[Birdnet] White-winged Crossbill at Monte Cristo

[Kristin Purdy]

At least one WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL flew over Monte Cristo Campground in 
Rich County yesterday morning, calling in flight. Twice in the recent past I 
believed White-wngs were at Monte Cristo, but the call or view was so brief 
that I couldn't conclusively rule out other species. I chose not to report 
the possibility. Yesterday's calling sequence was definitive even though I 
didn't see the bird. What's wrong with those darn crossbills--why can't they 
perch sedately at eye level for me?!? We need spruces around here that 
produce cones at a height of 5' 3" instead of at 60 feet.

Calling RED CROSSBILLS also flew over the campground and I saw them flash 
through patches of sky while I developed a charlie horse in my neck. All the 
woodpecker families appear to have fledged. It took about an hour of 
listening to get a sign from a THREE-TOED WOODPECKER; finally one drummed a 
total of four times and sat patiently on a snag while I watched her. It was 
the adult female. She was on the slope downhill from campsite 18 on Loop C. 
That's the first place I saw the male on June 21 and I've seen both adults 
in that area a couple times. Then she disappeared while I was distracted by 
an adult male WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER feeding a juvenile female.

Other birds present included a vocal Hairy Woodpecker, a Clark's Nutcracker, 
Western Tanagers, Mountain Chickadees, Brown Creepers, MacGillivray's 
Warblers, Cassin's Finches and many more good mountain birds. A fun 
experience was watching a Ruby-crowned Kinglet bug-catch on the ground under 
the shady spruce; the bird whirled and fluttered across the dry litter 
toward me until I was looking down on the red slash across its crown and he 
or she was only 4 feet away. The newly-fledged Red-breasted Nuthatches are 
super-cute at this time of year, too.

I never strayed from of the south end of the campground. The woodpeckers 
were in the mature Englemann Spruce on the slope sandwiched between Loop A, 
campsites 4 and 6, and Loop C, campsites 14 and 18. The crossbills flew over 
the same area. At the east end of this slope you'll find the two Group Use 
units.

Monte Cristo Campground is located on SR-39 at mile 47.7. If you bird the 
shady spruce slope, know that you'll have lots of company...from mosquitoes.

Kris 
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