Had a pleasant surprise when I left class this morning at Frederick Community College. A flock of crossbills descended upon the gum trees on campus as I walked by. The trees are small so not only did I get to see them, I observed some as close as three feet from my face and some fed at my feet. A couple more fed directly above my head but I didn't want to spook them by looking straight up at them.
I stood and watched until my bald head got too cold in the wind. It was great seeing how they used their bills to get at the seeds. My presence didn't bother them a bit. (and nobody else walked by, giving the crazy guy staring at the tree a wide berth)
I didn't think to take photos until I was about to leave. I got a couple of pictures and a short video with my cell phone. Quality is poor but I'll try to upload them somewhere if I can figure out how.
Most were white-wings. I counted about 42. There were also about 6 red in with the bunch, but they did mind my watching and quickly relocated to another, much larger tree, about 50 meters away.
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