ML187458931

Age and sex

Adult Male - 1

Observation details

Found by Ellen Blanchard on 3 August and seen both yesterday and today. Typical Spinus goldfinch with bright yellow underparts that even showed a slight orange tinge in the throat. Upperparts from forehead and crown to rump glossy black; broad white patch at base of primaries and white edging to inner secondaries; black of face framed auriculars with yellow slash under eye. Tail notably had bold white patches from base of tail to about 1/4" from tip, which was black as seen from below. In flight, the white wing patches and white patches at base of tail bold and noticeable. Bill dusky with paler mandible. Legs and feet dusky pink. Interestingly, this bird sang for extended periods. The notes were typical goldfinch jumbles interspersed with downslurred "dee-oo" notes typical of Lesser Goldfinch. I did not note what sounds were imitations, but I did obtain a couple of faint recordings for analysis. The bird fed at a thistle feeder. This is the third for Maine, previous records from July in Penobscot Co. (Clifton, southeast of Bangor) and Dec-Apr at Georgetown, Sagadahoc Co. (2009 and 1992-93, respectively).

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Lens

EF300mm f/2.8L IS II USM +1.4x III

ISO

1000

Focal length

420 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/4.0

Shutter speed

1/1250 sec

Dimensions

2400 pixels x 1600 pixels

Original file size

1.51 MB