Goldfinch?

I love watching the birds in our backyard.  They're fun, quirky, and some of them are quite beautiful.  I was amused last summer when I heard my nephew refer to the common birds at my sister's bird feeder as junk birds because really that's kind of how we think of them.  Take for example the sparrow.  Not only is it rather unlovely, it's so common.  You just can't get excited about them.

But the colorful birds are another story entirely.  Not only are they eye-catchingly beautiful, but they're not nearly as plentiful so it's always a treat to see them.  For me, a backyard filled with bluebirds, goldfinches, and cardinals would be hard to beat.  But that's not what I want to discuss right now.  I want to talk about the beautiful, perky, brightly colored little goldfinches. 

Even the females who are typically drab, have a certain amout of color and design to them. 

 But a couple of weeks ago, I noticed a different variety at one of our feeders.  This guy looked like the bright and beautiful goldfinch that we're so fond of but his colors were mottled and strange looking.

And after a little investigation, I learned that what I feared was true.  Our goldfinch was donning his winter coat.  It's only September for Pete's sake!!!  Here's how he'll look all too soon. 

 And not long after that we won't be able to tell the males from the females.  And they'll have backgrounds like this.

All too soon.