Friday, May 15, 2015

Finch Friday

I am making good progress on my owl.  Ironically I've not heard any owls the past couple of weeks. Great Horned Owls are active at dawn and dusk so I often hear them talking to each other.

I mentioned in an earlier post that Evening Grosbeaks, Black-head Grosbeaks, House Finches, Pine Siskins, Lesser Goldfinches, and American Goldfinches were all members of the finch family.  I truly do not know much about bird classification except that like plants ever bird has a Latin name and family.
Evening Grosbeaks for example are have the Latin name of Coccothraustes vespertinus. They belong to the order Passeriformes and the family Fringilldae, and they are a Finch!

And lately they have been everywhere.
In the hedgerow.

At the feeders.

And on the ground.

I think they are stern 'frowny' birds.

And very colorful too.

I've counted as many as 38 birds.  And my is that ever noisy!

As best I can tell I have about 4 male and 2 female Black-headed Grosbeaks.  The males have a very pretty song which you can listen to here

Most of the Pine Siskins have left the area.  They breed in the Boreal forests of northern Canada.  I still have 5-7 birds lingering in the area.

House Finches are here all year. 

The males are more colorful now that they are courting.  

Here are my other finches - a Lesser Goldfinch on the left and American Goldfinch on the right.  The Lesser has a darker head, duller colors, and is smaller and more sleek than the American Goldfinch. 

As you can see I also have lots of Goldfinches!

They push and shove - the poor Lesser Goldfinch (far right) has a hard time of it. 

The small teal feeder is my newest purchase.  I thought it was very pretty, and the right size for my smaller birds.

In this photo you can get an idea of the constant motion - the comings and goings at the feeder - there are at least three birds in flight.

I get quite the crowd.

I think my highest count thus far is 34 American Goldfinches.

8 comments:

Sue said...

I've always thought that Evening Grosbeaks looked like giant American Goldfinches:)

Sue said...

I've always thought that Evening Grosbeaks looked like giant American Goldfinches:)

Pondside said...

I could watch a busy feeder for a very long time!

Ann at Beadlework. said...

We've had to stop feeding the birds for the time being Beth. I feel quite sad about it and I'm truly missing them from our garden. Poppy and Rosa have both been very unwell with an infection and the thought is that it came in from the garden birds either through us or Brandy. Both cats ended up being hospitalised overnight at the vet so they were quite poorly. Rosa has recovered but Poppy isn't quite there yet so we don't want to risk it happening again.

Frances said...

Love the owl stitch! I hear owls sometimes at night.
Your house is the "happening place" in bird world! I love all the pictures, especially the one with the 3 in flight! I think I could entertain myself for hours watching them come and go!!

Barb said...

Your owl is so cute! We saw a very noisy little wren on our walk today!

Melody said...

Your owl stitching is going to be very cute. They are so popular now. Wonderful bird pictures again.

Wanda said...

I am chuckling over the finches being 'frowny' birds but it is the perfect description. I am astounded by the number that you have Beth - what incredible entertainment.
Love your owl stitch!