There is a large irruption of Red and White-winged Crossbills in the central Adirondacks this winter (many Red Crossbills and some White-winged Crossbills nested in late-summer, and many more White-winged Crossbills moved in by late Oct.). White-winged Crossbills began singing on New Year's Day! Red Crossbills are also singing. Crossbills are abundant from Long Lake (Hamilton Co.) east to Newcomb, Minerva, and North Hudson (Essex Co.). White-winged Crossbills are nesting at all 3 locations where I feed Canada Jays in Long Lake (1 location on Route 30 and 2 locations on Sabattis Road). Comically, when I whistle and call for the Canada Jays, the White-winged Crossbills respond with calling - and sometimes fly-in over me! There are remarkable numbers of Red Crossbills on North Point Road in Long Lake from the intersection with Forked Lake Road to the gate to Brandreth (about 8 miles). I traveled this road recently and had the window down - my quick trip turned into hours as I kept stopping to watch singing, calling, and gritting birds. There were also locations with singing White-winged Crossbills on that road. Red Crossbills are all along Sabattis Road, but most abundant from Little Tupper Lake to the north end of the road. Both species can also be found all along Route 30 in Long Lake, and there are many Red Crossbills on Route 28N between Long Lake and Newcomb.
I went "crossbilling" on Monday (1/24/22) in Newcomb and Minerva (very cold day). I never made it as far as North Hudson that day since I found so many birds in Newcomb-Minerva to observe! My favorite observation was watching mate feeding behavior in a pair of Red Crossbills at the intersection of Marcy Lane and Route 28N in Newcomb. I've photographed this behavior before - the male perches above the female and leans down to feed her. Sadly, I've observed a lot of dead crossbills in roads which is always a problem when they irrupt. A particularly heart-breaking observation that day was a male White-winged Crossbill on Tahawus Road in Newcomb that was just standing in the road (no gritting). I stopped my car and it continued to stand still and it kept leaning down to poke something next to it (mostly out of my view but I had a bad feeling). A truck came by in the other direction and the bird never moved. Eventually it flew off and I found a dead female White-winged Crossbill in the road. It was still warm (it was single digits out) so it must have been hit just before I arrived. I've observed Pine Siskins form a circle around a road-killed flock mate before, and it is interesting (& sad) to watch birds' reactions to loss. I found another dead bird a couple miles farther on - a female Red Crossbill. A plow came by shortly after. Plowing happens continuously, and I think about how many crossbills must be getting killed that I never see. So while these winters with crossbills are always exciting, they end up being heart-breaking at the same time. I can't think of any solution to this problem - people could drive slower and be more vigilant, but unfortunately that won't happen. The birds are mostly paired up now, which makes their road deaths even more disturbing. Crossbills spend a lot of time drinking water and they nest near areas with water. White-winged Crossbills are abundant near bogs, brooks, rivers, and marshy areas. I listened to 3 to 4 singing birds in a colony near a wet area on the Tahwaus Road on Monday - neat! I drove east as far as the Boreas River on Route 28N making lots of stops all along the road for crossbills. There was also a Black-backed Woodpecker at one of my stops. I traveled on the Tahawus Road to the end (the new trailhead location at Upper Works for the High Peaks). I took lots of side roads in Newcomb finding crossbills on every road. A Sharp-shinned Hawk flew at Red Crossbills gritting in Newcomb on Route 28N. (I've observed 3 different Sharp-shinned Hawks the past few days, and a birder in Long Lake texted me a photo of one with a Dark-eyed Junco (dead) at her feeders yesterday.) An adult Bald Eagle was soaring over Hyslop Marsh along Route 28N in Newcomb. I observed many mixed species flocks gritting - lots of Pine Siskins are hanging out with both crossbill species and there are Amer. Goldfinches and Purple Finches also. Four male Wild Turkeys crossed Tahawus Road - I'm not seeing many this winter. In good food winters they seem to disappear into the forest, and in bad food winters, we get 35 to 50 that winter outside our house. I've found Cedar Waxwing flocks in Long Lake, Newcomb, and Piercefield (on the Horseshoe Lake Road - over the line into St. Lawrence Co. - also Red Crossbills on this road). No Bohemians yet! There is a pair of Common Ravens near Sabattis Bog (they take the food I leave for Canada Jays after I drive away) and I observed mate-feeding on 1/24/22 (with the Canada Jay food!). I've been regularly seeing 10 Canada Jays this winter at my 3 stops. I'll report observations from Willsboro with my grandson in a separate post! Joan Joan Collins Adirondack Avian Expeditions & Workshops LLC Editor, New York Birders Long Lake, NY (315) 244-7127 cell (518) 624-5528 home http://www.adirondackavianexpeditions.com/ http://www.facebook.com/AdirondackAvian -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
