Along Came A Little Yellow Bird...

 

 

  

 A delightful surprise awaited me this morning when a dainty, bright
 yellow bird with black wings and black markings on his head and tail
 joined the usual crowd of breakfast feeders at the pile of seeds I leave
  for the birds on the little patio near the back door of my home.

 

Eastern Goldfinch
Image courtesy/Pinterest

 

 

 The reason I toss the seeds in a neat pile on the cement is due to the fact 
 that I have yet to buy a hanging feeder that is 100% squirrel proof!

 I have actually caught these ornery critters with their chubby fur bodies flung
out across the top of the seed pile to prevent the birds or any other hungry animals,
 like the patient little brown rabbits, from getting anything to eat.  However, it is the pesky, 
but pretty, blue and white feathered Blue Jays whom often present the greedy squirrels 
with a formidable challenge, launching relentless dive-bomb attacks from the air. 

 

Showdown!
Blue Jay vs. Squirrel
Image courtesy/Reddit

It is also the mischievous Jays who like to sound the alarm whenever
 new seeds are added to the pile. They seem to like luring the other birds in
 my backyard with their familiar shrilling and then, buzzing at, and
 trying to scare them away from the seed pile too.

  Of course, the beautiful red male Northern Cardinals and their yellow-red mates 
do not seem to scare easy, and often make it to feed at the edge of the pile of seeds.  
In addition to Robins and Mourning Doves coming to feed too, there are small flocks
of little birds which I cannot identify, however, I think the brown-feathered feeders
 might be called House Finches.  After the blizzard this past January, one of these 
little brown birds somehow got inside our house.  Fortunately, we were able to
chase the little fellow back outside again before the cat got a hold of him!

I am also occasionally treated to the appearance of a red-headed Woodpecker,
 with striking black and white zebra-like plumage, whom I think resides in 
the large tree in the side yard next to my house. Sometimes, when I go out 
to water my flowers in the early mornings at sunrise, I hear him
busy at his mysterious work, hidden high up in the tree tops. 

Although I have spotted them in the area where I live,
 I have never seen a Goldfinch this close up before today.

The Eastern Yellow Goldfinch holds the distinguished title of being
the official State Bird of New Jersey. Two other states also claim
the little yellow bird as their own: Iowa, and Washington State,
where it is called the Willow Goldfinch.