Subject: White-winged Crossbill heads-up!
Date: Aug 4 07:48:24 1999
From: WAYNE WEBER - WAYNE_WEBER at bc.sympatico.ca


Dear Scott and Tweeters:

Last Sunday, August 1, I clearly heard a WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL
flying overhead while I was out in a ball field playing "catch" with
my son. The locality was at Heath Elementary School on 72nd Avenue in
North Delta, a suburb of Vancouver, B.C., The sighting was reported to
the Vancouver RBA and should be on the tape at (604) 737-3074.
The same day, August 1, I observed at least 15 Red Crossbills (of
the "Sitka" form, by their calls) at Rice Lake in North Vancouver.
"One swallow does not a summer make", as the old saying goes, and
two White-winged Crossbills, at localities 150 miles apart, do not
necessarily foreshadow an invasion. However, Scott is right to
encourage observers to keep alert for White-winged Crossbills-- and, I
may add, not just in the mountains. In the past, I have often observed
that White-winged Crossbill influxes occur at the same time as even
larger influxes of Red Crossbills. We appear to be having a Red
Crossbill influx now. White-winged Crossbills are often seen only in
distant overflight, or (as with my bird) heard but not seen at all. It
really helps to know the calls of this bird. And yes, they are far
more likely to be seen in the mountains. Most Vancouver area records
of White-winged Crossbills are from North and West Vancouver, in
places like Cypress Provincial Park. The crossbill I heard on Aug. 1
was only my second record of White-winged Crossbill in Delta.
Keep your eyes (and ears) peeled, Tweeters-- it will be
interesting to see if a White-winged Crossbill invasion develops this
year.

Wayne C. Weber
114-525 Dalgleish Drive
Kamloops, B.C. V2C 6E4
Phone: (250) 377-8865
wayne_weber at bc.sympatico.ca


-----Original Message-----
From: S. Downes <sdownes at u.washington.edu>
To: tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Date: Tuesday, August 03, 1999 6:32 PM
Subject: White-winged Crossbill heads-up!


>Tweets,
>I learned that about two weeks ago a first year male White-winged
>Crossbill was caught in a mist net at one of our sites in Redmond.
The ID
>in the hand is obviously clear to anybody with experience which the
person
>(my boss) had.
>This makes me wonder if we are not due for another invasion year...
Those
>heading up to the mountains may want to check out those X-bill flocks
a
>little more closely. The invasion year in 1997, I noted a white-wing
>female in the Big Four area on July 13th. This does make sense as I
have
>been having *a lot* of reds on point counts this year, so maybe its a
good
>crossbill year all around.
>
>Scott Downes
>sdownes at u.washington.edu
>Seattle WA
>
>"Birds don't read bird books. (That's why they are seen doing things
they
>are not supposed to do)." -Mary Wood
>
>