Winter Finches in Lanark County

 February 3, 2024

We saw on a FB post that Mark Gawn had seen 43 Red Crossbills while out atlassing on Hwy 511 in Lanark County.  So we decided to venture out there to see if we could photograph any.

It was fairly quiet along Tatlock Road, but near the west end of it, we came upon a flock of about 30 Pine Siskins - the first we had seen this fall and winter.

We crept closer and closer without bothering them.  A couple of vehicles went by and they scattered, only to return soon afterwards.  Then, a pickup truck went by at high speed and struck and killed one of the siskins as it attempted to flee.  We will spare the readers the photo of the poor dead bird.

We turned on to Hwy 511 where Mark had seen many crossbills.  But we were not having any luck, so decided to turn down White Lake Road which was much quieter than the highway.  We went as far as we could, then turned around. On the way back we spotted a small flock of crossbills, both red and white-winged on the road. We got out and crept towards them, but only Red Crossbills stayed for photos.  We might have gotten even closer, but a truck came by and that was that.

We returned to Hwy 511 and drove to Calabogie without further sightings.

From there, we took Hwy 508 to Hwy 17, then on to home.  We were very pleased to get two kinds of winter finches and to have had a lovely drive in Lanark County.