Gold on gold

This bird, a Lawrence’s Goldfinch, is not rare, but is not nearly as common as his cousins, the Lesser and American Goldfinch. This bird was seen in Central California’s coastal mountains and was photographed shortly after dawn when the light was golden. In a dry environment, like the coastal mountains, water will attract birds much more reliably than food. I shot this picture from a portable blind set up by a small pool of water. The water was like a magnet early in the morning attracting a wide variety of birds that came to drink and bath.