Crazy birding!

 Yesterday a birder discovered a rare Clark's Nutcracker in Alpine not too far from our home here. Although I rushed over there to look for it, by the time I had learned about it, it was probably through feeding for the day.

So, at daylight this morning, as the moon was setting, I staked out where it had been reported. Other birders, including Dale, began showing up and looked elsewhere. The more eyes spread around, the better the chances. In 30 minutes to an hour, to my astonishment, it landed on a high wire not far from where I was sitting in my car. The temperature was freezing. I was so excited that I fumbled quite a bit with my esoterical phone before I got hold of Dale. By then the bird had hopped down along the fence where it had been seen yesterday. Dale spread the word and within a couple of minutes birders were photographing the object of our pursuit.

I went back to our house to warm up and eat something, then headed back. The observers said it had flown across the golf course, so I drove over there. Dale joined me. Soon she spotted the bird in the grass. Word spread and others arrived. (Cell phones and social media make birding so much more fun!)

Finally I went back to our house to get on with my daily tasks when one of the birders called me that there were Red Crossbills and Cassin's Finches at the cemetery. Not new species for me, or even new county ticks, but as many times as I've checked the cemetery for rare birds, in vain, I couldn't resist actually see what good birds there would look like. So I headed out again.

With help from a birder there I soon located both species. There were other good ones there, I later learned, that I missed. The miss I hated most was a Harris Hawk. When I get back to town after servicing feeders and watering tomorrow, I'll be in pursuit of it.

Female Red Crossbill

Male Cassin's Finch