More enucleators

I returned to Summerhill this morning after seeing Pine Grosbeaks there yesterday, with hopes of seeing my life White-winged Crossbills and longer looks at Redpolls. Summerhill did not disappoint. Yesterday, blaze-orange hunters outnumbered birders. After finding the Pinicola yesterday, this morning birders outnumbered hunters with over 20 binocular-bearers plying the dirt lanes in the cold forest. We went for several hours with only the ever-growing numbers of Evening Grosbeaks, a few flyover Crossbills (several of them likely White-wings, a major torment of mine), and two different sightings of Goshawk blitzing across the road's gap in the forest (another miss for me). Rough-legged Hawks, Northern Shrikes, and a flock of Horned Larks and Snow Buntings were seen in the farmland around the woods by myself and others.


It wasn't until later in the morning that the birders found the Pine Grosbeaks being somewhat quiet, feeding on the Spruces and in an open shrub patch feeding on Winterberries (Ilex verticillata). They demonstrated their species name, enucleator, by enucleating the seed centers from berries.

Enucleating! (Following three photos by Shawn Billerman)

So I ended up not yet seeing White-winged Crossbill, but we finished the day by finding a reported flock of Common Redpolls on the way home, totaling near 60 and feasting heavily on Birch seeds - one of their preferred foods and a good way to search for them.