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Common Redpoll

Photo of the Week (November 5th, 2017)

(archive photos of the week here)

As we continue our quick descent in a long South Dakota winter, it's always nice when a surprise bird shows up in your yard, as happened this week. There's only been one other winter since we've been in this house that we've had Common Redpolls. In January of 2013, we had a big influx of Redpolls throughout the region. I had well over a dozen regularly visiting my niger seed feeder, and as an even bigger surprise, we had 2 Hoary Redpolls that came and stayed for several weeks. This past week, on Halloween, I looked out at the niger feeder and was surprised to see three Common Redpolls mixed in with my hoards of American Goldfinches. A wonderful yard bird to have here in far southern South Dakota, and one I hope sticks around for much of the winter.  I haven't tried to photograph the new arrivals yet...here's a photo of a Common Redpoll in the snow from 4 years ago in our yard.

Click for more Common Redpoll photos

Click here for more information on this species