A Word from Nancy - September - American Goldfinch

“It was that day
When the end of summer
Intersects perfectly
With the start of fall.”
-Ann Patchett

No matter how long it has been since I was a student, there’s something about September that always fills me with a new energy and sense of possibilities. For me, it’s different from the anticipation of spring: more solid and down-to-earth. A sense of appreciation for what I have, a time to pause before taking the next leap.

That time to pause has been one of the great, unanticipated joys of retirement. Being present in the moment has its virtues to be sure, but in my experience, it makes sense to periodically check out the path I’m on and see if I still want to go where it is heading. Regardless of where you are timewise in the journey that is your life, I wish you the gift of time to not only reflect but also to look ahead before you turn the page.

This month’s photo was taken just outside our front door, last September, here in Olympia. The bird is an American Goldfinch, which is the state bird of Washington, as well as Iowa and New Jersey. 

Here is a shot, also taken in our front yard, of a male Goldfinch in full spring color:

I thought that the reason I don’t see bright-yellow males in late summer was because they had already migrated, leaving their more drably-colored offspring behind. While gathering information to share with you, I learned that this species is unusual: it has two almost-complete molts (feather changes) every year! The male’s yellow feathers only stick around until a female is suitably impressed, then they are replaced by the duller colors of the bird in the top photo, which helps them hide from predators. Then a new crop of yellow feathers comes along the following spring, when it is once again time to attract a mate. So, the males are still here, just wearing different clothes. Females and juveniles have the subtler colors year-round.

Another new piece of information for me is that American Goldfinches can have highly variable migration patterns and timetables. Range maps show them as living year-round in most of Washington state. According to the article cited above: “Goldfinches that breed in the northernmost parts of their range, such as Canada, may travel several hundred miles southward to reach milder climates in the southern U.S. or northern Mexico. Conversely, those that breed in the central or southern U.S. might migrate shorter distances or not at all. It’s all about breeding, weather, and food availability.”

The September calendar photo shows a bird perched on a dried foxglove stalk. Here is what the plants look like earlier in the summer:

The shot on the left brings back memories of summertime, when we kids would dare each other to pull off a foxglove blossom with a bee in it and drop it in a jar without getting stung. Ah…simple pleasures (although perhaps not for the bees). The bird in the right-hand photo is a female Black-headed Grosbeak. And there’s also a bee lower down to the right of the stalk. Lots of animals enjoy these native plants, from nectar to dried seeds to perches for gazing out at the world (and posing for bird photographers).

Nancy