I've spent the past couple of weeks trying to get in as many raptor observations as possible as I've gone about my daily routines and as I've had a few hours on the past two Saturday mornings. The winter weather not only brings raptors such as Bald Eagles, Merlins, and Rough-legged Hawks from Canada and Alaska to Utah it also influences some of our less common Utah raptors to spread out from their remote breeding locations to agricultural and suburban areas closer to our homes. This is thought to be a result of the local species increasing the ranges of their hunting grounds when food is less abundant during the cold months. Ferruginous Hawk and Prairie Falcon are two such raptors that are in Utah year round but more easily observed in open spaces during the winter months.
I've seen some good raptors during the past couple of weeks and I'll share some images in future posts, but the other day I took some time to stop along the road at the mouth of American Fork Canyon to quietly observe a much more passive, and smaller, species of bird--Lesser Goldfinch. I noticed a small flock of these birds moving back and forth from perches in a barren tree to a batch of thistles. Goldfinches love to eat thistle. These plants, often considered obnoxious by people, sustain goldfinches through difficult winter months. It was fun to watch the tiny birds, about 4 1/2 inches long, assume various positions and angles to obtain the thistle seeds. The adult male birds still show some traces of their black crowns from their breeding plumage.
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| Lesser Goldfinch in American Fork, UT |
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| Lesser Goldfinch in American Fork, UT |
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| Lesser Goldfinch in American Fork, UT |
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| Lesser Goldfinch in American Fork, UT |
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| Lesser Goldfinch in American Fork, UT |
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| Lesser Goldfinch in American Fork, UT |
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| Lesser Goldfinch in American Fork, UT |
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