I joined Mikey Lutmerding today in his sector of the Oakland Christmas Count in Garrett County.  White-winged Crossbills were the best birds of the day.  At a brief stop at Swallow Falls State Park in the morning, we heard but did not see a small flock.  We finally hit pay dirt in the afternoon at the Oakland Golf Club on Oakland-Sang Run Rd. when 7 birds (2 m, 5 f) settled into a tree visible from the clubhouse parking lot.  Mikey took a lot of great pictures, which I'm sure he'll post to his flickr site.   We heard or saw a number of additional birds at the golf course while we were watching the original flock.  We also heard reports that other counters had crossbills at Cranesville and Herrington Manor.

John Hubbell
Washington DC