Goldfinch candy

We hiked through a small part of the 4,500 acres of the Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge today near Havana, IL, including the walkway on the man-made dam that separates the lake into two large "pools." The refuge completely surrounds Lake Chautauqua and serves as a rest area for migrating birds, ducks and geese. I recognized their "voices" even before I saw this guy and a thousand or so other goldfinch. They tried to stay camouflaged in these flowers/seed heads they were munching on, so getting a close up photo was almost impossible. There were many types of ducks and birds, herons, egrets, gulls and Canada geese. I could hear the peewee and finally saw it way up in a tree. Downy woodpeckers were having a field day. We also saw several varieties of caterpillars, butterflies and grasshoppers. We were just a few weeks early to see as many as 176 eagles who make this their home between October and March. Other than a family of five bikers and their dog, we had this part of the refuge all to ourselves. What a blessing.