Just because we are all “Social Distancing” from our fellow humanoid life forms does not mean we cannot socialize with large groups of other earth inhabitants.  By their very nature, birds generally have mastered the art of social distancing.  For example the second a given flock is aware of my very presence, they hightail it for a more comfortable area to congregate.  The exception to this behavior in general is in the advance of adverse weather conditions.  For the Fall of 2020- Winter 2021 we in many parts of the Continental U.S. have been treated to a finch irruption that has not been seen in quite a while.  It is said when food sources are lacking in the Arctic tundra and the boreal regions of the continent; likely compounded by the wildfires that occurred in the west, many a finch have sought out southern regions for needed winter food supplies.  For this season, anyway 2 of the species were life birds for me the first life bird I  had the joy to encounter was the Pine Grosbeak. The other life bird came shortly after which was the Red Crossbill.   Although the Evening Grosbeak was certainly not a life bird, I had a quick glimpse of the first one I had seen in 12 years.    So far during this year, the Evening Grosbeak is far more elusive than any of the winter finches I have encountered. I hope to see another specimen or 2 before they all head back to the northern reaches in a month or two.  Until then, I still have that time to try to seek out the next photo op with the Evening Grosbeak.  The first winter finches that made their way in front of my lens of course, was the Pine Siskins. I began seeing them in October. About a month or two ago was when I finally began seeing the presence of one of my personal favorites the Common Redpoll.  It seemed that everyone was seeing the redpolls except for me.  I spied them in late December 2020 thanks to a red hot tip, but didn’t get a formal photo session out of them until a few days ago.  For that, as always, I am truly grateful.