{"id":16257,"date":"2014-10-28T17:12:02","date_gmt":"2014-10-28T23:12:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=16257"},"modified":"2024-05-21T07:56:47","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T12:56:47","slug":"there-is-gold-in-utah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/10\/28\/there-is-gold-in-utah\/","title":{"rendered":"There is Gold in Utah – American Goldfinches!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MaleMale American Goldfinch perched on a Sunflower – Nikon D810, f71.1, 1\/1600, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve missed posting my images and the stories behind them here. As some of you may have noticed there have been times my blog has been down for long periods of time. I believe I found the biggest issues and have fixed them.<\/p>\n

I did get out to photograph a few days ago and although the raptors were being rather elusive some of the smaller songbirds weren’t. I was seeing finches and sparrows all over the place and I photographed some of them while they were eating seeds from Common Sunflowers.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Goldfinch eating a sunflower seed – Nikon D810, f71.1, 1\/1600, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

American Goldfinches have a soft flight call<\/a><\/span> that my ears instantly recognize. Listen to the fourth call down on the list on Audubon’s site, that is the one I hear most often. Because of their call I often know they are around before I even see flashes of gold. Even though the American Goldfinches are in their non-breeding plumage now I still think of them as gold.<\/p>\n

\"NonbreedingNonbreeding male American Goldfinch – Nikon D810, f71.1, 1\/2000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I always have to smile when I see or hear an American Goldfinch because they bring back memories of me sitting in my hidden garden watching flocks of them feed on the niger seed I had put out for them and the other songbirds along with suet for the woodpeckers and flying squirrels.<\/p>\n

I’m so glad I get to see American Goldfinches here in Utah too.<\/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":"

Even though the American Goldfinches are in their non-breeding plumage now I still think of them as gold.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":128898,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2715,27,697,26,5347],"tags":[4004,2716,2649,4040,3504,3495,4062,4246,4104,2717],"class_list":["post-16257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-goldfinches","category-avian","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-utah","category-wildflowers","tag-adult","tag-american-goldfinch","tag-common-sunflower","tag-feeding","tag-finch","tag-finches","tag-male","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-perched","tag-spinus-tristis"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/american-goldfinch-sunflower-mia-mcpherson-3689.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-4ed","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":140506,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/02\/22\/winter-male-american-goldfinch\/","url_meta":{"origin":16257,"position":0},"title":"Winter Male American Goldfinch","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"This male American Goldfinch caught my eye after the recent snowstorm here in Arkansas. Why? Because he's starting to molt into his breeding plumage.","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":"Winter male American Goldfinch starting to get his breeding plumage, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-goldfinch-male-molt-mia-mcpherson-4125.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-goldfinch-male-molt-mia-mcpherson-4125.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-goldfinch-male-molt-mia-mcpherson-4125.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-goldfinch-male-molt-mia-mcpherson-4125.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":74982,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/10\/29\/male-lesser-goldfinches-and-common-sunflower-seeds\/","url_meta":{"origin":16257,"position":1},"title":"Male Lesser Goldfinches And Common Sunflower Seeds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday opportunity knocked when several Lesser Goldfinches flew in to knosh on wild sunflowers seeds near a road at Farmington Bay WMA.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Lesser Goldfinch lifting off, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/lesser-goldfinch-male-sunflowers-mia-mcpherson-9714.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/lesser-goldfinch-male-sunflowers-mia-mcpherson-9714.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/lesser-goldfinch-male-sunflowers-mia-mcpherson-9714.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/lesser-goldfinch-male-sunflowers-mia-mcpherson-9714.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":103606,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/06\/24\/male-american-goldfinch-perched-above-a-creek\/","url_meta":{"origin":16257,"position":2},"title":"Male American Goldfinch Perched Above A Creek","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I am keeping my post short and simple with a male American Goldfinch in his breeding plumage perched high above a Wasatch Mountain creek.","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":"Male American Goldfinch and a bright blue sky, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/american-goldfinch-male-and-blue-sky-mia-mcpherson-9856.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/american-goldfinch-male-and-blue-sky-mia-mcpherson-9856.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/american-goldfinch-male-and-blue-sky-mia-mcpherson-9856.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/american-goldfinch-male-and-blue-sky-mia-mcpherson-9856.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":117113,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/10\/17\/male-lesser-goldfinch-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":16257,"position":3},"title":"Male Lesser Goldfinch Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 17, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I was thrilled to take several male Lesser Goldfinch images on my last trip to Farmington Bay WMA. It was a bright, sunny day, and I was enjoying it and myself.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Lesser Goldfinch perched on a greasewood, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/lesser-goldfinch-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-4279.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/lesser-goldfinch-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-4279.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/lesser-goldfinch-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-4279.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/lesser-goldfinch-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-4279.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":115800,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/09\/11\/one-chonky-american-goldfinch\/","url_meta":{"origin":16257,"position":4},"title":"One Chonky American Goldfinch","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 11, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was at Farmington Bay WMA last week, I had a chonky American Goldfinch fly in and land on a greasewood in front of me. Of course, I took photos of it.","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":"Chonky American Goldfinch, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/american-goldfinch-summer-chonky-mia-mcpherson-9428.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/american-goldfinch-summer-chonky-mia-mcpherson-9428.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/american-goldfinch-summer-chonky-mia-mcpherson-9428.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/american-goldfinch-summer-chonky-mia-mcpherson-9428.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":104824,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/08\/08\/male-american-goldfinch-with-ripe-serviceberries\/","url_meta":{"origin":16257,"position":5},"title":"Male American Goldfinch With Ripe Serviceberries","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 8, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I was happy to have this male American Goldfinch perched with ripe serviceberries in front of him for a few moments yesterday high in the mountains.","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 and ripe serviceberries, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/american-goldfinch-ripe-serviceberries-mia-mcpherson-1567.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/american-goldfinch-ripe-serviceberries-mia-mcpherson-1567.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/american-goldfinch-ripe-serviceberries-mia-mcpherson-1567.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/american-goldfinch-ripe-serviceberries-mia-mcpherson-1567.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}