The Last Breeding Bird of Summer

By any reasonable standard, the last backyard bird to be nesting this season is the American Goldfinch. This species keys off the blooming of midsummer asters , and only now is in the thick of their breeding run. As a result they're hitting seed feeders hard: my visitors---this male is prominant--are working both sunflower and also the nyjer sock I hung. Perhaps some of this is being stored in the bird's crop and regurgitated for the use of hungry hatchlings...wherever they are. I am only seeing one breeding adult so odds are the tribe is split up for a time. And soon...soon...I expect to see a few more goldfinches draining my feeders.