Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch

Yesterday, 5th January 2008, I went on an outing to the Sibbald, Exshaw, Canmore and Harvie Heights areas in the mountains. We saw quite a few of these Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches at someone's feeder in Harvie Heights. I had never seen one of these birds before and was happy to get a distant photo or two.

"These birds are locally common from mid-March to October; a few might overwinter.... They can be seen in mountain meadows, alpine tundra, avalanche slopes, roadsides and occasionally towns.... A few of these birds spend winter in Alberta on chinook-warmed slopes and at feeding stations in the foothills, but most leave the province for better climes to the south." From Birds of Alberta by Fisher and Acorn.