Goldfinch

This is an American Goldfinch. I've not seen any goldfinches in quite a while. They're here year round, but they are busy raising young towards the end of the summer (they breed late to coordinate with the wild seeds that they prefer - they are exclusively seed eaters and don't even feed insects to their young!) and thus scarce at the bits of birdseed that I've been putting out. But in the next month their numbers will skyrocket here at my house. This may well be a male that has shed his breeding gold and now is in his drab winter wear. Or it could be a female - I can't really say for sure. Usually even in the winter the male has a bit more yellow than the more olive colored female.

Today is my birthday - as well as Guy Fawkes Day - and I had a lovely birthday lunch with a friend on Charlottesville's Downtown Mall.