Southey Crossbills

This was a great find by Richard Astle and an excellent target for a lunchtime dash with Weedon's World of Nature. We soon located the flock a little way along the main track just before the power lines. There looked to be eleven birds present and this was confirmed as they all flew off noisily towards the carpark where they gave excellent views.

These birds feed noisily in the tops of the pine trees but you may have to examine quite a few squirrels making a similar noise in the treetops before finally locating the 'bills.

The picture is a miracle of digiscoping in the dark against the sky: it hardly felt like it got light today. This shot of a male holding a cone in one foot and working it with its specially designed bill is the best I could manage.

There are now better pictures on Bogbumper.

Common Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra)

Digiscoped with Nikon Coolpix 995 handheld to 20x eyepiece of Leica APO77