The mild weather has brought out some of the first insects of the year, mostly flies but also some wasps and a beetle species, and I thought today with the forecast calling for a sunny high of eight that I might be able to find the first butterflies of the year. I’ve seen butterflies as early as February and I thought I stood a good chance of finding one today since it was far more spring-like than the days I’ve seen butterflies in February. At least the day was supposed to be far more spring-like. As soon as I stepped foot into the woods the skies clouded over. The sun was gone and so were my chances of finding butterflies, I thought. I never did see any butterflies, but I did instead see my first Purple Finch of the year, which carries forward a tradition I have going of seeing Purple Finches every year around this time. This year it seemed a few days early, though.
 
There was just one male Purple Finch. Also in the area was an American Tree Sparrow and an American Goldfinch. Both the Purple Finch and American Goldfinch were singing and chattering. I caught the Purple Finch singing with my video camera. The resulting video can be viewed by clicking here.