Wild Wednesday, Goldfinch

I snapped this photo in Bay City while we were on a walk re-visiting the site where Zach and I were engaged. It's a shipwreck cemetery along the Saginaw River. The Goldfinch was devouring this thistle plant at an incredible rate. At different times it had bits of the fluff all stuck to it's face feathers.
Male Goldfinch's change to their bright yellow plumage in the summer months, where in the winter they turn a dull greenish gray, much like the female color.
I've been wondering something, we feed the song birds year round, has anyone else noticed that the songbirds look sort of tattered this year? Was it the oil spill, something environmental? But all of our song birds have feathers missing, and look sort of dingy. I thought maybe it was something with just our yard or area, but we've gone a few places and I've noticed several pathetic birds as far as two hours north, even this Goldfinch has some messed up feathers along it's chest. I know birds molt after nesting, and Goldfinch's evidently molt twice, but I've never noticed it as much as I have this year.