Fractious Finches

I got a thistle feeder for Christmas.  It has been an entertaining gift.  I never knew we had so many goldfinches in the area.  There's quite a flock of house finches that live here, but I'd never seen more than a couple goldfinches at once.  Now?  I can see we have bunches of them!  And they are quite a fractious crowd!  This feeder is often packed to capacity with goldfinches shelling seeds as fast as they can and warning off other birds attempting to land.  I am amazing how much seed they go through in a day.  Goldfinches are noisy, too!   They are constantly warbling at each other; it's a pretty sound.

We're snowed in today.  Even with the snow and the wind, all of our feeders are packed. The birds all stand out against the snow, especially the cardinals.  It's too bad my camera refused to take a clear photo of them.  There must be more than fifty birds out there of at least a dozen different species.  There are several birds nestled next to the sliding doors to get out of the wind.

 

Ugh - who wants to dig out?

We've enjoyed watching them this morning, since neither of us want to face what's awaiting us in the front yard.  I'm sure that will be this afternoon's "entertainment".