Hi everyone! Kathy Thom, Troy Flicek and I spotted two different flocks of White-winged Crossbills today. The first was in Troy's yard, near Lonsdale. We were standing around watching the redpolls, siskins and Purple Finches at the feeders when a "flock" of 3 crossbills flew in. They didn't linger long in any tree and were gone before we knew it. They consisted of 2 females and 1 male. Later, in the town of Waterville (LeSueur Co.), we checked Holy Trinity Catholic Church after talking to Vern Krienke, who told us that he and Cindy had seen some crossbills there one other year. We decided to check it out and lo and behold, there was a conifer across the street, to the east of the church, very busy with crossbills! I would estimate that there were between 12 and 18 birds. They were spread out and feeding low. This tree was loaded with small, dark cones. It was great! The house hosting the birds is located at the intersection of Common St. E & 6th St. S. Also, while at the Krienke's checking out all of the siskins and redpolls, their feeders suddenly became silent. We wondered why, when I spotted a small raptor. Thinking it was an accipiter, I was delighted to discover that it was a female Merlin! It flew across the road and perched for several minutes. Other good birds today were Northern Shrike & Rough-legged Hawk. Another fun one! Good birding! Dave Bartkey Faribault, MN [email protected] ---- Join or Leave mou-net:http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives:http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
