In the Wild Stillness
![Rick and Nora Bowers/VIREO adult male, breeding](http://birds.audubon.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/bird-half/species_images/American_Goldfinch_b13-40-018_l_0.jpg)
Whenever I see a Goldfinch, I remember watching them visit my grandparents' birdfeeder while I ate pancakes.
![adult male adult male](http://birds.audubon.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/bird-full/species_images/Barn_Swallow_b40-16-001_l_1.jpg)
Barn Swallows, occupying the boat lift canopy over our fishing boat, express annoyance at my husband's early morning outings.
![Brian E. Small/VIREO adult male](http://birds.audubon.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/bird-half/species_images/Dickcissel_s52-11-143_l_1.jpg)
I first heard about Dickcissels, or Dickey-birds, while reading Little House on the Prairie. Laura Ingalls Wilder describes chasing them in the Kansas prairie with her sister, Mary.