I mistakenly thought that goldfinches left our area in the winter, so I was surprised earlier this week when I saw a group of them in the trees in my neighborhood. Since then I have checked the range map for the American Golfinch (Spinus tristis) and learned that this bird is with us all year.
Maybe I am so used to seeing the brilliant yellow color of the males in the spring that the duller winter plumage blended in so well with their surroundings that they were invisible to me. Once I spotted them, I struggled to get photos of them. The sun kept moving in and out of the clouds and the goldfinches spent most of their time in the dense bushes.
I tried using my pop-up flash to remove some of the shadows and totally blew out the background when I really overexposed some of the images. Still, I like the effect in the first and second images and it does help you to see some of the details of the goldfinch. The final image was without flash and was more properly exposed, though I don’t like the fact that it was shot at a steeper angle than I would have preferred.
I’m going to have to start looking more closely at the trees in mysuburban neighborhood. Who knows what other birds may be present there that I don’t know about?
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
We have these little guys around our house in the summer, but we’ve never had much luck getting a photo. Of course, we’re usually outside with an Irish Setter. These are very pretty,
I kind of like the white background in those first two. You can certainly see all the details you need for a good identification.
We have been enjoying sightings of these gorgeous birds at our feeders here in SC. They are not here for very long… so seeing them in my yard is special. getting a shot at them would be amazing… but they are so fast! Thanks! Carol
I think the white background helps accentuate the shape and colour of the goldfinch. I just read it as snow rather than it being blown.
Lovely small bird!