Changes

 Today I discovered that Finch Field is no more. Oh, the field is still there, 

and it was plenty lively, with lots of bees, a scattering of butterflies, and even this adorable ailanthus webworm moth,

but not the hordes of goldfinches that led me to give this portion of the Wildwood Metropark meadow its name. I think I know why, and the reason is not necessarily one to lament. 

In prior years, the walking path through this particular field was lined with thistle, a giant, utterly gorgeous pollinator magnet with finch-loved seeds and thistledown for the making of finch nests.

Thistle buds are among the loveliest of immature flowers, in my humble opinion.

However, it turns out that most of the thistles most commonly found in Ohio in fact originated in Europe, and even though they have made themselves at home and a variety of our native birds and insects have made use of them, non-native thistles are now listed as invasive plants, even as noxious weeds. I don't know if the Metropark system deliberately eradicated some of its Cirsium or if natives like the ironweed and Joe-Pye that are currently proliferating simply outcompeted the European biennial, but more native flowers and grasses in a public preserve are always a good thing.

The goldfinches will adjust. I am reasonably certain they predate the European conquest of Ohio.