winter-brown goldfinch

winter-brown goldfinch

knocking seeds from dry wildflowers

to peck from the snow

A small flock of goldfinches in their winter-brown feathers are hopping onto the stems of dry grasses and wildflowers poking up from the drifts, knocking the seeds onto the snow and then hopping down to peck them up. They don't seem to notice me watching from a few feet away. Nothing else moves anywhere in this expanse of white and cold. I reflect on what a good thing it is to leave our yard not mowed, so the birds can harvest the seeds when the ground is covered in two feet of snow.