LIFE'S BETTER IN THE MOUNTAINS

Monday, April 30, 2012

Amazing Sight at the Birdfeeders

Red Crossbills are a rare sight at our elevation.  One year we made a little birding record in North Carolina.  We had Red Crossbills who nested in our conifers and brought their fledglings to our feeders. http://ncmountainwoman.blogspot.com/2009/05/fledgling-is-red-crossbill-one-for.html

Last week my husband looked out and saw a pair of them.  It was amazing to see a pair of them again.



The male is on the right, just in front of a cardinal.  The female is on the left.




They seemed to enjoy the sunflower seeds.




The male saw me but continued to eat.




They are wonderful to see.


I highly doubt this pair will stay around here.  This year our conifers have few to no cones so this might not be a good place for them.  Perhaps next year...

17 comments:

NCmountainwoman said...

As you will note, I made an error on the dates. It was 2009 when we saw the fledglings. For some reason blogger will not let me make any corrections.

Cheryl said...

Having the same problem. I had numerous problems trying to post tonight :( Grrrrrr!!

It must be wonderful to see a bird that is not common in your parts.
I seem to remember you mentioning them before.

Is the lack of cones on the pines due to adverse weather conditions?

kks said...

beautiful birds, beautiful photos!
stay tuned for updates on the recall...anxious for june 5...love your comments!
xoxo

Rudee said...

Beautiful! Lucky you--even if it's only a temporary stopover.

Jill said...

So beautiful...we had another grosbeak here the other day. Love seeing all of these colorful visitors. Beautiful photos.

My Mind's Eye said...

OH MY GOSH!! I had no idea we had Crossbills in NC. What an excellent sighting and thank you for sharing with us. Hopefully you'll have another family this year!
Hugs C

Anonymous said...

How wonderful! I love red crossbills. We saw them three times when we were still up in Washington. I photographed one at our feeder before I even knew what it was. They are one of my favorites. Lucky you!!!

Arkansas Patti said...

How neat. Those are new to me and are so colorful. Great shots.

Berts Blog said...

WE will keep our paws crossed that they may ssurprise you and stay around this summer. What a joy that would be.

Busy Bee Suz said...

Oh my...aren't they gorgeous?? So glad you at least got to enjoy them for a little while!

Folkways Note Book said...

I know of cross-bills but have never had had the experience of actually seeing them in real life. What an experience that must have been for you both. Thanks for the nice photo. -- barbara

George said...

It's wonderful that this pair of Red Crossbills made at least a visit to your feeder. We've never seen them around here.

Tipper said...

Wow-just great shots of the birds!

Melissa Weisbard said...

Great photos! I love birdwatching too. I'm not great at identifying them all. I'll have to take some photos and look them up.

animal lover, quilt lover said...

Maybe the female was born there and brought her mate back to have her babies there.
Love the pictures.
Thanks for your visit!!

NCmountainwoman said...

Thanks for your comments, everyone.

Cheryl - No, it is not weather related. It is the nature of our pines to have fewer cones some years as opposed to others.

kks - I am watching closely. I voted early this year to try to defeat the ammendment taking civil rights against same-sex unions. Didn't want to take a chance I might not make it on election day.

Madi and Mom - There are Red Crossbills around Mt. Mitchell year round, but they are rarely seen in our area.

Fern - Unfortunately the crossbills moved on. Not surprising since we don't have a lot of pine cones this year.

Vicki Lane said...

I've never seen one of these -- how cool!