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Red Crossbills



I joined the hordes of leaf peepers on the Blue Ridge Parkway on this 
absolutely gorgeous fall day and drove up to the Bald Knob Ridge trail just 
past Mount Mitchell.  The trail is high elevation spruce/fir with the 
associated bird species.  There were lots of busy RB Nuthatches, GC Kinglets, 
and Brown Creepers, but the best bunch was a flock of about a dozen Red 
Crossbills munching on something in the top of a fat snag about 30 feet from 
the trail.  there were a couple of adult males and three or four females and 
the rest were streaky juveniles.  It's not the usual time of year that I see 
Crossbills, but then maybe I just don't normally look for them at this time of 
year.  Anyway, it was nice to see them so close and see them with juveniles, 
which I'm assuming means they probably nested somewhere in the Black 
Mountains.  I guess.  
Thanks A, you're right, it's a gorgeous trail.  Still had some gentian 
blooming there, too.
Marilyn

Marilyn Westphal
Environmental Quality Institute
University of North Carolina-Asheville
One University Heights
Asheville, NC  28804
828/251-6823
mjwestphal@unca.edu