New Year Birds

While I was happy to get my Bird RDA each day over the weekend, I was aching to see something new for the year. Fortunately, a female Purple Finch showed up at the feeders at the office today, and a walk down along the edge of the woods netted me a couple Field Sparrows with the flock of Song Sparrows, White-throated Sparrows, and a couple American Tree Sparrows.

After seeing lots of Cassin's Finches in Utah a couple weeks ago, it was nice to see this female Purple Finch. These two species can be quite similar looking, and while the facial pattern on the female Purple Finch is more distinct, Cassin's can also have a strong facial pattern that is pretty similar.