A New Visitor

Living on a houseboat, the number of bird species that will come visit my feeders is a bit limited. My regulars are house sparrows, dark-eyed juncos, and chestnut-backed chickadees. Song sparrows and red-breasted nuthatches are occasional visitors. In the spring rufous hummingbirds frequently come, though less often in the summer for some reason. If the weather is cold, the normally reclusive fox sparrows and spotted towhees may also pay a visit. American crows and glaucous-winged gulls also finagle their way into getting a share. After a couple years of feeding the birds here I figured those were just about all the species that were going to discover the feeders, but the other day I had a pleasant surprise - a new visitor! A pair of American goldfinches. Here's the male:

Since their first visit they are now coming often, and they're so bright they're always a pleasant sight! While the photo shows him at the tray feeder they actually hit the hanging sunflower feeder the most, which is designed for the chickadees so they had to come up with a innovative way to perch. The feeder hadn't been emptying very slowly but now they are going through it in a hurry. That's okay though; it's cool to have someone new to watch.