I need to burn through a ton of redpoll and siskin photos before I leave. Non Birding Bill and I are knee deep in sorting through the oodles of blog entries that came in. I got a much bigger response to the contest than expected and it's going to be tough to narrow down to the top ten. These will start showing up once a day on February 18 and then post once a day.

I have no idea what my internet situation will be while I'm in Guatemala. If I find a chance to upload a photo or video, I will. However, I have a feeling that my chance to blog while there will be narrow. Watch for updates on Twitter.

I'm watching all the winter finch activity and wondering if they will still be around when I return at the end of the month. When we were at Mr. Neil's last week, there were so many finches descending on his feeding station that when the flock suddenly took off in fear of a predator, the culmination of wings made a jarring "woosh" sound. So many tiny birds makings such a mighty sound just with feathers. Even the 36" long finch feeder isn't enough perches for them!

The pine siskins went after all sorts of food, from finch mixes to this woopecker mix in the wire mesh feeder above. This mix has sunflower seeds in and out of the shell, nuts, and dried fruit. Many of the pine siskins at the feeder have a hint of yellow, but some really stood out.