House Finches

Driving rain…wind…sleet…now snow. Not a very nice day to be a bird.
I was home during the day today and was able to watch the steady stream of visitors coming to my bird feeders. I even saw an industrious black squirrel conquer my latest “squirrel-proof " feeder, but I did not have the heart to shoo him away on such a nasty day.
A few days ago I said that purple finches were visiting my yard, and today I managed to get a photo of one through the window. I sent the picture to Susan at Susan Gets Native for positive i.d., as I was beginning to doubt my earlier identification.
She responded quickly and said, “… the bird is definitely a male house finch. Purple finches are a bit more "raspberry" colored and they don't have the light brown cheeks that house finches do. I haven't seen a purple finch here in my part of Ohio yet, but they are rare visitors.
Cute little guys...they cover my feeders all year round!”
Thanks Susan!
I find it hard to look up birds in my book and note essential details necessary for accurate identification…a band here, a cheek there, etc, etc. I will keep trying though. Capturing a digital image sure helps a lot.