I was pleased to see a flock of about a dozen common crossbills very mobile on the plantation. They settled for a few minutes very high up on the very top of the pines where I watched them break the cones off the branches and take out the kernels with their powerful bills. I counted clearly 4 olive/yellow coloured females and 4 red/orange coloured males and 4 appeared to have no colour at all. I observed them with Tony Bridges. We both searched the plantation for about 3 hours and only really saw them once. We managed to get a few photo’s. hope you like the ones I took.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulcousins/45779875982/in/datetaken/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulcousins/45779879562/in/datetaken/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulcousins/45779871342/in/datetaken/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulcousins/45779877202/in/datetaken/
or you can see the photo’s on my Flickr site….......www.ukbirds.co.uk
Still present this morning. A flock of about 30 feeding on cones and moving about by clear fell in middle of the plantation.
Between 30 & 40 present today, although only seen in flight & half of them flew off to north whilst others circled back behind trees.
Mike
The track to the right Jeff (didn’t know there was one to the left, sorry!). Some really nice red males, and also very vocal, with their ‘chip-chipping’ heard long before I found them.
Hello Alex, just to clarify please, which of the two wide tracks, the one to the left, or the one to the right, of the car park as you face it from the road?
15-20 crossbills at Stockhill, lunchtime today. From the main open track up, halfway up on the left feeding in the tops of the heavily laden pine trees.