Common Redpoll

as soon as i arrived in Dawson, i was surprised to see that sparrows were happily spending the winter here. now that i've had more time to look at the little critters, i've discovered they aren't exactly sparrows: they're common redpolls. nifty looking, aren't they? tough little guys too...they spend their summers further north and come down to comparatively balmy Dawson for the winter (though some years, searching for a new vacation spot, they head for the middle of the continent). sensibly, these days they're spending a lot of time on Sz's veranda, where they dine on a constant buffet of niger seeds that she has kindly provided...