1:10 AM – Look who’s back. It’s the American Goldfinch. According to the Cornell Labs website, in the summer their feathers are bright yellow, with vivid black cap and wind feathers. That’s for the males anyway, particularly the ‘breeding males’. Females are not so colorful. Last winter we had a lot of these guys. I hope they’re back for the summer.

Pitiful cardinal, all that molting makes him look mangey. At this stage he’s got some feathers coming back in, and it looks like this series of ‘molting’ videos won’t last much longer. I’ve read that only a small percentage of cardinals lose all their head feathers, as part of the overall summer molting.