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!
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Ah, the goldenrod, a plant so fair and foul I’ve never seen.
Utterly beautiful – yet invasive in Europe, where they cause tremendous problems.
I have spent a good part of my youth mowing and removing goldenrod from German meadows, and this plant will always be connected to memories of blood, sweat, and tears (and a sunstroke or two). However, even while fighting it back with all my might (and sometimes even beyond my might – see remark about sunstroke), I never failed to notice its beauty.
When I encountered goldenrod for the first time in North America, where they are good and only good, I took a few conscious minutes to finally enjoy seeing them without the immediate urge to hate and fight. It took a while for my consciousness to adapt, so I had to linger for a few minutes.
American birders must feel the same way about seeing Starlings in Europe. A very remarkable experience, an “enemy mine” moment.
very nice post and great photos of the kinglet – they are tough to capture
Well said Corey. It’s the season of true gold, and of ruby as well. Not just in the kinglet but even in things so lowly as poke and polygonum, at least in some of its variants. And as an electrician told me yesterday regarding the extravagant cost of copper wire for electrical wiring, it’s also the season of princely copper. But goldenrod might really be the best of the bunch.
Great photos. We just took a trip up to the Tetons an the leaves from the deciduous trees were gold as well. Great kinglet photos, I love that the crown matches its surroundings!
Wish we got Kinglets on our Goldenrod. Ours mostly attract bees, wasps and such. Can’t complain though. At the end of the season these insects are desperate for food and it’s much easier to photograph them.