Crossbills in the Willow

Three Red Crossbills were photographed at the beginning of January from the Willow Park district in southeast Calgary by a teenage participant in the Birds Calgary 2010 competition. The most recent sighting was of five crossbills, including at least one male, observed yesterday afternoon. This species is the scarcer of the crossbills in the Calgary region, and is very rarely reported within the city, so I decided to make an attempt to locate them today. Fortunately, Willow Park is only a short distance from my house - I even briefly considered walking instead of biking. The community was developed in the 1960s, during one of Calgary’s many booms. Saplings planted by new homeowners five decades ago have now grown and matured, attracting numerous species of wildlife. Securing my bike at the nearby public library, I walked over to where the crossbills were last reported, hearing a distant flock White-winged Crossbills along the way.

Walking around the neighbourhood, I noted that several of the Blue and White Spruce had significant cone crops, a positive sign when looking for crossbills. Numerous species were seen and heard while walking the maze of streets and alleys, including large flocks of Bohemian Waxwings, Pine Siskins, and Common Redpolls. I heard distant crossbills several times, but they would be gone by the time I made it to where they were calling from. After almost three hours of walking I was becoming tired and frustrated. I was slowly making my way back to the bike when I spotted a crossbill calling from atop a tall spruce. Getting my binoculars on the bird, I quickly realized I was watching a female Red Crossbill! Several other crossbills were calling and singing from surrounding trees, the majority were White-winged Crossbills, but there were at least two additional Red Crossbills. A magpie flew into a nearby poplar to investigate the noise and commotion, scattering the crossbills. Famished and cold, I quickly headed over to Southcentre Mall to warm up and get something to eat, before heading home.