NW and Hannabarn,
We have finches winter here which is about 225 miles north of you(and some what west too). The ones we see most often are Goldfinches, but Purple have been regulars in the past. Actually, I've been wondering about the Purples. They have been scarcearound here for the last 3 or 4 yrs.Our sightings this winter in decreasing order of frequency are:
Common Redpolls
Pine Siskins
Pine Grosbeaks
Evening Grosbeaks
Black capped chickadees
Downy woodpeckers
Hoary redpolls
Whitebreasted nuthatches
Red breasted nuthatches
Pileated Woodpeckers
Hairy woodpeckers
and one sighting of a Whitewinged crossbill
And note I've left off Ravens and Crows as not so "nice" birds! They are sighted regularly as are Bald eagles but none of those are at the feeders.
Purple finchesare absent and missed.