Crossbills are very common through the Lower Columbia Region.
I have recorded them for every month on the Breaker Lake
census at Long Beach and they are recorded in most years on
the Leadbetter Point Count.

What is less usual is having them at feeders on the coast.
I can't exactly prove it, but I suspect this has to do with
crossbill type. The common crossbill on the coast is the
type-3 Sitka Crossbill which is also the smallest. The only
crossbills that ever came to the feeders at Astoria High
School were one of the large types (probably type-4 based
on listening to tapes) and these only in irruptive years.
This was an irruptive year for larger crossbills along the
coast. The crossbills coming to a Seaside feeder this year
a of one of the bigger types. My guess is the ones coming
to the Ocean Park feeder are also bigger ones and part of
the irruption.

--
Mike Patterson
Astoria, OR
celata at pacifier.com

If you want to end war and stuff, you've got to sing loud
- Arlo Guthrie