{"id":104449,"date":"2022-07-22T04:37:24","date_gmt":"2022-07-22T10:37:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=104449"},"modified":"2022-07-22T04:46:04","modified_gmt":"2022-07-22T10:46:04","slug":"female-american-goldfinch-with-thistles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/07\/22\/female-american-goldfinch-with-thistles\/","title":{"rendered":"Female American Goldfinch With Thistles"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FemaleFemale American Goldfinch perched on a thistle \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Right after I photographed a juvenile Lazuli Bunting<\/span><\/a> two days ago a female American Goldfinch landed in a patch of thistles in front of me. I was only able to take nine photos of this charming bird before she flew away.<\/p>\n

I’ve been seeing and hearing more of these goldfinches this past week up in the mountains. Now that some of the thistles have finished blooming and have started going to seed the goldfinches will have down to line their nests with. This female had a strand of thistle down stuck to the top of her head.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Goldfinch female perching on a thistle \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The American Goldfinch female didn’t feed or call while I had her in my viewfinder but when she lifted off she called<\/span><\/a>. I enjoyed having this female finch in my viewfinder even though her appearance was rather brief.<\/p>\n

American Goldfinches are year round residents in northern Utah and I feel fortunate to be able to see and hear them in every season.<\/p>\n

I have noticed that the Musk Thistles that I am seeing and photographing are free of aphids this summer. Typically the stems of these nonnative thistles would be covered with aphids which these finches and other song birds feed on. Last year I saw fewer aphids than I had in years past. So far this year I haven’t been seeing aphids on plants or on the willow trees they seem to like. I wonder if the aphids will make an appearance later in the summer.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my American Goldfinch photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Right after I photographed a juvenile Lazuli Bunting two days ago a female American Goldfinch landed in a patch of thistles in front of me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":104452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2715,27,13067,1731,26,773],"tags":[4004,2716,10254,6098,6557,7353,3940,6623,4070,3504,3495,6518,6198,6199,4069,6622,6853,4104,1773,5064,2717,2315,6626,6624,4307],"class_list":["post-104449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-goldfinches","category-avian","category-musk-thistle","category-summit-county-utah","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-adult","tag-american-goldfinch","tag-aphids","tag-blooming","tag-blooms","tag-blossoms","tag-canyon","tag-carduus-nutans","tag-female","tag-finch","tag-finches","tag-flowering","tag-goldfinch","tag-goldfinches","tag-mountains","tag-musk-thistle","tag-nonnative","tag-perched","tag-perching","tag-pink-wildflowers","tag-spinus-tristis","tag-summer-3","tag-thistle","tag-thistles","tag-wildflowers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/american-goldfinch-female-thistles-mia-mcpherson-6770.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-raF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":53647,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/08\/19\/female-and-male-american-goldfinches-lifting-off-from-musk-thistles\/","url_meta":{"origin":104449,"position":0},"title":"Female and Male American Goldfinches Lifting Off From Musk Thistles","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 19, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"When the female American Goldfinch lifted off I liked the eye contact I had with her and how graceful she looked when she raised her wings, when I saw this image on my camera LCD I just had to smile.","rel":"","context":"In "American Goldfinches"","block_context":{"text":"American Goldfinches","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/finches-and-allies\/american-goldfinches\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female American Goldfinch lifting off, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, 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2019","format":false,"excerpt":"One year ago today I went up into the Wasatch Mountains and for about three minutes I photographed a molting American Goldfinch feasting on Musk Thistle seeds.","rel":"","context":"In "American Goldfinches"","block_context":{"text":"American Goldfinches","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/finches-and-allies\/american-goldfinches\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Molting American Goldfinch perched on a Musk Thistle, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/american-goldfinch-molting-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-5115.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/american-goldfinch-molting-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-5115.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Thistle Seeds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 7, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A flash of yellow, black and white on a purple flower immediately drew my eyes to a male American Goldfinch feasting on the seeds of a Musk Thistle so I stopped, turned my Jeep off and proceeded to photograph the bird.","rel":"","context":"In "American Goldfinches"","block_context":{"text":"American Goldfinches","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/finches-and-allies\/american-goldfinches\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Goldfinch with flying thistle fluff, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/american-goldfinch-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-1860.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/american-goldfinch-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-1860.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 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