Date: 8/3/26 12:15 pm From: weatherbird58 <weatherbird58...> Subject: [ia-bird] White-eyed Vireos & Red Crossbills - south of Boone
This morning I hiked over to the old pine plantation in the northeast portion of Ledges State Park in hopes of finding Red Crossbills. I did find 8 or more crossbills, moving around in the old pines from time to time, but I didn't see a whole lot of feeding on cones. Maybe the declining pines are holding the crossbills in my area.
I also spent quite a bit of time with at least two White-eyed Vireos! They were foraging and singing on-and-off in the multi-height thorny shrubs that mingle with the pines. Many areas are impenetrable. I recorded many Merlin audio files, and some videos that highlight the songs well but don't show the birds. Merlin never put an ID on the White-eyed Vireo for some reason. It's the classic up, down, up chortle. Some files even have both crossbills and White-eyed Vireos clearly identifiable at the same time, something of a double rarity here in Boone County!
Other birds were pretty quiet, with the exception of Catbirds and Pewees.
Please note, Ledges State Park is closed to vehicles and public access for the rest the August. That includes the campground and hiking trails. Roads and parking lots will be completely re-paved, with drainage improvements. The pine plantation is always a difficult place to get to and explore anyway, due to distance from parking, terrain and nasty vegetation.
