Bird Watching: New Babies as Fall Approaches?, 2 by wingwoman

wingwoman wrote:
Being fairly new to backyard birding, I'm noticing the changes in plumage that are occurring as the weather gets cooler. We're especially fond of our male finches. After watching one of them perform a spectacular mating dance last spring (all captured on film), we began watching the young ones arrive and grow and learn to fly. We began referring to this male finch as Red, and his sons as Red Jr. In the last couple of weeks, after seeing very few male finches, I saw one that looked almost haggard. Then we saw that he was always in the company of a tiny female finch. Then, when we saw Red up on a utility line, teaching Red Jr. to fly (out of focus but too adorable not to include) we surmised that a new brood had arrived. Anyone familiar with finch behavior might be able to tell me if this normal - to see babies so close to the time when snow might fly.