More Window Birding: Purple Finches
Another winter storm, another head cold, and another week's packed schedule means... more time spent window birding! It's been a weird winter for me bird-wise, with rain and subsequent floods preventing access to a couple of my favorite local birding spots, and a bevy of other obligations to keep me from venturing afield very often. But, the birds in the yard have been particularly good this winter, as Oak Titmice , Lincoln's Sparrows , Bushtits and Purple Finches have been more common and numerous than in past years. In other parts of the country, particularly the Northeast, the Winter Finch Forecast is a big deal for birders, who eagerly await annual predictions regarding a handful of nomadic species whose movements depend on the success of cone and berry crops. (Will this year be a good year for redpolls? What about crossbills? Or Pine Grosbeaks? Check the Winter Finch Forecast to find out!) Here in Central California, we can only dream of redpolls, crossbills