We have themaround. I see finches year-round here. The goldfinches still are mostly out in the garden, fields and forest, where there's plentiful seeds still available from all the flowers that just froze recently. They usually don't show up in great numbers at our bird feeders until either (a) around Christmas time or even later if December is warm; or (b) the first ice, sleet or snow storm. I usually don't even put finch seeds in the feeders until sometime in December or January since they prefer to feed in the fields (and the garden) until they run out of seeds they like there. The minute we get wintery precip, though, they descend upon the feeders in huge numbers.

We feed sunflower seeds year round and have just recently started seeing finches at the feeders. At a friend's house a few days ago--35 miles away--we saw not only goldfinches but several purple finches. The goldfinches are rather drab this time of the year, but they are out there.