Photo shoot - White-winged Crossbill

Back in late September on the Moosonee trip with Alan Wormington and Jeremy Bensette, we had a great opportunity to get some killer looks at White-winged Crossbills. Crossbills are notoriously hard to see well - most observations involve black specks flying against an overcast sky, with a few "jit jit jit" calls the only clue to the identity of the birds. Occasionally, if you get lucky, you may get some half-assed looks at a flock foraging on cones at the very top of a Spruce tree.

As we were walking down the railroad tracks just out of town, I stopped suddenly, noticing movement in a shrub a few feet off of the ground. Given the odd location, it took my brain a few seconds for it to register that this was a female White-winged Crossbill! A second later, Alan noticed a male on the tracks, only a few meters from our feet! Though the lighting was kind of dark and dreary, we were able to get some awesome looks and photos.