Observers: Tom & Jo Heindel
Email: tjheindelataoldotcom
Remote Name: 198.81.26.6
Date: 07/19/03
Time: 09:21:22 AM
On 19 July an adult male American Goldfinch came in to a thistle feeder in Big Pine. It was in worn alternate plumage and had just begun its molt into basic (winter) plumage. The nape, lesser wing coverts, and a couple of feathers in the upper back were olive. The wing bars were narrow due to wear. This is the first record for July for Inyo County. This species usually returns in early October with a few early arrivals over the years in the last week of September. There are three records from 18-22 June that may have been extremely late migrants (usually gone by mid April) or non-breeders or ??.