[Mnbird] White-winged Crossbills, Sherburne NWR, Blue Hill Trail

[linda whyte]

Thanks to Justin Watts, for posting the continued presence of these birds.
We found them midway along the East border of the pine stand. The spot was
most easily accessed by walking the Blue Hill Trail to the pine stand, then
turning right (northward) at the pair of blue "hiking trail" signs. They
were feeding intently on the numerous small pine cones near the top of a
spruce, raining cone debris onto the ground. We counted at least two males
and six females, though others were probably hidden on the opposite side of
the tree.
The spruce is visible from the path bordering the field, However, it's not
directly next to the path. There is a small, bare, deciduous tree with a
couple of short conifers at that spot on the path, and a huge white pine
(the biggest tree on the east border) that blocks the view of the spruce
from the south.
Look hard for any motion in place, in a tree loaded with small cones. We
saw the birds only because I happened to stop there to mop my watering eyes
and running nose, and Rob noticed the motion. (I guess I'll gripe less
about "winter" eyes and nose.)
Linda Whyte
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail.lists.mnbird.net/pipermail/mnbird_lists.mnbird.net/attachments/20160215/06bbc5ec/attachment.htm>