Posted in Autumn, Birds, Flowers, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged American Goldfinch, Canon 7D, goldfinch, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Spinus tristis, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on October 26, 2022| 7 Comments »
I haven’t seen an American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) for quite some time, so I was happy when I spotted this one last Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The vegetation was mostly dried-out, but the goldfinch had no problem finding lots of little seeds. I love the way that the dull colors of the goldfinch were a match for those of the seed heads that surrounded the little bird.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Flowers, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, American Goldfinch, Canon 50D, goldfinch, goldfinches, green spring gardens, Spinus tristis, Tamron 180mm on July 8, 2022| 13 Comments »
I was absolutely thrilled on Wednesday when I streaks of bright yellow flashed in front of my eyes while walking among the flowers at Green Spring Gardens—goldfinches were present. Few other birds in my area can match the brilliant yellow color of the male American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) in breeding plumage. It is easy to spot these birds, but it is a challenge to photograph them, because they are small, fast, and skittish.
My camera was equipped with my 180mm macro, which can also serve as a short telephoto lens, so I had to use all of my stalking skills to get as close as possible. Fortunately, the goldfinches were preoccupied with feeding and I was able to capture these images. I had to be quite patient, though, because the goldfinches spent most of their time with their heads buried in the flowers and only rarely gave me a good view of their faces
Together with the goldfinches, the abundance of blooming flowers helped me to create images that have a happy feel to them, a welcome antidote to the gloom of these troubled times.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, American Goldfinch, Canon 50D, goldfinch, Huntley Meadows Park, Spinus tristis, Tamron 150-600mm on October 29, 2021| 6 Comments »
It is a fun challenge to try to photograph little birds moving about in the trees. I managed to capture this shot of an American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) on Tuesday during a visit to Huntley Meadows Park, a local marshland refuge.
I like how the muted colors of this bird seem to reflect the autumn colors of its surroundings. I am more used to seeing goldfinches in the spring, when the adult males are bright yellow in color and are really easy to spot.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged American Goldfinch, Canon 50D, goldfinch, Liquidambar styraciflua, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Spinus tristis, Sweetgum, Sweetgum Tree, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on November 24, 2020| 23 Comments »
It was windy yesterday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, but that did not deter some American Goldfinches (Spinus tristis) from foraging for seeds in the spiky seedpods still hanging from the leafless Sweetgum Trees (Liquidambar styraciflua). The goldfinches were amazing daring and acrobatic in their efforts high in the trees to extract the seeds.
It is a testament to the strength of the stems of the seedpods and the light weight of the goldfinches that the birds were able to place all of their weight on hanging seedpods and poke into their perches with their pointed beaks, as you can see in the first image. The final image shows that the finches knew that there were seeds throughout the seedpods and were willing to turn upside down to reach some additional seeds.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged American Goldfinch, Canon 50D, goldfinch, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Spinus tristis, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on November 5, 2020| 17 Comments »
I was happy to spot this somewhat scruffy looking American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) as I wandered the trails at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge yesterday seeking a respite from election news coverage. As is often the case, nature served as a soothing balm to calm my anxieties and reestablish my internal balance.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged American Goldfinch, Canon 50D, Canon SX50, goldfinch, Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, Spinus tristis, Tamron 180mm, Vienna VA on September 15, 2019| 7 Comments »
From a distance I noticed a flash of yellow moving from a tree to a patch of flowers. The flight was too fast for a butterfly, and when I moved a bit closer I spotted, as I had suspected, an American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis). Judging from its coloration, I think it may be a juvenile, though I must admit that after a summer of chasing insects, my bird identification skills are a little rusty. The goldfinch was somewhat skittish and uncooperative, but I was able to capture these two images that I decided to share them with you all.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Flowers, Nature, Photography, Summer, wildlife, tagged American Goldfinch, black-eyed susan, Canon SX50, Fort Belvoir VA, goldfinch, Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge, Rudbeckia hirta, Spinus tristis on August 20, 2019| 6 Comments »
As I was searching for butterflies last week at Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge, a flash of brilliant yellow suddenly crossed my field of view. It took a moment for me to figure out what it was and then I realized that several American Goldfinches (Spinus tristis) were diving into a field of Black-eyed Susan wildflowers (Rudbeckia hirta).
