Late Nesters

I am always amazed thinking of the very late nesting pattern
of the American Goldfinch. Here it is mid-June and robins,
grackles, and house wrens all have little fledglings flopping and
flying about. And -- the goldfinches haven't even begun to
prepare for making a nest and laying eggs. The books say that
since goldfinches serve regurgitated thistle seeds and other late-
maturing flower seeds to their young, they don't start anything
until late in the fall. They are among the last to nest.

Elizabeth and I make a point to plant flowers in our gardens that
mature late in the fall . . . cultivated thistles among them. AND,
should a wild thistle come up somewhere . . . we leave it alone.
Here is a little poem I wrote some time ago when we had a
hammock tied between our White Pine and Flowering Crab
Tree.


   GOLDFINCH

Sun sets low
    over
        fall flower garden.

In hammock comfort,
   without glasses,
       my eyes nearly closed -

garden shapes blend with
     Monet-like blurriness.
          Yellow abounds. Cicadas call.

Aglow in gold,
     a tall garden plant is
         sunflower tipped.

Then -
     one flies
          away!