall nearby trees.
I have never heard so many American Goldfinches flying overhead for such a long period of time and I was in awe. I still am.
I feel a little like this American Goldfinch this morning, meaning I feel like I am upside down because of issues on my web site that started just after I woke up at o'dark hundred.
Small birds like these White-crowned Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos and American Goldfinches need cover that provides safety for them from predators.
One year ago today I went up into the Wasatch Mountains and for about three minutes I photographed a molting American Goldfinch feasting on Musk Thistle seeds.
I kept my focus on this male American Goldfinch and when he lifted off I was able to take a photo with his wings raised just as he started to take flight.
Last year I was able to take hundreds of photos of this male American Goldfinch in breeding plumage while he fed on the seeds of a Musk Thistle.
Earlier this week I left home well before the sun came up, sat on my rear end for over five hours, traveled over 230 miles and the only decent image I took was of this American Goldfinch perched on a wild rose surrounded by scarlet rose hips.
When the female American Goldfinch lifted off I liked the eye contact I had with her and how graceful she looked when she raised her wings, when I saw this image on my camera LCD I just had to smile.
Today I am keeping it short and sweet and sharing one photo of a male American Goldfinch perched on a dried Musk Thistle blossom plus a short video clip I took of him as he lifted off and flew away.
A flash of yellow, black and white on a purple flower immediately drew my eyes to a male American Goldfinch feasting on the seeds of a Musk Thistle so I stopped, turned my Jeep off and proceeded to photograph the bird.
The day I photographed the Green-tailed Towhee singing up in the mountain canyon I also had an opportunity to take a nice series of photos of what appeared to be a mated pair of American Goldfinches.
Imagine a bird whose bright yellow feathers rival the rays of the sun then add a black forehead, ebony eyes, black and white wings and you have a male American Goldfinch in breeding plumage. Feathered sunshine.
I photographed a couple of American Goldfinches that morning too, as usual I heard the finches well before I spotted them foraging in some vegetation next to the auto tour route.
Last week I found a small flock of American Goldfinches foraging on the auto tour route at Bear River MBR and I was able to capture a few images of them before they took off in a rush.
I spent time photographing primarily small birds yesterday in northern Utah which included Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, American Goldfinches and American Tree Sparrows.
This American Goldfinch feeding upside down on seeds over the snow-covered field has always made me chuckle a bit because of the pose of the finch.
Even though the American Goldfinches are in their non-breeding plumage now I still think of them as gold.