Washington State Bird

For those of you who don't know, the Washington state bird is the Goldfinch.

Well, I have to tell you an irony. I consider myself an avid amateur bird watcher. I love watching birds. I have learned the names of most birds I can find, and for many of them, I have learned what their song is. Maybe someday I will start a web page devoted to Northwest Birds.

Anyway, the irony is, that I have never seen a goldfinch since I've lived here in Washington state. I know it is the state bird. People tell me they see them from time to time. But I never did. The purple finch - see it all the time. The house finch, same thing. But never the Goldfinch.

Well:




this little guy has a nest in the trees outside my office window. He comes up onto the ledge right next to my desk and picks up cottonwood seeds.

He and his wife come regularly. I keep bringing my camera to work, but for some reason they never come up to the ledge when I've got my digital camera. So, here I have resorted at last to taking a picture of him with my camera phone. Not only is the quality poor, but I had to hold my camera phone about 4 inches away from the bird to take the picture. They don't seem to be afraid of me... I think they must have somehow figured out that I can't get to them through the glass.




No joke, in this shot here:



I was literally holding the camera phone against the glass opposite the bird.

Well, so there are my finches. I'm going to try to take a picture of them again when I've got my digital camera, and so we can hold out hope for something nice and crisp and clear.

Regards,
Basil