It's been well over a month since I saw him, but the male White-winged Crossbill returned to my backyard at 11:30am today. Unlike in December, he was alone and not with the flock of house finches that sometimes patrols the area.  The good news is that he ate from the thistle sock, which hopefully means he'll be coming around more frequently.  In December, I never saw him eating, instead he only drank from the water dish. Perhaps the small cone crop in the area is now exhausted. 
   
  You can view my backyard from Sligo Creek Pkwy, <1/4 mile west of Colesville Road.  I'll keep the thistle full over the next few days.  From the Pkwy, look north, up the hill to a wooden porch where feeders and thistle socks are suspended.
   
  Good luck!
  Noah Kahn
  Silver Spring, MD


Noah Kahn

"There are some who can live without wild things, and some who cannot...like winds and sunsets, wild things were taken for granted until progress began to do away with them. Now we face the question whether a still higher 'standard of living' is worth its cost in things natural, wild, and free. For us of the minority, the opportunity to see geese is more important than television, and the chance to find a pasque-flower is a right as inalienable as free speech." 
Aldo Leopold (who else?)
       
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