This afternoon while working in the tower at BWI in the snowstorm I observed more than several flocks of small finches fly over the airport terminal. I can't say for certain that the birds were not the same flock circling the field every so often, but they were flying from the northeast to the southeast each time and the flock sizes varied between several birds to over a dozen, so I have to assume that they were all separate flocks. Sometimes the birds would come by in a mixed flock (once there were definitely House Finches mixed in and another group followed a small flock of blackbirds & cowbirds closely). At about 3:30, one of the flocks came by close enough to the tower to see clearly that they were redpolls because I could see the streaking and red caps, which appeared dark in the poor lighting. I can't say for certain that the other flocks were definitely redpolls as well, but there sizes were right, as was their undulating flights. The size and flight patterns were also simil
ar to goldfinches, so who knows? Where they ended up, I cannot say. For you folks south of BWI I'd keep an eye on the feeders and hope.

Ed Boyd
Westminster, MD