Subject: [Tweeters] rare visitor at feeder
Date: Jan 28 18:13:23 2008
From: Diane Yorgason-Quinn - Avosetta at hotmail.com


There's another question about the local wintering Goldfinches -- and that
is their IQ. When Dennis mentions that they are only sometimes successful
in cracking the sunflowers, I must say how amazed I have been looking at the
photos of Goldfinches using all manner of globe and tube type feeders in the
feeder catalogs. They have never mastered these feeders for me in this
state, leading me to think those in the Eastern US where these catalogs are
produced might be smarter.

Diane Yorgason-Quinn
Wauna, WA
Avosetta at hotmail.com


----- Original Message -----
From: Dennis Paulson
To: TWEETERS
Sent: Monday, January 28, 2008 3:30 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] rare visitor at feeder


Hello, tweets.


I've just been watching an American Goldfinch trying (sometimes
successfully) to crack sunflower seeds in the feeder outside my window. I've
always been surprised that this species is so rare in my neighborhood. The
last one I saw was October 2006, the last one before that April 1999, and a
few others prior to that. The neighborhood isn't any more wooded than when
we came here, although our yard is, and I have the feeling that goldfinches
like more open country than this. Nevertheless, I've seen them at woodland
edges all over the place, especially in summer. So depending on your
perspective, common can be rare. Or if you lived in Barrow, Alaska, and
watched the massive Ross's Gull migration past there in the fall, rare can
be common!

-----
Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382
dennispaulson at comcast.net









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