Red Crossbills

[mbrager]

At first I thought these little birds around the spruce tree I was standing near were Pine Grosbeaks, because they were reddish and greenish. But when I looked the Grosbeaks up in my bird book, these were far too small. A further search, and a closer look at the beaks on my photos, confirmed they are Red Crossbills. If you look closely you can see the beaks are crossed, the better to get the seeds out of the cones they feed on. These are all very heavily cropped, even though I was using my 70-200mm lens.

1.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8049/8421953629_2a28f56dd5.jpg

2.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8220/8423048090_8c13ef71ce.jpg

3.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8221/8421951433_0fb0a62c2a.jpg

4.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8071/8421951083_56bb89fab4.jpg

[Hillbillygirl]

Those are so cool MBrager. Like that female hiding in amongst the cones in last one.

[Marko]

Very beautiful and 'Christmasy' looking!

[Lungelarry]

Well done......:clap:

[aubintbay]

Very nicely done!!

[asnow]

It does have that Chrismasy look. I like the last one with the camouflage action.

[Runmonty]

Lovely colour contrast. My first thought was Christmas when I saw these. Nice set.

[JAS_Photo]

Very well done! Really gives a nice feel of winter and the birds are nice and sharp even with the crop. :)

[casil403]

Great set...these definitly have a Holiday feel...I'd be turning them into cards for next year!

[Bambi]

great christmas card potential. But terrific even if you don't use them that way