Crossbills in Chicago
Kate and I donned our heavy duty parkas and went on a chasing
expedition today in search of White-winged Crossbills. The
Chicago hotline reported them from last weekend and they would be
a state bird for us. Having accumulated 40 birds for the DuPage
Big Year and not hearing about anything that would be worth going
for, we decided, without too much agonizing, to go after a state
bird.
An hour and a half drive brought us to Lyons Woods in Waukegan
where we ran into some other birders including Al Stokie, who
were getting back in their cars. This was the same crew we ran
into during our successful search for the Townsend's Solitaire in
December. Could this be an omen?
Al gave us a general description of where the crossbills were
(with a warning that they were not easy to find) and off we went
up the trail into the woods. At first, we saw zilch, birdwise.
We found a path that seemed interesting and headed off into even
deeper pine woods. After following a couple of paths around, we
emptied out into a clearing with a big old White Oak. After
standing around for a few minutes trying to track down the odd
chip notes, suddenly two birds flew into the oak.
We got on them immediately. Red bird, white marks on wing, no
streaking, wait a minute....CROSSED BILLS!!! YES!!!!!
Not only did we get a state bird, but we got wonderful looks at a
PAIR! This couple was very cooperative, munching on little
morsels they found along the twigs of the oak. After a while,
they flew off, we gave each other a couple of high-fives and
retraced ourselves out of the woods.
Oh, yeah. Had a Northern Shrike too. Ho hum!
Seeyalaterbye.
Jim |
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