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Re: WW Crossbills at Woodend today too

From:

Evelyn Ralston

Reply-To:

Evelyn Ralston

Date:

Fri, 6 Feb 2009 10:32:15 -0500

I decided to swing by Woodend before work today, just in case.... The  
hemlocks did not show a single bird but it was such a beautiful  
morning that I stayed for a while to watch the sparrows, Car. wrens  
and house finches in the brambles on the left side of the road across  
from the gatehouse. A few birds flew up from the brambles and perched  
on one of the branches above the left path. When I looked at them, my  
first thought was is that a purple finch? but then I saw the wingbar  
and realized I was looking at a beautiful male WWC. A few seconds  
later the group (8-10 birds) flew away towards Rock Creek Park making  
WWC sounds, perhaps because a red shouldered hawk was arriving. The  
WWC did not return and I left for work.
Thanks, Gail.

Evelyn Ralston
Bethesda, MD




On Feb 5, 2009, at 12:32 PM, Gail Mackiernan wrote:

> Hi all --
>
> Barry and I stopped by Woodend, the Audubon Naturalist Society's
> headquarters on Jones Mill Rd, Mont. Cty. on spec because it has a  
> lot of
> hemlocks and was where WW Crossbills have been found in the (rather  
> distant)
> past.
>
> Well, we struck gold with about a dozen White-winged Crossbills  
> feeding in a
> large hemlock to the right of the entrance road, just beyond the  
> "gatehouse"
> -- we watched them for a short time and then they flew off calling  
> to the
> NW. We checked the rest of the property's hemlocks with no luck,  
> also drove
> the neighborhood a bit, checking both hemlocks and spruces but  
> could not
> relocate the birds.
>
> However it would be worth checking again -- about 25 years ago WW  
> Crossbills
> lingered at ANS into April!
>
> Gail Mackiernan and Barry Cooper
> Colesville, MD