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Where are the Red Crossbills?



You know all those 30 Red Crossbills that people have reported from the Blue
Ridge Parkway between Balsam Gap and Mt. Mitchell SP?  Well, I have NOT seen
them.  I would love to see them.  May I ask two questions?  Are Red
Crossbills only active before 9:00 AM?  Do you have to listen for call notes
or flight notes in order to have a chance to see them?  How do you stop
safely on the BRP when you are driving through the watershed area where no
stopping is allowed?

On my last trip to Balsam Gap (6-19) I had to settle for a Ruffed Grouse (I
really am guessing here, but it was on the parkway and flew up to a tree and
I know it was some kind of quail or grouse about 10 miles N of the route 70
turnoff to Black Mt/Ashville).  But at the Balsam Gap parking area, I walked
south on a road that joined the Mt. to the Sea Trail and managed to see a
Veery and a Blackburnian Warbler.  This was a welcome addition to the
Golden-crowned Kinglet that I saw on the same trail on 6-2.

Last question, when do the warblers rap things up and disperse after rearing
the fledglings?

John Lindfors
mailto: JLindfors@msn.com
Hendersonville, North Carolina