Had one male Purple Finch at the backyard feeders this morning. Last year, the first purple finches (2 females) were seen on Nov. 20. 
 
Noah Kahn
Silver Spring, MD

"There are some who can live without wild things, and some who cannot...like winds and sunsets, wild things were taken for granted until progress began to do away with them. Now we face the question whether a still higher 'standard of living' is worth its cost in things natural, wild, and free. For us of the minority, the opportunity to see geese is more important than television, and the chance to find a pasque-flower is a right as inalienable as free speech." 
Aldo Leopold (who else?)