“Wait a minute,” I said to my husband as I peered at the feeder in our side yard this weekend.
“That bird doesn’t look like the brown-colored House Finches.
It looks like it has a raspberry wash over it.”
And the other House Finches on the feeder didn’t seem very happy with it.
The raspberry-colored bird kept chasing the other birds away from the feeder.
“Whoa, that’s a Purple Finch!” I said to my husband.
Why was I so excited?
The Purple Finch is a rare bird to find in southeast Michigan at any time of the year.
And it was the first time we’ve ever had one in our yard.
What a treat to have it stop by our feeder!
With fall migration of birds happening in Michigan since early August, we’ve had dozens of rare bird sightings in our area.
Which have birders like me thrilled to look out our windows at our feeder or visit nearby parks/nature preserves to discover the latest unexpected bird stopping for food on their way south to non-breeding areas.
The last time I saw the raspberry-colored Purple Finch was February 2020, when I was in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula near Sault Ste. Marie in -14 degree Farenheit weather for some winter birding.
Have you seen any migrating birds in your area? I’d love to learn what you’ve seen, share your sightings in the comments.
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