The rosy-finches have departed

[Rosyfinch]

Today, Dave Weaver sent this note. If you visit the Crest during the next few days, please let us know if any stragglers are sighted.

Ken

I went up to the Crest today, where it was clear and very windy with temperatures around 26 - 28 degrees (F).
 
The snow is dissipating quickly, with 1 to 3 feet in shady areas and most of the snow melted away in sunny areas. I have attached a log update that shows the last recorded rosy finch sighting on April 9th.

The Crest House staff say  that they have not seen any finches since "before the weekend". I waited over an hour and did not see any.

I took down the feeder but left enough seed for the Crest House staff to continue to put seed out for a while longer in hopes of attracting any stragglers. But I think it is likely that the finches are gone.

I will go up to the Crest next week to check on things and probably to bring down the project equipment and any remaining seed.

Dave

[Rosyfinch]

This e-mail from Gil Bachmann is interesting, as it appears that the large flocks of rosy-finches that were present at the Kandahar Condominiums in Taos Ski Valley also disappeared all at once, and almost on the same day as those at Sandia Crest, which departed on April 9. We look forward to posting Gil's photos.

Hi, Ken.
 
I was gone for a couple days, and the finches decided that was the time to leave too.
 
I saw the whole flock on Wednesday morning [April 7].  I returned to the Kandahar on Saturday morning [April 10] and haven't seen any rosy finches since, not even stragglers.
 
Since I wrote you last, I've been watching closely to see if there were any banded finches here in the ski valley.  I have seen none.  Often many will line up on the handrail outside our office window, like so many doves on a powerline, a great opportunity to check for bands.
 
I do have some pictures from this winter that I will send you in a separate e-mail.
 
.gil