Redpolls are visiting Regina again - Going North?

Female Common Redpoll on our feeder this week. © SB

We've seen very few Redpolls in our Regina, Saskatchewan, backyard this winter — but now one is back.

These birds seem  to follow different routes north and south each year.

During the winter, we had a small flock of five or six birds drop by for seeds below the feeder. They were here for one evening only. A few posed on the bare lilac branches, and by morning, all were gone.

This week, a single female Comon Redpoll is back, shyly pecking for seeds and avoiding the other birds. (Going back north? I wonder.)

It seems odd to me to see solitary Redpolls, like I often do in Regina. When I see these tiny finches at the Abbey in Muenster, where I go for February writing retreats, they are usually in large flocks, singing as they swoop from tree to tree.

On of the female Common Redpolls
that dropped by our Regina backyard in late January. © SB

Others in that January mini-flock of Common Redpolls.  © SB

The winter Redpoll flock at the Abbey also include vibrant males, as well as the occasional and rarer Hoary Redpoll, which is the same size but a far paler bird than the brown-belly-speckled Common Redpoll. Below are some shots of birds I took at St. Peter's in February... and my guesses about which might be Common Redpolls, vs Hoary Redpolls.

Female Hoary Redpoll, all silvery white with a tiny bill
(Or, then again, there is a tiny blush of red on its chest - an immature male?) © SB

Male Redpoll - I think likely Common, from the bill size,
though he doesn't have much streaking, so maybe Hoary?  ©SB

Female Common Redpoll   © SB

Male Common Redpoll  © SB

What are these? Female and Male Common Redpolls, with one (?) Hoary Redpoll. (The ones with red chest markings are male.)   

Location: Top three images: Backyard, Regina, Saskatchewan; bottom four: Near Muenster, Saskatchewan, Canada. 

Photo dates: Top: April 7, 2016; next two: January 31, 2016; four Muenster birds: February 19 - 23, 2016.  

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