On a dreary, rainy autumn day, Cee’s photo challenge for vibrant colors is just what the doctor ordered!
Goldfinch on thistles
Goldfinches love to eat the seeds from these thistles (I believe they are Canada thistles). While the thistles are highly invasive and very much disliked by most gardeners, I will leave just a few of them around because butterflies and birds really like the blooms and seeds. And the purple blossoms are cheerful to look at (for this human).
The Beauty Along the Road 
We have these thistles or some similar in the backyard. It is not a maintained yard there and they do look pretty when blooming. But they take over and multiply quickly. 😦
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Yes, even leaving just one standing means you have a gadzillion of them in a few years….
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beautiful colors and composition 🙂
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Thank you, Iris.
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Beautiful colors for vibrant. We are gray and rainy today…so this perks me up wonderfully well.
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Mission accomplished, Cee 🙂
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Just what the doctor ordered indeed!
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Hi Annette, what a great photo. I’d forgotten the American goldfinch is so different from the European, which has a read and white face. But both beautiful birds. Enjoyed this very much, thanks.
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I don’t know the European finch but will look it up. Thanks for your appreciation.
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Oh this is just too wonderful for words, Annette. Purple, green and lemon yellow: vibrant with bells on.
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Thanks, Tish, I can tell you like these colors 🙂
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You got a great picture of that bird! I’ve had them invade my flowering basil. They made quite a treat for themselves in it!
http://livingtheseasons.com/2012/08/01/goldfinch-in-the-basil/
Nancy
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Those are some precious pics you took of your basil goldfinch! There was no room for another comment (comments closed?) on your post. You either have a really good camera or this bird was really close to you – very nice sharp pics.
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I was having so much trouble with spam – several hundred a day – that I finally closed comments on old pictures as it was a few posts they kept spamming over and over again.
I shot those with a Canon Rebel, which is a good camera, but not top end. They were close though – just on the other side of our glassed-in back door. I also did some cropping to get rid of extraneous background stuff.
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Ein Goldfink auf einer Distel, beautiful.
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A ray of sunshine on this dreary day. And how nice of you to keep around an unruly plant to keep your feathered friends happy. (I leave some globe thistle, coneflower and rudebekia seed heads in my garden for the goldfinches. Some days they completely bypass the feeders for them!)
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Nice to hear the birds got a faithful friend in you 🙂
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I love thistles. I wish we had some here. But, I know what you mean by them taking over. Thanks for the vibrant color. We need some sunshine….it’s been raining for days and days.
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Is it rainy season now for you? Glad you enjoyed the picture..
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Yes, it’s the rainy season and it’s been a horrible month. We’ve had landslides that have destroyed several communities. We’re just waiting patiently for the rains to stop so the communities can start to rebuild.
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Ouch – so sorry to hear that. Mother Nature can be very harsh at times…
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Lovely shot Annette, the bright colors are beautiful together. I LOVE thistles and think they make the perfect subject for photography!! Sadly we have very few around here 😒
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Want some seeds 🙂 Your neighbors might want to arrest you if you plant them….
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😃
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A lovely colourful image, Annette. 🙂
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Thank you, Sylvia.
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