"What kind of bird are you? I asked
and put on my glasses, the better to glimpse
such wing and color, such flashiness."
American Goldfinches
"... fly in hiccups, flash their gold, a flock
of such birds called a charm,
from the Latin carmen, meaning song."
- from the poem For the Birds: A Charm of Goldfinches
by Cecilia Woloch
Our backyard is full of tiny goldfinches. The charms are heard before seen; the songs are happy, chirpy, a per-chic-o-ree.
Look up, there in the tree - the charm is there. The glimpse of yellow becomes a wall of gold.
A charm, a song. Pure gold.
11 comments:
Gold finches are one of the few songbirds that live here, in dirtville, year round. They certainly are charming and joyful, too!
They always came when Spring did and brightened up our whole world.
Jo and Stella
Lovely, lovely!
Spring in autumn. And it will still be spring in your garden in winter.
We only have goldfinches here in the winter and we have yet to see any. I am intrigued by the bag feeder. Care to pass along info on it?
charming little birds, and I wish i could hang upside down like that and also wish i could see the background of your blog in real life. i love that background. brilliant gold birds, wow
I love these guys, and I'd estimate I have over 20 regulars out back. However, I've heard so many people saying they love the song, and I don't really get it. I mean it's ohKAY, but . . . compared to cardinals or even sparrows . . . .
One sock is about 5 feet away right now, and I think that's a kid there, lunching. As is so often the case, with the kids, females, and winter males, when I see the belly side or hear their "song," I think mouse. I'm glad to have their squeaky chatter because there's plenty of it. But again I think mouse. Maybe they should be seen and not heard. Does that make me evil?
Kathy, our pet stores sell a couple of sizes, black or white netting, around $4. Only The Brenda has the brilliant yellow ones. It's harder to keep with The Brenda than the Joneses, you know.
Kathy, Banjo is right - costs about $4/$5 and is called a 'thistle sock feeder'. The feed used is nyjer - which is a thistle. The birds LOVE the netting and they LOVE the nyjer!
They are beautiful.
They are such pretty birds. We do not have many colorful birds here. Wish we did. I like that feeder and I should try some different feeds to attract more assortment of birds. Take care!
Beautiful! Love that color...
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