Springtime in the Wind River Canyon is a very volatile season, last weekend we got a foot of snow, and twenty-four hours later it was raining!  But, now it's Spring again and the Cassin's Cassin's Finch, Male in Bloom, Wind River Canyon, WyomingCassin's Finch, Male in Bloom this Spring, Wind River Canyon, Wyoming. Finches are getting ready to nest.  It's actually easy to identify them, and tell them apart from the very similar House Finch.  

     The Cassin's Finch prefers the mountain forest, while the House Finch is more than likely to be seen in town; you know, by a house, hence the name.  The Cassin's is larger by a centimeter, and lacks the extensive streaking on the breast of the House Finch.  The tail of the Cassin's Finch is notched, while the House Finch is not.  The House Finch in older books is referenced as a Red House Finch, and for good reason, although the color may vary from orange to yellow on the head and breast.  The Cassin's red fades to a striking pink on it's breast, with a brown intermixed on the sides of it's head.  The females are similar in both species, with the Cassin's Finch female being lighter in color under the brown streaking over their entire body. 

     The feeding habits don't overlap much, but their territory is quite different; the Cassin's Finch is seen only in the west, and rarely ventures east of Wyoming, while the more abundant House Finch is common nationwide.  But, at the right time of the year, the Cassin's Finch turns into a mountain ruby, with a red crest that could be on your ring finger!  

     I've been photographing the Cassin's Finch for nearly a decade, and never quite been happy with the results.  Something always disappointed me about the photographs; the red wasn't right, sun was all wrong, blah, blah, blah.  But a couple of days ago, while taking pictures of them again, I realized I could make things right in the digital darkroom now, and make this bird my own.

     This week's photograph of a Cassin's Finch male was shot RAW, and first worked & converted to a TIFF file in Canon's Digital Photo Professional, then "touched up" in Adobe Lightroom 5.  The camera was my favorite 7D, with my new Canon 70-200mm f/4 lens, that I'm getting familiar with, so believe it or not, this Wildlife Photographer can shoot a wedding or two this summer; that I was "lassoed" into, wish me luck!  Till next week, "Keep your camera ready!"