Brief stop at Spring Grove Cemetery after work from 4:03 - 4:35 p.



Brief stop at Spring Grove Cemetery after work from 4:03 - 4:35 p.m. I checked the most reliable 
section of the cemetery where I've consistently found winter finches 
over the years, that is, section 53. I checked hemlocks, pines and 
spruces. Several cones are ripe and filling out the trees. Finally, 
while scanning the tops of the trees, I saw movement and was ecstatic to find a lone male RED CROSSBILL feeding with 2 PINE SISKINS in the top 
of an eastern hemlock. The crossbill was silent when first found and 
viewed for about 10-15 minutes. As the sun was setting, and my angle of 
observation was analogous to almost experiencing "warbler-neck", 
identification of the crossbill to species was a bit difficult. The bird only showed its wings twice during the observation and both times I was able to see solid black wings with absolutely no wingbars. I always 
assumed that reds went for the larger cones and that white-wingeds 
preferred hemlocks over reds. Based on feeding preferences and hearing 
only two quick call notes (seemed sweet and maybe had a slight "ee" 
sound in the note, as perhaps "jleep" or "jlip") when it flew from the 
tree, I'm assuming this bird to be one of the smaller billed types. 
According to Sibley, Type 3 has the smallest bill, followed by types 1 
and 4 in increasing bill size. This bird's bill did not appear any 
larger than white-wingeds with which I am more familiar, but I did not 
have anything to compare it to for size other than the two pine siskins 
with which it was feeding at first (the siskins left the tree during the observation but the crossbill remained). (Note: This is my first Ohio 
Red Crossbill - I've seen reds in Tennessee and Indiana). 

Other sightings included a great blue heron oddly enough perched in 
the top of a pine tree and 2 red-breasted nuthatches, 1 brown creeper 
and 1 yb sapsucker heard in section 79. 
 
David A. Brinkman
Master of Education, Xavier University
Cincinnati, OH

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