Red Crossbills (Type 1) on Prescott

Red Crossbill, Prescott Peninsula, July 7, 2013

Red Crossbill, Prescott Peninsula, July 7, 2013

Swamp Sparrow, Prescott Peninsula, July 7, 2013

I spent the first part of the morning on Prescott Peninsula conducting bird surveys of the various fields located there.  I managed to check several fields despite the large numbers of mosquitoes and deer flies that made just being outside the car an adventure all by itself!  Nothing too unusual with the fields but did confirm additional breeding by field habitat species.  The species of the day was at least two Red Crossbills that I found on the upper part of the peninsula and managed to get a couple of distant photos as well as a short video before they took off to parts unknown.  I will send the video off to Matt Young at Cornell to see what specific type of Red Crossbill was present today.  ** Matt Young has confirmed the type as Type 1** I have been trying to find this species on the peninsula again as I had them there in spring and other researchers had them there within the last month.  The species has bred here before and is likely doing so again.  The Prescott Peninsula is one of the only places in the state that Red Crossbills breed.

The only large mammal of the day was an adult Eastern Coyote seen from a distance.  No sign of the three pups I had here a few days ago.

Another Red Crossbill type confirmed

 

Red Crossbill Type 2, Prescott Peninsula, July 28, 2012

Red Crossbill Type 1, Prescott Peninsula, July 28, 2012

Red Crossbill Type 10, Quabbin Park, July 28, 2012

Another post on the ongoing incursion of Red Crossbills and the different ‘types’ involved.  As mentioned in previous post there are at least 10 recognized types of Red Crossbills that may indeed represent ten different species.  The only way to separate the different types involves getting a recording of the birds involved and analyzing the call by looking at sonograms and matching the call to correct sonogram that represents known types of Red Crossbills.  Matt Young at Cornell has been extremely helpful in doing this for me and will assist anyone else who records any Red Crossbills.  See the article regarding this at eBird:  http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/red-crossbill-types.  I recently (Nov 4) ran across additional Red Crossbills at Quabbin Park and after analysis by Matt Young at Cornell the bird recorded turned out to be a ‘Type 10” Red Crossbill.  I have now recorded Types 1,2 and 10 at various points at Quabbin this year.  I have oddly not come across any Type 3 yet even though they are a major part of the current incursion and have been recorded in the area by others.  Additional postings on Red Crossbills and their call types can be found here: 

http://quabbinbirdingandbeyond.blogspot.com/2012/08/red-crossbill-type-determined.html

http://quabbinbirdingandbeyond.blogspot.com/2012/09/red-breasted-nuthatch-and-red-crossbill.html

I initially ran across Type 2’s in July and August, Type 1’s in September and now Type 10’s in November.  Given the number of reports of Type 3’s in the area I am bound to run across some of these eventually too.   I have included examples of each call type that I have recorded so far this year.

Winsor Dam at dawn, Nov 8, 2012

Quabbin camera view of Winsor Dam area midday (lots of white caps!), Nov 8, 2012

Satellite image of nor'easter, Nov 8, 2012

In addition I stopped by Winsor Dam briefly on the way to work in the hopes of running across something of interest that was brought in with the latest bout of strong winds.  The conditions on the reservoir resembled the ocean with white caps limiting visibility.  The winds were near constant at 15-20 with gusts into the 30’s with a temperature around freezing which made for some difficult and uncomfortable viewing conditions.  I was able to see a dozen plus gulls that all appeared to be Ring billed Gulls as well as a distant Bald Eagle.  I was unable to find any waterfowl or anything more unusual brought in by the latest storm.

Red Crossbills Type 1 at Quabbin over the weekend

 

Red Crossbills (Type 1), Prescott Peninsula, MA, Sept 1, 2012

I just got back an email from Matt Young at Cornell regarding my latest recordings of Red Crossbills obtained on Saturday.  This time all the birds recorded were Type 1.  During my last trip into Prescott in mid August the birds found were all Type 2.  The odd part is that it appears that the majority of birds invading the northeast are actually Type 3 birds but I have not found any of those as of yet.  It will be interesting to see how the remainder of the season works out with this influx and the various types that are involved.  Once again I encourage anyone who comes across any crossbills to record them so an analysis can be done to find out exactly what specific type of Red Crossbill is present.  I will see if I can add some audio tracks of these birds later.