I waited for a long time, hoping in vain that the goldfinches would perch in the open on the flowers nearest me, but mostly they stayed buried deep in the vegetation. Here are a couple of long-distance shots that give you a sense of my experience with these colorful little birds.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, American Goldfinch, Canon 50D, Huntley Meadows Park, Spinus tristis, Tamron 150-600mm on November 19, 2017| 7 Comments »
I spotted some cute little American Goldfinches (Spinus tristis) early on Friday morning as they foraged in the vegetation adjacent to the observation tower at Huntley Meadows Park. The lighting was somewhat limited, but it was soft and beautiful and gives the photos an overall sense of peace and serenity, the start of a new day.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged American Goldfinch, Canon 50D, goldfinch, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Spinus tristis, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on November 16, 2017| 3 Comments »
Sometimes the most ordinary birds are the most beautiful, like this American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) that I spotted earlier this month at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The colors of this goldfinch are certainly more subdued than during breeding season, but I like the way that the yellow serves as an accent color rather than covering the bird’s entire body.
For contrast, I am including a photo from early autumn of another goldfinch at another location. Some may prefer the bright colors of the breeding plumage, while other may find it to be too gaudy and prefer the more subdued non-breeding plumage. Is one more beautiful than the other? For me, they are both beautiful, albeit in different ways. There is an inherent contradiction in beauty—sometimes it seems almost universal, but most often it is deeply subjective, i.e. “in the eyes of the beholder.”
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Flowers, Nature, Photography, Summer, tagged A, American Goldfinch, goldfinch, McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area, Poolesville MD, Spinus tristis, sunflower on July 23, 2016| 9 Comments »
Yesterday I traveled with my photography mentor Cindy Dyer to McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area in nearby Poolesville, Maryland to check out the large fields of sunflowers that are planted there each year. We just missed the peak blooming period and many of the sunflowers were drooping and seemed a little wilted. Cindy, who has visited this area multiple times, noted that the sunflowers were not as tall or as dense as in previous years.
Several American Goldfinches (Spinus tristis) that I observed in the fields, however, were definitely not disappointed—they were gorging themselves on sunflower seeds. The goldfinches were pretty skittish, but occasionally were distracted enough when feeding that I was able to get some shots, despite the fact that I was shooting with my 180mm macro lens.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, American Goldfinch, Canon 50D, goldfinch, Spinus tristis, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on January 29, 2015| 5 Comments »
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.
Posted in Art, Birds, Flowers, Nature, Photography, spring, tagged Alexandria VA, American Goldfinch, Canon 50D, canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom, Easter, Runnymeade, Spinus tristis on April 20, 2014| 5 Comments »
This brightly colored American goldfinch (Spinus tristis) reminds me of the marshmallow Peeps that I grew up with and the brightly colored spring outfits that people would wear to church to celebrate Easter (including some pretty outrageous hats). Best wishes to all for a Happy Easter, no matter how you choose to celebrate it.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, American Goldfinch, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, goldfinch, Runnymeade, Spinus tristis on January 26, 2014| 8 Comments »
Another unexpected bird that I sighted during a recent walk around my neighborhood was this American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis). I don’t think that I have seen one before during the winter—during the spring and the summer the goldfinch’s bright yellow plumage makes it easier to spot one.
I guess I need to pay more attention to the birds of the neighborhood, for it appears that more of them overwinter than I originally thought. What else is out there, waiting to be seen and photographed?
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, tagged American Goldfinch, Canon Rebel XT, goldfinch, Huntley Meadows Park, Sigma 135-400mm telephoto zoom lens, Spinus tristis on April 1, 2013| 5 Comments »
I was thrilled today to see the brilliant yellow color of the American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)—it almost looked like they had gotten dressed-up for Easter yesterday.
Although range maps indicate that American Goldfinches are in our area year-round, I haven’t seen one in a really long time. There is still not much vegetation on the trees and bushes, so the bright color of the goldfinches stood out. However, the goldfinches spent almost all of their time in the center of bushes and it was hard to get an unobstructed shot.
I am looking forward to more and more bright colors as we move deeper into spring. (I probably should mention that I drive an orange-colored car, which may say something about my attitude toward bright colors.)
Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, tagged American Goldfinch, birds, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, feeding, goldfinches, Huntley Meadows Park, Spinus tristis on October 18, 2012| 5 Comments »
I am getting a little better at bird identification and can identify the birds in these photos as probably American Goldfinches (Spinus tristis). However, just went I thought I could differentiate between a male and a female, I found out that non-breeding males look a lot like females. Wow! This is getting more complicated. Here’s some of my favorite goldfinch shots from this past weekend, when there seemed to be quite a few goldfinchs feeding on the bushes at Huntley Meadows Park in Alexandria, Virginia.
American Goldfinch looking back at me
American Goldfinch in a tree
American Goldfinch perched at the top
American Goldfinch feeding
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 