Gold is one of the most precious metals on earth.  Wars have been fought for it, empires have fallen for it, and entire populations have moved for it.  That humanity has devoted so much time and energy and so many lives over an inert, inedible, malleable, metallic substance will surely, someday, be seen as the height of folly.  Alas, as the sad and gullible fans of Glenn Beck know, we are not quite at that point yet.  Me, I prefer the other forms of gold, forms that cost me not a dime but from which I derive just as much pleasure as fools buying baubles.  Gold is everywhere if one looks for it, and though one can’t really own the gold I am talking about one really wouldn’t want to anyway.  You see the natural world has provided a host of living forms of gold, gold on the wing, gold on the vine, gold everywhere!  One just has to get out and look for it.

Of course, I am out and about way too often and therefore get to find a lot more gold than the average person.  Gold in the form of Seaside Goldenrod Solidago sempervirens and Golden-crowned Kinglets Regulus satrapa has been abundant of late so that is what I have to share.

Enjoy these treasures which are of the best kind – free!

Written by Corey
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.