At about 0830 this morning while walking along the field edge near the Van
Pelt House site (hill above and west of the Stone Bridge) we found a flock
of approximately 6 Red Crossbills creeping and feeding on cones in a stand
of Virginia Scrub Pine. The birds worked from tree to tree in the stand and
gradually moved east and south toward Rte. 29 moving into a second stand of
pines in the process. We watched them for over 15 minutes; moving along the
field edge in concert with the birds' movements. We eventually lost sight of
them as they flew toward Rte. 29. At least one bird was the reddish-pink
color of the adult; one had reddish color with distinct but faint wing bars
(which gave thought to a possible White-winged Crossbill, however, the bars
were not bright or large) and 1-2 were of the mustard yellow-greenish color
of immature birds. They actively fed hanging upside-down over the cones and
creeping around the cone surface. The crossed bill was not very visible -
however - they had longish bills in comparison to other finches. They were
completely silent during the time observed. PineWarblers were the only
other birds in the immediate area of the pines and there were several of
them - at least 2 singing males.
Also encountered on the Bull Run trail were:
1 pair of Barred Owls
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 2
Brown Creeper - 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 15
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 15
Pine Warbler - 6
Eastern Phoebe - 2
Eastern Towhee - 2
Eastern Meadowlark - 1 (in the field near the Van Pelt House site).
Glenn Koppel and Mary Alice Koeneke
14606 Stone Crossing Court
Centreville, VA 20120-2901
koppel@xxxxxxxxx
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