This morning the goldfinch was doing performing his Happy Dance and I watched with delight.
It was 7:00 am and I heard short versions of his song being repeated. I looked up to see him making laps around the perimeter of my yard, singing only when his wings beat. With a gentle rolling flight, he finished five laps and then reversed, right over me, much to my delight. Five more laps around the yard in the opposite direction.
Per Cher Cher Cher Cher Cher – only on the wing beats, his golden body undulating upward in flight.
I am smitten. Does he love my yard for the food it brings to him and his perspective mate? Is he showing her that this is his prime territory?
He alights on the wires and sings a much longer version of his song. Looks down on me as if to ask me to leave so be can feed on the Rudbeckia, where I flushed him from a few days ago. It pays to plant native plants as they are a natural way to feed these golden beauties.
He crosses from the wire to the from oak tree, still in plain view, and sings his long song again.
Go birding in your yard!