American Goldfinch eating thistle

[Andrew Lamberson]

I arrived at the field of thistles shortly after sunrise at 5:30 am. I have been planning this trip for months, thinking about when the thistle would be ready for the Goldfinches to make their nests. Lucky for me the field is right beside the dog park along Prairie Island Road here in Winona and I've been watching the Goldfinches every afternoon at 4:30 which is the mandatory trip to the Dog Park for Lucy to do her thing. But the field is west of the park parking lot and I was shooting into the sun (not good!!!). So an early trip was in order so that the sun would be rising behind me as I walked into the field. Dozens of Goldfinches were working the field but were not especially fond of me walking around so I went back to the car and used it as my "blind". Perfect.

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[gdecamp]

I arrived at the field of thistles shortly after sunrise at 5:30 am. I have been planning this trip for months, thinking about when the thistle would be ready for the Goldfinches to make their nests. Lucky for me the field is right beside the dog park along Prairie Island Road here in Winona and I've been watching the Goldfinches every afternoon at 4:30 which is the mandatory trip to the Dog Park for Lucy to do her thing. But the field is west of the park parking lot and I was shooting into the sun (not good!!!). So an early trip was in order so that the sun would be rising behind me as I walked into the field. Dozens of Goldfinches were working the field but were not especially fond of me walking around so I went back to the car and used it as my "blind". Perfect.

Pretty shots Andrew!!

 

[Louis champan]

Beautiful shots.

 

[Charles Loy]

Fantastic!! Perfect, and cream background.

 

[BlackRockArt]

I arrived at the field of thistles shortly after sunrise at 5:30 am. I have been planning this trip for months, thinking about when the thistle would be ready for the Goldfinches to make their nests. Lucky for me the field is right beside the dog park along Prairie Island Road here in Winona and I've been watching the Goldfinches every afternoon at 4:30 which is the mandatory trip to the Dog Park for Lucy to do her thing. But the field is west of the park parking lot and I was shooting into the sun (not good!!!). So an early trip was in order so that the sun would be rising behind me as I walked into the field. Dozens of Goldfinches were working the field but were not especially fond of me walking around so I went back to the car and used it as my "blind". Perfect.

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Great color, Andrew.

 

[Ralph]

I arrived at the field of thistles shortly after sunrise at 5:30 am. I have been planning this trip for months, thinking about when the thistle would be ready for the Goldfinches to make their nests. Lucky for me the field is right beside the dog park along Prairie Island Road here in Winona and I've been watching the Goldfinches every afternoon at 4:30 which is the mandatory trip to the Dog Park for Lucy to do her thing. But the field is west of the park parking lot and I was shooting into the sun (not good!!!). So an early trip was in order so that the sun would be rising behind me as I walked into the field. Dozens of Goldfinches were working the field but were not especially fond of me walking around so I went back to the car and used it as my "blind". Perfect.

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Excellent Andrew!

 

[jfredrick]

Great shots and write up!

 

[Andrew Lamberson]

Thanks everyone.

 

[Calson]

A car does make a good blind as your excellent shots demonstrates. I find that the smaller the bird the less shy they are around me. I can get within a meter of finches, sparrows, and juncos, but with larger birds it is 10 meters or more.

 

[NorthernFocus]

Nice job with both the field work and the photography. Well done.

 

[Annamaria]

Very pretty bird. Very Nice to see the habitat.