American Gold Finch – Spinus tristis

I caught this gold finch while checking out a new birding area, Supawna Meadows. Overall the day was a bust as far as birds go. I did see a hummingbird, a cardinal, many swallows, a turkey vulture, a cat bird, and some other birds which I could not identify. I did catch this little male gold finch. I have several other pictures of gold finches which I caught at my in-laws property which I might add.

The best part of the day was meeting a group of retired ladies (except one) who are avid naturalist. They let me travel around with them as they picked out and identified just about everything around them. There were four of them: Mary, Wendy, Deb, and Kristen. Mary boasted a wealth of knowledge about dragonflies, birds, and bugs. Deb was a professed amateur who just loved the out of doors. Wendy seemed to have an extensive knowledge of edible plants. She had us try a variety of olive tree fruit. Not bad. I did not have the chance to chat with Kristen much but I have to say, these gals were a hoot. Ladies, if I messed up your names or your role, I deeply apologize. Thank you all for a great experience. I wish I could hang out with you all a bit more.

Mary did give me a bit of sobering news. She has been the World Series of Birding (who knew there was such a thing) and has been birding seriously since the 2005 or 2007 ( I can’t recall exactly) and she only has 350 or so birds on her life list. At that rate, I will be in my 70’s when I bag 1000 species. As I told my other friend, Mary, it’s a goal.