Towheeblog

Some disappointments are inevitable.  Some time you will taste your last fresh cherry of the summer.  Some morning in winter you will wake up…BEFORE sunrise.  Some time soon the finest dogwood in your neighborhood will drop its last leaf of the year.  Today I woke to find the bird feeders busy.  I replenished the sunflower seed supply. The suet log was ok.  The scrub-jay came for his peanuts to cache, the juncos were abounding and busy with seeds on the ground.  The  Bushtits inevitably appeared and wallpapered the suet block.  Honking his horn the Red- breasted Nuthatch ferried seeds off to cache or crack.  House Sparrows came in a gang.  Canada Geese trumpeted their way overhead, bound for their next grass repast.  But there was an absence, a vacancy, a “no longer.”  Not a single American Goldfinch was to be seen…all day.  This day was inevitable.  Now the resident House Finches are left to uphold the family’s claims. Though the winter may bring an occasional visit by some Lesser Goldfinches who prefer winter weather to long distance travel.

For a little nostalgia, for old time’s sake, here is an image from just nine days ago…goldfinches at a meal in our garden.  Now I can only wish them safe travels.