Your House Finches must have all come to my feeder at work. Ther
Noah:

Your House Finches must have all come to my feeder at work. There are times when there are more than a dozen clinging to the feeder and more on the ground underneath. Oddly, there were only a few here during the summer.

I've had one brownie Purple Finch more than a week ago and last week a nice male PUFI. No Pine Siskins here in Edgewater yet though I had a nice showing here last year about this time. I'm really waiting for crossbills ;)
 
Tyler Bell

California, Maryland 




________________________________
From: Noah Kahn <>
To: 
Sent: Wednesday, November 5, 2008 1:39:45 PM
Subject: [MDOSPREY] Pine Siskins in Silver Spring & House Finch question

Had 6 Pine Siskin at a thistle feeder this morning; near Sligo Creek Pkwy.  No sign of the Purple Finch that was here a few days ago.  American Goldfinch numbers are building lately.

Has anybody else noticed the dramatic decline in House Finch since mid-summer?  In late summer, the proportion of finches visiting my feeders afflicted with conjunctivitis began to climb, eventually reaching a point where the vast majority had contracted the disease (yep, I periodically clean the feeders).  In the last 2-3 weeks, I have seen almost no house finches at my feeders and I'm wondering if this decline is being seen by others in the area? 

Noah Kahn
Silver Spring, MD