First Bird

["Kristin Purdy" <kristinpurdy at comcast dot net>]

My first bird of 2006 was the Lesser Goldfinch. At around 8:00 am 
yesterday, seven well-behaved Lesser Goldfinches dined on thistle seed 
in tranquility. I could see no other birds in the yard.  That all of the 
finches on the thistle sock were Lesser Goldfinches was something of a 
rarity.  The dominant species in my yard is the Pine Siskin and Lesser 
Goldfinches don't compete well with them for feeding positions.  Pine 
Siskins chase, snap, flare, feint, bicker, and quarrel their way into 
the dominant positions on both thistle socks and the feeder. The Lessers 
are really the low birds on the totem sock. It doesn't take much to 
scare the Lesser Goldfinches off the socks to a nearby branch.  So I 
believe the goldfinches come at odd and unpredictable hours when they 
don't have to compete with the Pine Siskins.  Sometimes they come early, 
sometimes they come late, sometimes they visit in the dead hours of 
midday. Yesterday's early appearance allowed me to log a "good" first 
bird for 2006.

Kris

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