Jeff and OBOL, it's not just your neighborhood. There are several spots
both in NW Portland and on Sauvie Island where I have regularly found them
in winter, but I have yet to see any so far this year.
Andy Frank
"Having just completed a dog walk in my Portland neighborhood (Laurelhurst)
I again noted the absence of American Goldfinches , and the great reduction
in numbers of Lesser Goldfinches from recent years. For many years there
have been hundreds of American Goldfinches in the neighborhood in winter -
primarily eating the seeds of Sweet Gum trees, but also the seeds of
various birches. I haven't seen or heard a single American Goldfinch in the
neighborhood this winter. Maybe last summer's drought caused the trees to
skip a year of seed production."
