Attracting finches

One of yesterday's projects: making 4 impatiens bags.These are some of last years. It will take a few weeks for the new ones to fill in

Aside from hummingbirds (which right now consist of a lone male shivering on the wire), I love finches. This year, lots of gold finches flit around me as I do my country run. I saw a female goldfinch searching for food on my patio the other day. Maybe I should feed them? There are two downsides to this. Squirrels and chipmunks eating the food instead and finch's favorite food, thistle seed, turning into thistles. But I have decided to risk it in hopes of attracting my favorite finch of all, the indigo bunting. I have only seen one in full sunlight (on cloudy days, they appear black and I think I have seen a few of them) and he was beautiful. Most common finch around here? The purple finch, which is inaptly named as it appears to be a small sparrow with a reddish head.

So far I haven't attracted any avian life to my feeders What I also share space is, two pairs of cardinals, two pairs of robins, one of them has a nest with 3 babies over my drainspout and numerous visiting chickadees. In the fall, blue jays move in. If I get too close to the nest, easy as I walk by it to exit my house, the male robin flies at my face.

Yesterday was beautiful; a long run, a short bike ride, a visit to the nursery, a visit to Shanna's and some time planting my impatiens in bags. Today, back to rain.

These make a shady area bright