Each February, as buds begin to swell across the canopies of our large Siberian elms, flocks of lesser goldfinches arrive to feast on the bounty. Once purely summer residents along the Colorado Front Range, some are now permanent residents here (especially near the foothills), though their numbers do increase during the warmer months.
While some appear at the "thistle" seed feeder throughout the winter, it is during this arboreal onset of spring that these tiny, golden songbirds arrive in larger numbers, their plaintive calls ringing across the farm. Often joined by house finches, pine siskins and their American cousins, lesser goldfinches are surprisingly aggressive for their size; furthermore, their agility allows them to forage on terminal branches with ease.
Following a period of mild weather, which should last another day, our slow and erratic climb through spring will resume, topped off by the upslope snowstorms of March, April and early May. But the presence of these hardy, attractive songbirds will surely ease that transition.
