The sun was hot and there were shadows and much glare. The Canon 100-400mm L f/4.0-5.6 IS USM lens I borrowed from our son-in-law had trouble with the way its autofocus worked with my Canon 60D, so I am not happy with the quality of the images.
Here are some of my earlier photos of this species. The first three were taken at Jones Meadow Park, North Aurora, Kane County, Illinois.
Male American Goldfinch on Redbud, April 29, 2009:
A baby goldfinch, on the right, begs from its mother: "Got milk?" One of the few bird species to feed their young no insects, they engorge thistle seeds and nourish their young with a protein-rich "milk" that is secreted from their stomach linings (August 15, 2010).
Goldfinches and Thistles ... go together like Bells and Whistles. Common as they are on the prairie, I never tire of seeing, hearing and photographing goldfinches around and above me.
This is their peak season, as the thistle begins to go to seed, providing them both food and shelter. Other birds have nearly finished their breeding and are hiding away to molt, but the goldfinches are eating the seeds and gathering the down of the thistles for their nests.
These photos were all taken at Nelson Lake--
July 7, 2011:
Female on August 5, 2009:
Pretty as a picture (June 18, 2009):
Shared in The Bird Depot
the first ones are rather 'arty' and would make cool notecards. they are gorgeous birds. :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful series, Ken! As you know, here in Florida, we typically see them in much plainer plumage during migration.
ReplyDeletegorgeous images. Especially the two with the young.
ReplyDeleteWonderful series! I love how their colors change over the seasons :)
ReplyDeleteYou took some great images there Ken. Still can't decide if your American Goldfinch is pretier than our European one. Lets just say that they are both brilliant? My Canon suffers with noise in certain light conditions too.
ReplyDeleteGreat series on the Goldfinch!
ReplyDeleteWonderful looking birds - they are such an intense yellow.
ReplyDeleteCheers and thanks for linking to WBW
Stewart M - Melbourne
I especially liked the finches amongst the thistle blossoms...and the baby ones.
ReplyDeleteAlways a beauty!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
ReplyDeleteA very beautiful series of photos! And love the light glowing through the fluttering wings of the baby goldfinch!
ReplyDeleteFun shots of the goldfinches!
ReplyDelete