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| Brown-eyes susan |
Are you seeing more American goldfinch lately? Goldfinch are on the move, often entire family groups. Goldfinch breed much later than most other birds, waiting until the milkweed and thistle produce seeds. It’s often early July until the young birds hatch, but they make up for it by being ready to fly within 9-10 days. Tthe young birds typically stay with the parent birds for at least several more weeks, and all of them flit around together in search of seeds. That’s the point where the birds are right now in my area. I see or hear them every day, usually in groups of three or five, rarely more.
Another sign of the progressing season is that for a few minutes I actually considered wearing my headlamp this morning when I walked the dogs. The morning was crystal clear, not a cloud to be found, and for the once the humidity was low. So I can’t blame an overcast sky for the near-darkness in which I found myself. It was entirely the result of the shortening hours of daylight. I believe I can make it through this week without my headlamp, but I suspect next week will be a different story. This morning, I simply slowed my exit from the cabin by a minute or so and waited another minute for my eyes to adjust, and we were on our way.
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2 comments:
This is the time of the year when the growth is most abundant, even riotous, and I think all of my plans for "managing" my forest are hopeless. In a few more weeks, though, when the heat of August hits, all of that splendid growth is going to begin looking like an overdone ambition. And my thoughts of managing things will renew.
Goldfinches are abundant and highly visible in the fields and at bird feeders here, too. It's great to see them, isn't it?
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