There's a New Bird in Town....Update from BirdNote

Ellen Blackstone of BirdNote is taking it upon her very kind self to update Plant Talk readers on birds arriving in town.. thanks, Ellen.

I so appreciate birds at this time of year when we're indoors so much it's easy to lose our connection with nature. And let's face it, there's less and less to look at in our gardens this time of year. The leaves are off the trees, perennials are mostly mush, and the hellebores are not yet in bloom.

But more birds are arriving weekly, thank goodness, right when we need them most to animate the garden and remind us that life is still going on out there...

This week, Ellen has sighted Red Crossbills in North Seattle...They make a sweet, twittery little sound and you can see flocks of them hanging out high in conifer trees...hear a BirdNote story about Red Crossbills here.

So you'll recognize these beauties when you see them....here are photos, from Gregg Thompson, of a male (more red) and female Red Crossbill.....they definitely earn their name, look at those delicately crossed beaks, which help them to bite the seeds out of cones.

 

Comments

[DariaW]

That is very exciting. It would be marvelous to add them to my life list. A friend on Sinclair Island (Ferdi Businger, who you also know from Guemes Island?) saw them this summer. Maybe it's my computer, but the link wasn't working for me.

[valerie Easton]

Hi Daria,
There, I think I corrected both links...I can't always tell from my end, thanks for letting me know.

I do remember Fergie Businger...he not only has (had?) a place on Guemes, but of course grew up on the hill out in LFP near us too....
Val

[Vic Torino]

These are beautiful Red Crossbills. I used to see them as young boy growing up in Brooklyn.