Friday, July 22, 2011

Goldfinches & Sunflowers

I am linking up my Goldfinch post  to the Friday Ark and Camera Critters  Both are great memes for the animal and bird lover. The American Goldfinch is a year round bird for me.  The male Goldfinch is a beautiful bird, such a pretty bright yellow in the summer months. The female is pretty but a much duller color. They have such a sweet sound, I love to hear them in my yard.




Watching and feeding my yardbirds is one of my favorite things to do. The sunflowers growing in my yard are from the birds dropping the seeds. They love the Black Oiled Sunflower Seeds also known as BOSS. And now it is a treat to see the birds pecking at and eating the seeds on my sunflowers.



On this day I was able to catch the American Goldfinch perched on top of the sunflower and chowing down.






I like to leave the flowers in our yard even after they are past their beautiful flowering stage because I know the birds like to eat the seeds from the dead flowers. The Coneflowers are another flower popular with the birds in the fall time. In a small way it helps me to cut back on my bird seed purchases, if the birds are eating the seeds from my flowers.

I chose to plant coneflowers in our yard because I read that the birds love the eat the seeds in the fall.



To see more wonderful birds and critters please visit the Friday Ark and Camera Critters.  Thanks to the host of the Friday Ark and to Misty Dawn of Camera Critters. Thanks also for visiting my post and blog. I always enjoy your comments. I hope you all have a great weekend and try to stay cool. It's HOT out there.


32 comments:

  1. Lovely photos [as usual ;)]
    I too like to let the plants just do their own thing and I don't like to do "yard cleanup." I like to leave it for the various wildlife during the winter!
    You have a great weekend too!
    meggs.

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  2. One of my favourite birds too, Eileen. And they stay here year round too. Like you, I also leave the Echinacea seed heads standing all winter...mainly to keep the goldfinches happy. :) Your goldfinch photos are wonderful!

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  3. love those beautiful goldfinches! we only see them passing thru in their travel khakis.

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  4. Love these little guys ... such busy fellows on my feeders! One day I had 15 feeding!!! What a beautiful treat!
    Beautiful photos!

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  5. Wow! You caught it in action. Great shots.

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  6. Neat pictures of your sweet little Goldfinches.. I'll do a bird blog on Monday ---and there's a male Goldfinch in mine also...

    The coneflowers are so pretty.

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  7. Anything that helps cut down on birdseed costs is a big help. Have you SEEN the price of the BOSS???
    It should be called BLACK OIL GOLD!

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  8. You have them visited your place because you have done something good.

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  9. what lovely birds, such a beautiful colour! We have goldfinches too, but our species looks very different! Lovely idea to let the flowers go past their best so the birds get more food

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  10. I love the one where he's bending over the blossom and snitching the seeds!!

    Great photos.

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  11. fabulous shots, especially of him 'chowing down.' he is such a pretty colour.

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  12. Hi Eileen, I just am crazy for your pictures of tho Goldfinch on the flower head. Coneflowers are popular with the songbirds as I have recently found out myself. Yes, the natural seed growing in your garden is super for your birds. I am doing same on a lesser extent. The Coneflowers I have were here as native plants - or put in by former owners anyway. Have a great day!

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  13. These goldfinch shots are top notch Eileen. They are such a pretty little bird and your flowers are gorgeous.

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  14. Wonderful images of a beautiful bird... so colourful.

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  15. Love the cone flower in your header.

    In answer to your kangaroo question, like the males of most species, they fight for mating rights not food. The kangaroos are increasing on our farm in plague proportions since we provide water, ample grazing and plenty of trees and native vegetation for shelter. I wish they did not damage our fences and let the sheep out onto the roads!!!

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  16. Goldfinches are the cutest little birds. I love seeing them in the spring as they pass through our area.

    I love your shots of the coneflowers, a beautiful flower and food for the little birds too.

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  17. What lovely vibrant feathered friends!

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  18. such bright and beautiful birds!! great shots!
    and the cone flowers...NICE!! look like they're all dressed up with they're dainty little colorful skirts!

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  19. Your summer and fall is so far ahead of us. Beautiful pictures and post as always.

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  20. This is such a beautiful bird, and colors are so vibrant, Eileen!

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  21. Lovely pics of the goldfinch enjoying the sunflowers. He's as bright as the plants he eats.

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  22. Lovely Goldfinches Eileen - they are just so yellow and blend into the greenery so well on a sunny day.

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  23. Beautiful shots of bird. Just love their color.

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  24. You took some fantastic photos of this beautiful bird.

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  25. Lovely photos - it's wonderful to see birds feeding in the garden. Your American goldfinch looks very different to our goldfinch.

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  26. I do love cone flowers!!! Mine died last summer and have not replaced them yet! Perhaps I should do that! Thank you!!! Cathy

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  27. Lovely pics from your garden - always a joy to view. It must be a wonderful haven for the birds - how wonderful to have all this colour and birdlife around you. Have a wonderful week, and thanks for dropping by my blog to say hi.

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  28. Great shots. They are so pretty. Love their colours.

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  29. That's good to know that about the coneflower! Funny, they were the ones who dropped the seeds. I grew the ones with seeds before but our soil here is pretty shallow..so we haul dirt in. But I do enjoy growing the regular (mostly 5-6'). Even they sometimes tend to get top heavy, so I pile on more dirt (smile). They are beautiful friens and I can imagine the lovely sound-
    The big White Tailed Tropic birds you caught are awesome in flight!

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Have a happy day, Eileen

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