House finches galore

I was doing my feederwatch counts for this weekend and for some reason, every house finch in the area decided to hit the platform feeder today. The pine next to the feeder was crowded with mostly female house finches, waiting their turn at the seeds and nuts. Usually, I get about three-four of them, max. Today I saw nine at one time, both in the tree and on the feeder. There were only a couple of males in the bunch; the rest were tiny females.

I tried digiscoping but that little homemade adapter just isn't cutting it. These are the best photos I got--and they're terrible.
Obvious handshake. But the good thing was that I didn't see many finches with conjunctivitis today, at least I don't think so. They look okay to me. Any other opinions, based on this terrible photo?


In the golden light of the fast-setting sun, it was impossible for me to tell what kind of sparrow this is. Help?

Speaking of sun, we had another beautiful day here in Central PA--I think the high was close to 70! Here is a photo of the tamarack, almost bereft of its needles, and the marsh behind it, bathed in the bronze of a setting winter sun:

A not-so-white Christmas for 2006.