Finally! American goldfinches come to drink out of the ant cup on my hummingbird feeder

[mnhtnbb]

And I have tried and tried to get a decent shot of one. I have to shoot through a window--
and this one stayed put while I grabbed my camera just now.

I love watching them from my desk/study!

[elleng]

1. Great shot!

[mnhtnbb]

2. He was just back with his girlfriend and sure enough, the second

I moved in front of the window they both took off.

[arcane1]

3. I'm not afraid to ask: what is an ant cup???

Oh, and that's a beautiful shot!!!!!

[mnhtnbb]

5. An ant cup is something to fill with water to create a barrier for ants

wanting to get to the hummingbird feeder. The ant cup hangs above the feeder. Since this deck is about 15 feet off the ground, we rarely have any ants, but I have to fill the ant cup with water every time I fill the feeder since the bigger birds have discovered it as a water source!

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[arcane1]

6. Clever! And totally not what I expected.

I was thinking something on the bottom that ants can drink from or something

[ohheckyeah]

4. Pretty bird ---

very nice shot!

[NV Whino]

7. Nice!

We may have to turn this into the bird group.

A suggestion. If your camera supports a remote, set it up on a tripod, frame it to include the goldfinch area, and fire away when they appear. The sound may still scare them away, but probably not before you get a shot.

[Hoppy]

8. many higher end cameras have capacity to turn off sound of photo being taken

[mnhtnbb]

9. It's not the sound--but movement that spooks them.

[Hoppy]

10. That's why the remote trigger would help.

[Earth_First]

11. Probably my favorite bird next to the Cedar Waxwings....

A few mornings ago (maybe last week) I was out enjoying my morning coffee when a group of 8-15 goldfinches swooped in and took cover in our althea and made such a stir...it was fantastic!

Great shot!

[mnhtnbb]

12. Wow, a flock! I've never seen more than 2-3 at a time here.