Hey everyone-

As Gail reported earlier, Kevin and I went after the White-Winged Crossbills on Jennings Chapel Rd. in Howard County this morning.  After getting quick glimpses of them in the tops of the spruces, Kevin and I got ready to go to Font Hill to try for better views there.  However, we went back to remind Gail and Barry that birders had been given permission to walk along the driveway.  It's a good thing we did, as we ended up getting unbelievable views of these awesome birds the second time around.  While the males tended to stay higher up in the spruces, twice I had a female come down almost to eye level, giving me my best shots of these guys so far.  Afterward, we stopped by Centennial Lake (now we're wishing we had gone to Brighton Dam :) ), where a couple Canvasback and Ruddy Ducks joined the other waterfowl at a small pool of open water at the South end of the Park.

Photos of the absolutely amazing crossbills, along with some waterfowl from Centennial, are up at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicobirdphotos