Please add Athens County to the list for White-winged Crossbill sightings
this season!  

During the last week or so I've heard what I suspected to be their flight
calls when I've been out walking during my lunch break, but having only ever
heard the call via recordings (not in real life), I was hesitant to identify
them strictly by ear.  Today I decided to check one of the cemeteries in
town, which is practically a stone's throw away from where I work, and lo
and behold, they were there.  My ears had not deceived me!  Looking back on
the experience, it was as if I was drawn like a magnet straight to the
hemlock where they were foraging.  I was expecting to find them in the tree
tops, so that's where in the trees I was looking for movement from afar.  As
I approached the hemlock, I could hear the splitting of cones, and it didn't
take much effort to locate them visually, as they were right at eye level. 
I counted 6 individual birds, both male and female.  A little while after
the initial sighting something startled them out of the tree, and I estimate
the size of the flock that flew out at around 15 individuals.  They flew off
into the top of another very tall conifer that I was not able to identify by
species.

I checked the same tree again after work, but they were not present there,
nor anywhere else in the cemetery that I checked.  However, a small flock of
Dark-eyed Juncos did come into the tree.  Since I have heard them on more
than one occasion, I have no doubt that they will be around for at least a
little while longer.

The location was Athens Cemetery, which is at the intersection of West Union
St and South Shafer St in Athens. 

Other birds of note during my quick visits there today: a Yellow-bellied
Sapsacker landed in an ornamental conifer that I couldn't identify (sorry,
I'm not great with trees), which is obviously a reliable tree for this
woodpecker, as there were a number of sap well lines drilled in a portion of
the trunk; also, a Cooper's Hawk flew the length of the cemetery this
evening, causing a bit of a stir among a large gathering of starlings;
finally, a small "flock" of Killdeer flew overhead, headed (presumably) for
the Hocking River.

Good birding,
Heather Aubke
Albany, OH (Athens County)

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