Goldfinches in the Prairie
You can hear their rolling calls emanating from the sky and this means that American Goldfinches are in the prairie feeding on grass and…
You can hear their rolling calls emanating from the sky and this means that American Goldfinches are in the prairie feeding on grass and flower seeds. They arrived last night from the north. The first frosts are pushing the sparrows and finches south. The question now becomes how do I get close to them? I always move too quickly. Even when I think I am moving slowly I am moving quickly from the perspective of animals. They know how to be still. Have you ever watched a Great Blue Heron sit still as a statue for what seems like an eternity? That is stealth. Usually what happens is I move along the edge of the prairie and the birds fly and run out ahead of me maintaining 10 yards between me and them. It is like a frustrating little game that we play. The sparrows are more sensitive than the goldfinches. They will not let you get close. If you get close by happenstance they will not sit still for long.
This time I can see them from a distance and I come up with a plan. I move up to the tall prairie plants and make my way along the edge very slowly. I listen and scan the plants before me. I can see plants shaking and hear the subtle chips and calls of the goldfinches. The prairie is full of birds today. I am content to listen and watch. I can see them flitting around the prairie coming closer and moving away. They are always moving and it can be hard to tell if they are moving because of me or if it is just their normal pattern.
I find a spot where I am mostly obscured by the prairie plants where I have a view in front of me. There are patches of big bluestem and gray coneflower within 6 feet of me. These are two of the birds’ preferred foods in the prairie. At this point I stop thinking about strategy and I start to listen and relax. There is a subtle symphony happening all around me. There are so many goldfinches and sparrows calling that they blend together in a continuous stream of soft calls and songs. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, the intensity of their calls rises and the prairie surges into the sky and starts to fly away. Finches and sparrows coalesce into a twisting and shape shifting stream of birds that heads toward the clouds. Now their calls are fading with distance and I watch them circle up over the prairie and start to come back to me. This could be good. It is like the deck has been shuffled and now new birds are coming my way. They started to come back down and they swooped in all around me. The air was full of birds and then the prairie was full of birds. It happened so quickly I had no time to react, but now I had goldfinches perched in the open 6 feet away from me. I slowly raised up my camera and started taking pictures. They did not react. They were busy hanging upside down eating coneflower seeds. In fact, more birds kept moving in and they were now all around me.
For some reason they seemed to accept me. They were definitely watching me, but they were not alarmed. Maybe it is because I was standing there when they came in and they did not see me approach? Maybe it was due to me being relaxed. I think intention matters. Birds are highly sensitive to aggression and rapid movements. Whatever the reason I was enjoying the close encounter. I took my fill of photos and then started really observing them. Some birds would give a buzzy call and defend their space with outstretched wings and bill agape and some of them would perch next to each other and peacefully twist seeds off of the coneflowers with their heads and bodies touching each other. This could be due to individual personalities or it could be that the birds are still in family groups and the parents and juveniles are foraging together. Whatever the reason, it was endearing and I was happy to be so close to them for so long. I started looking through my binoculars. They filled my view and were now in high definition. The subtle variations and patterns in their colors stood out. Each bird is unique. They have molted out of their breeding plumage and now wear the subtle colors of fall. Some are a relatively uniform yellow ocher and others are a mix of yellow, white, gray and tan. All are beautiful at this distance. I can see so much detail in their feathers, especially when the wind catches feathers and blows them out to the side. This gives the distinct impression that they are wearing a dress of sorts and it adds to their cuteness.
This is highly unusual, for me at least. I think five minutes has passed, but I am not sure. I am still surrounded by goldfinches. One of them lands within 2 feet of me and quickly bounces off the stem and perches back at 6 feet. Apparently, 2 feet is too close but 6 feet is okay. They are always multitasking. They are eating, glancing up at me, communicating with each other and scanning the sky for predators. There are Cooper’s Hawks nearby. I saw one fly by earlier and that is enough to keep them vigilant.
I often think of experiences like this as a gift from nature. They come at unexpected times and in unpredictable ways, but they almost always happen if you are open to them. In these quiet moments of intense focus I feel a sense of hope and connection grow within me. The smells of the prairie, sounds and sights of the birds are immersive and they conspire to inflect my experience toward the divine. This makes me want to create more safe space for the birds. I know people were walking by on the trails when this was happening 20 yards away. It is like we are living in different realities. If you make space in your consciousness for nature she will fill you up with eternal gifts. I have a much deeper appreciation for goldfinches now and I will carry that with me for the rest of my life. This just fuels my curiosity and sense of wonder and I am like a kid again, lost in the mystery of it all. Now I want to know them on a deeper level and they are firing my imagination. The rest of the day I am deeply content and satisfied. Later that night I decide to pull The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell off the shelf and I start reading and encounter this myth about bird song.
“A young boy was walking through the forest when he heard a song, a song so beautiful that he followed the sound to see who was singing and he discovered a bird — the Bird of the Most Beautiful Song in the Forest. He asked the bird to come home with him, and when he returned to his house he asked his father to let the bird join them at their meal. The father was annoyed to have to give food to a mere bird, but he agreed. After the meal, the bird flew away.
The next day the boy again heard the singing in the forest, and again he brought the bird home for a meal. The father was more annoyed than before, but again the bird was fed.
Then a third day, and again the song was heard! This time when the boy returned home with the bird, the father decided it was enough, their food was too precious to share. So he sent the boy off on an errand, and when the boy was gone, the man took the bird into the forest and killed the bird, and with the bird the song died as well, and with the song the man died — for the bird was gone forever; and with the bird, the most beautiful song of the forest was gone forever; and with the song, the man was gone, gone from the forest forever.”