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Subject:

Lincoln Monument birds + Red Crossbill

From:

"Felley, James"

Reply-To:

Felley, James

Date:

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 13:05:49 -0400

The big news from an outing this morning was a Red Crossbill in the
midst of a very large flock of noisy American Goldfinches, in
Constitution Gardens.  The flock was in the trees west of the restrooms.
I initially spent a few minutes looking at members of the flock, when I
glimpsed something red (House Finch?  Purple Finch?!).  I had trouble
following it as it flew around, but saw brick-red body, notched tail and
no wings bars.  When it finally came to rest, for less than a minute, I
got a clear view of its head and shoulders - crossed bill, brick-red
head and neck with darker flecks, brick-red breast with no evident
flecks.  It was feeding on elm seeds.  Then it flew off, and I spent
quite a few minutes trying to find it or any other non-goldfinch member
in the flock.  No luck.
   So I'm wary of recommending that anyone come down and look for it,
because my experience with looking for crossbills is that it is a great
exercise in finding other, neat, non-crossbill species.
   Other highlights:  In Constitution Gardens, a Black-throated Green
Warbler and several Hermit Thrushes , Northern Flickers and Ruby-crowned
Kinglets (and the large flock of goldfinches).
   Near the DC Veteran's Memorial, several more flickers, Hermit
Thrushes, towhees, (2) Palm Warblers of the yellow sort, and flocks of
Chipping Sparrows.
  At the Tidal Basin, the Cattle Egret was absent, replaced by a person
enjoying the sun.  Finally, there were Bonaparte's Gulls in the Potomac.

Jim

Jim Felley
Smithsonian Institution