I received at least three separate secondhand reports of between 15-20 White-winged Crossbills at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, foraging on hemlocks located at the Japanese Garden's Celebrity path adjacent to the entrances of the Fragrance and Shakespeare Garden sections. Along the main road north from the conservatory ,Look for a small sign that say "Whats in a Name" where the hemlocks are. I heard the Xbills have been coming and going alot from middle morning to early afternoon. Also, during winter on weekdays, the garden is free entry. map in http://www.bbg.org/
or see this link (look for blue icon) http://tinyurl.com/dlskqo
Peter
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From Rafael's post to Ebirds Listerve:
After receiving a text message from Peter Dorosh with the news of WW Xbills at BBG, I packed my binoculars, and rushed there.I met there Shane Blodgett & Rob Bate. They told me about the Xbills, but after a while, no luck.I went to the other side of the frozen pond, and heard bird calls that I never heard before. And, at the top of one of the evergreen trees around the pond, 1 female White-winged Crossbill. Few minutes later, with Shane & Rob, we saw a flock of about 12, flying around the Japanese section, perching briefly around the treetops, and finally they flew over the Brooklyn Museum building. Time: 1400-1430 hrs. Date: 04 February 2009.This is the first time I see this species in NY state (seen before in CT -1997- & Finland -2005-).Other sps recorded while I was at BBG were: Red-tailed Hawk; Carolina Wren; Tufted Titmouse; Blue Jay; American Robin, & White-throated Sparrow.Brooklyn is good birding: Rafa Campos R
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from Alex Wilson:
As has been reported, WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS were present again today at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, favoring a hemlock grove at the foot of the Celebrity Path, just across from the Fragrance Garden. They’ve been seen in the same spot on at least four days since 1/25, but may require some patience. None were in evidence when I arrived at 11:40 and after about 20 minutes I started to wander up the path until a chattering from the hemlock tops drew me back. I had only brief looks at a couple of birds before the whole flock of 15+ flew out, heading north, then reappearing a few moments later going southwest. I waited almost an hour before they returned (assuming they were the same birds,) moving between the hemlocks and a large, cone-laden pine above the Shakespeare Garden.
Good birding,Alex WilsonBrooklyn, NY
Location: Prospect Park
Observation date: 2/4/09
Number of species: 40
Canada Goose X
Mute Swan X
American Black Duck X
Mallard X
Northern Shoveler X
Common Merganser 3 (3 drakes, Lake.)
Ruddy Duck X
Red-tailed Hawk 3
Merlin 1
American Coot X
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull X
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Red-bellied Woodpecker X
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Downy Woodpecker X
Hairy Woodpecker X
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Black-capped Chickadee X
Tufted Titmouse X
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1 (Breeze Hill feeders.)
White-breasted Nuthatch X
Brown Creeper 3
Carolina Wren X
Winter Wren 1
American Robin X
Northern Mockingbird X
European Starling X
Fox Sparrow (Red) X
Song Sparrow X
Swamp Sparrow 2
White-throated Sparrow X
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) X
Northern Cardinal X
House Finch X
American Goldfinch X
House Sparrow X
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
