Originally Posted by mrsD (Post 1234200)

okay, hotfoot....

Photo one is a family of goldfinches.
The yellow and black one is the male.
The farthest left with the light yellow belly is a female.
The two in the middle are new fledglings, they are a bit larger, and darker than the breeding adults. The one perching on the stick next to the yellow male is waiting for him to feed her and flapping her wings, begging.

Goldfinches in N.America are the only songbirds who molt twice.
(I looked that up). The males molt in spring from drab olive feathers, to the jazzy sleak yellow/black. In fall they molt again into the drab colors for winter.

We have a tube feeder outside the kitchen window with finch seed in it. So we get to see them up close.
Goldfinches only eat seeds, and no insects. So they nest late in summer when the flowers and weeds are setting their seeds.
I plant specific flowers for them in containers which are on a bench outside my computer room window--and I take their photos thru the window.

The second photo is of the fluff dispenser I put out for them in spring. (in winter it holds corn cobs for the blue jays and squirrels). The female is at the top and her mate is below.
I originally offered the fluff for the hummingbirds, and was pleasantly surprised that the goldfinches really loved the fluff more! If you Google Goldfinch nests and hit images function you can see how some use it to line their summer nests. I didn't know this either until 2014!

We have hummingbirds too. Just one family I think though.

This is one photo of a fledgling in early fall in 2015, sitting next to the feeder. You can tell fledgling hummers by their short beaks. Males have short beaks too, but they have a red throat in the second season and they are a bit smaller than the female who has a longer beak.

Originally Posted by Hotfoot53 (Post 1234252)

mrsD,
Wow! Thank you so much for all the info and I love the photos! I don't know much at all about this as you could see! But wow, your photos and explanation help a lot. I love the fluff container! My parents were winter bird feeders growing up and I always loved the blue jays and cardinals that came to feed.
You take great photos! You made my day- thank you so much! I need to read up some more about the visitors to my yard. Thank you so much!

Originally Posted by mrsD (Post 1234255)

@hotfoot:

I am a firm believer that learning a bit of something each day
you will enrich yourself and appreciate nature so much more.

This link is really good and helpful for learning about birds:

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During spring and early summer they run a Red Tailed hawk streaming cam that is fascinating too:

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It is not live now however but will be soon.

I never was a camera buff or good at photography, but I finally did get a digital camera, and that changed me completely!
I use a Sony zoom automatic camera, and it allows me to zoom in on subjects that would be difficult to capture otherwise. Since 2006 I have had 2 of these cameras, and I do confess I don't have 100% abilities on all the features of them. My son is much better and uses a SLR type very well. sigh. Canon, Panasonic and Olympus now make these auto zooms, like Sony and really I think they are lots of fun. No film to be expensive, so you just delete your mistakes.

I am also an artist and have had some university level fine art experience as a post degree student. The design courses I took back in the early 70's have strengthened my compositions when taking photos. I also have an older Corel graphics program on my computers --Paint Shop Pro 9-- Which I use to crop and enhance photos that need improvement.
When I get off this laptop, I'll put up a few recent drawings to share on this thread. My recent files are on my desktop
Training myself and taking some courses in art, has taught me how to fail, and learn from mistakes and move on. Being an artist really teaches one nto be patient, and open to new experiences.

Apologies to Kiwi for the thread hijack! :o

Originally Posted by kiwi33 (Post 1234388)

Thanks for sharing your artwork mrsD; I really admire people with that talent :).

Hotfoot, you might like to check out A Field Guide to the Birds of North America - it is published by National Geographic.

It has good illustrations and also has lots of helpful geographic information; where and when a bird is likely to be found, where it is likely to breed, etc.

I take it with me when I do a trip to the US.

Originally Posted by mrsD (Post 1234415)

The Cornell folks now have an app for bird identification, for tablets and smart phones: and they are free.


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I have used this iPhone app 3 times now.

They have one for Android now too.

Many people believe being an artist requires talent. This is just not true completely.
This famous artist explains quickly and humbly:

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The Field museum is a huge natural history museum in Chicago.
Allow yourself a whole day if you ever get a chance to visit it.;)

Check out Peggy's website.... it is awesome!

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This site is a bit confusing, but very very impressive once you
get the hang of it!

Anyone can learn the skills for drawing. Betty Edwards has books to teach anyone to draw. One is "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain". It takes patience, learning how to actually SEE and practice--a lot of practice. Wanting to draw and paint, does take desire, however.

The right brain does most of the work, and learning how to turn off the critical left brain takes some practice. But once you learn how to let your right brain "free"...there are many benefits besides the art work. I find that it helps relax you, and can even help with pain control. For me "talent" is about 10% and persistence and patience is 90%. Right now I am taking screen shots as references from Safari Live from S. Africa! This is a fabulous learning tool and aid for artists as well: on youtube, Nat Geo wild TV every Sunday, and Facebook etc.

I have done one drawing so far from Safari Live:
#1 is the screenshot
#2 is my pencil drawing