I got wonderful extended views of the White-winged Crossbill in Silver Spring.
I arrived at 10:24 and set up my scope on the thistle feeder. A group of
goldfinch were feeding. At 10:30, the crossbill made a brief appearance
(about 1 minute) and I got looks at it through my scope. The bird then left,
only to reappear at 10:35. This time it made a more prolonged stay, remaining
on the feeder until 10:44. I was able to view the bird from several angles and
make notes of all the various field marks, included the notched tail, prominent
wing bars, face pattern, and of course that spectacular bill. The birds
scattered at 10:44. I hung around for a few more minutes without seeing the
bird again, and then left shortly before 11:00.
Back in Crofton, I stopped a Lake Louise. Lake Louise is the small pond along
MD 3 at the entrance to Crofton. It is short on good habitat, frequently low
on water, but often has big numbers of gulls. I occasionally check out the
gulls, and today I had 9 Great Black-backed Gulls (8 adults or 4th winter gulls
plus 1 2nd winter bird), 99 Herring Gulls, and approximately 275 Ring-billed
Gulls. While I was there, someone threw some old bagels on the ground,
which put the birds into an absolute frenzy. One Herring Gull had its crop so
full that I was amazed it could get any air. Anyway, it was a beautiful
morning to be out.
Fred Shaffer
Crofton, MD
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