First of the Spring - Yellow

I have been gone from home most of this past week hosting a workshop Monday through Thursday, so when I drove out of the neighborhood this morning to get a converter box for the fifth television in our house, I was taken back by the bright yellow forsythia shrubs that are in full bloom (a). Where did these come from all of a sudden? There are various crocus in bloom around the yard - they have been doing so for a couple of weeks, and one daffodil in the small flower bed with the mailbox next to the driveway. When we were in California over a month ago, my mom's daffodils were just coming into full display - ours' are that far behind. This after noon just as we were finishing up clearing the tan-colored ornamental bunch grasses that had withstood the winter, the first American Goldfinch of the season showed up on the finch feeder outside the kitchen window (b). I cannot tell for sure if it is a female or male - but with the black striping and a hint of yellow beginning to show, if a male, this and other of its kind will soon be as bright yellow as the forsythia shrubs already in bloom, as well as the soon-to-appear daffodils.

Along with having left the sliding glass door between our dining area and the out-of-doors open all afternoon and through dinner time this evening, the signs of spring also include opportunities to creep outside and stalk the birds that likewise creep and stalk about because there is little cover for them to hide behind, other than the mostly barren ground cover for an American Robin - which is a large thrush - among daffodil shoots that have poked up from their bulbs that were planted last autumn (a), or the dense branches of the trees that are close to blooming, like the house sparrows picking apart young buds that haven't quite yet bloomed (b). Other brightly colored hoovering bird-like-craft can also be seen occasionally through the branches - migrating from the northeast of our house, hovering, and then softly landing in open grassland areas that are afforded by near-by school yards (c).
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It is interesting looking at old reference books, and comparing them to modern equivalents - in this case, the American Cyclopeaedia that was originally published in 1883. An excerpt from volume VIII showing the entry for the Goldfinch is shown. Great compilations of information, at the finger tips - the equivalent of the Internet for the time. It is funny how such an old reference is now available at the click of a mouse (or Macbook Pro Touchpad). This reminds me of some musty old natural history volumes I have of my paternal grandmother's. I will have to pull them out see what I can find in the way of bird references.