Frosty Birdbath with Goldfinches

During some of our recent bitterly cold days, the edge of our heated birdbath developed a thick rim of frost. The birds have been flocking to the feeders and appreciate the chance to sip some liquid water from the birdbath. In this series, a bright-eyed American goldfinch in winter plumage took a drink and was joined by others. (As always, click on the images to see a much larger version.)

Transitional Goldfinch

It's the time of year when the male American goldfinch loses his lemon-yellow breeding plumage and takes on his drab winter colors. Here are a couple of photos of a transitional goldfinch at one of our feeders this past week. Kind of a mess, isn't he?

For comparison, here is what a male goldfinch looks like during the breeding season (spring and summer):

And here is a winter goldfinch (this may be a female, as a winter male may have more yellow on his head, but they are not terribly different from each other):

I've written about goldfinches several times: see other posts here.

A True Sign of Spring

Yesterday I suddenly noticed that two male goldfinches at our feeder were showing bright yellow feathers, clearly having started making the transition to their brilliant lemony breeding plumage. All winter long they've been a soft olive color, like the females, except for the black and white wing bars. Spring must be on its way, after all.

Splish Splash, Goldfinches Taking a Bath

Here is a little slideshow I made from a series of shots of a pair of American goldfinches having a really good splash in a puddle.