I often receive photos of birds from readers, but it’s not often that I get poems about our New England birds. Cyndy Martell from Peterborough, N.H., sent in this tribute to American goldfinches, which have been plentiful in her yard this winter.

Winter Goldfinches Galore

(A Phenomenon One Cannot Ignore)

By Cyndy Martell

So many  Goldfinches

Clutching the feeders 

Is frustrating at best

To accurately calculate.

So many Goldfinches

Bouncing on branches

Of bushy trampolines

Ever ready to evacuate.

So many Goldfinches

Take flight impulsively 

Crashing into windows

Sadly sealing their fate.

So many Goldfinches

Studied by Chickadees

Who sit and just wait

But are seldom irate.

So many Goldfinches

Not in summer gold

But in winter’s green

Singing in sweet debate.

Here are a few more winter bird photos to stave off that post-Christmas letdown …

Merry Christmas! With a few bonus cards.

Here’s a release from my friends at the Norwalk Land Trust:

The Norwalk Land Trust is looking for a donor to contribute $60,000 towards the final cost of remediating Hoyt Island in return for naming a new bird sanctuary on the entire the three-acre tract on Long Island Sound after himself/herself or a family member or loved one.

    D. Seeley Hubbard, president of the NLT, said a tax-deductible donation is  “a wonderful opportunity for an environmentalist to establish in the spirit of the season an enduring legacy with the movement to conserve the ecological vitality of Long Island Sound.” 

    Additional information is available from NLT director Midge Kennedy at (203) 838-9985.     The island is a natural habitat for 149 species of birds–some of whom are rare or endangered–and other wildlife and native plants. Once the preserve is complete, the island will be closed to humans other than two people designated by the donor.