We don’t have any rosy finches. Most birders don’t have any rosy finches; rosy finches have a very limited range. But the place you go to see rosy finches… Colorado. All you have to do to see rosy finches (there are three kinds), is drive to Georgetown in the winter and watch the feeders around town. The finches come down out of the high country (and down from the north) in the winter, down to maybe eight thousand feet, and bask in the snow and cold until it’s time to return to their more arctic conditions. All you have to do is drive to Georgetown. Every birding guidebook says so.
We’re not in the Colorado high country in the winter any more, so it is a matter timing; get to Georgetown to see the birds without spending the winter in the mountains. At our latest opportunity last year, in November, we drove to Georgetown and located all the bird feeders that could be seen from the street. No rosy finches. We were too early.
This year, back to work in Colorado, we tried again. Another drive to Georgetown, this time in April, and a creep around the streets in the car, checking out the feeders. Nothing. Just a little too late. The birds are gone for the year.
On the way out of town, we stopped at the visitor center and they had a live person to chat with. Rosy finches? Haven’t seen one in years. They must be wintering somewhere else now.
We weren’t just too early, then too late. We missed them entirely.
