winter days it seems that the birds are all relaxing and hiding. On cold winter days, the birds may be active, but if you are miserable you still don't see much. That is why I love crisp winter birding - good bird activity and the observers are all relatively comfortable!
This morning we were watching birds in a weedy patch when Caroyln Beach said 'what's that bird with the red face'? The bird was clearly 'goldfinchy', but certainly not an American
Goldfinch. I first thought of Lawrence's Goldfinch from the west coast, but they don't have any red on them. Turns out this bird was a European Goldfinch! I had never seen one before. With further research, we discovered that sightings of European Goldfinches in North America are assumed to be released/escaped caged birds. There are some wild populations in the upper Midwest established from released birds. Part of me likes to think that maybe this bird is from across the pond and we saw a true wild bird, not an escapee. After all, a brown booby showed up in Boulder County this year, why not a European Goldfinch?
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