Had a great find yesterday at my feeder.  A male Purple Finch.  It was a
bit smaller than the regular House Finches that were there and had just
a little blush of red starting to show over its whole head and
underside.  There was also two females there.  I thought at first that
they might be siskins, but then the male popped up.  The eyes of the
females are just getting the eyestripes...they are faint but they are
there.  So I am calling all three of them first years.

Also have had a fun time taking pictures of Roasted Marshmallow Birds
(Snow Buntings)  Over on Phelps Rd in Union County.  A flock of 50 or so
are there daily.  Plus I have had my fill of Longspurs as well...well,
maybe a few more...;-D

Pictures here, If someone could please confirm the Finches  I'm 95%
sure, I just need a second set of eyes.  Here is a pic that shows it's
tail real good.:
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s226/sjlarue/Birds/_DSC3126.jpg .
Plus lots more here: http://s153.photobucket.com/albums/s226/sjlarue/Birds/

Also, hey birding photographers, something that I had fun with
yesterday; fine tuning the Autofocus of my lens to my camera.  If your
camera can do this,(Nikon, Canon, & maybe other SLRs) I highly recommend
it, I used a cereal box to focus on, and you would not believe the
difference:
Bunting Before:
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s226/sjlarue/Birds/_DSC2982.jpg

Bunting After:
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s226/sjlarue/Birds/_DSC3242.jpg

Both are same distance..ish and focal length.

Thanks, and have a great day!

Steve J.

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