Changing Seasons by American Goldfinches

I am not a fan of winter, especially this one.  It’s been downright frigid and even on my bravest day of walking the dogs, I’m still not interested in frostbite or getting chilled to the bone.  How the cold finds my bones when I’m this bundled up puzzles me exceedingly.  The poor dogs are prancing lightly afoot so that the amount of time any paw is in contact with the ice is minimized.  We’ve been spending way too much time indoors and I’m wishing for spring.  Or even a January thaw.

Last year, I talked about the buds on the trees giving me hope that winter’s icy fingers will be pried off the thermometer, the temperature will moderate, and spring will eventually come.  This year, I’d like to offer another sign God gives us in nature that spring will come in its season even if it doesn’t seem like it right now.

The birds.

I have a bird feeder right by my kitchen window and I enjoy looking up from my computer work to see the flurry of activity by hungry, yet happy birds.  They’re happy because the Father feeds them.  I am just the middleman commissioned with putting out food and water in a heated birdbath so they’ll have a chance to thrive even in the cold of winter.

One of the most regular birds at the feeders are American goldfinches and I noticed something today: a few of them are beginning to molt their old winter drab and replace it with their bright and stylish breeding plumage.  Only the males get the color change, but it’s exciting to see them beginning their progress toward spring’s eventuality.  To everything, there is a season.

For those of you interested in this sort of thing, one of the joys of the Internet is that there are sites devoted to birds and this one shows a month-by-month plumage for male American goldfinches.  Enjoy the slideshow!  http://www.sibleyguides.com/2012/05/the-annual-plumage-cycle-of-a-male-american-goldfinch/