On my road trip from Pennsylvania to Arizona, I stopped by Sandia Crest to check out the Rosy-Finches. I have heard a lot about the finches and decided that a detour to the Sandia Crest Gift Shop was mandatory. On 29 February 2012, Linda Rockwell and I headed up to the Sandia Crest Gift Shop to see what we could find. Finding the Rosy-Finches was super easy due to the feeding station within feet of the Gift Shop windows. The cooks at the restaurant were kind enough to fill the feeders up while we were there so the birds would be much more cooperative than usual. While birding at the Gift Shop, I picked up nine species of birds including all three Rosy-Finch species, Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, Leucosticte tephrocotis, Brown-capped Rosy-Finch, Leucosticte australis, and Black Rosy-Finch, Leucosticte atrata.
Black Rosy-Finch
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch
Brown-capped Rosy-Finch
