Crossbills at a drinking pool.

A small drinking pool that I created on the edge of some conifers close to home has become just as productive as I hoped this last few days.  Siskins drink from it constantly, Stonechats come to bathe and a few Lesser Redpoll are often there as well. However, it was created with Crossbills in mind and this last week it has been very fruitful.  We have had a spell of very dry weather with hardly any rain for a few weeks and water is probably in short supply elsewhere. This is exactly what I hoped for.  There is a pattern and the first Crossbills arrive between 1020 and midday. I would suspect that at dawn there is a small amount of dew on the leaves high in the canopy and the birds take advantage of that. Around the pool, there are some upright branches and usually, the Crossbills that come down alight on one of these to choose a safe spot to drink from. It is thrilling when one flies in, they are often brightly coloured, either red or yellow chunky birds with very noticeably strong legs and feet. They seem big, almost twice the size of a Siskin for example and of course, they have an enormous beak which crosses at the tip either left over right or right over left, there is no pattern to this.  Some birds can be quite drab because they get more colourful as they get older. This makes them very interesting because you can recognise certain individuals by their markings. A female bird has been down to drink most days, she is very attractive with a bright yellow rump. Yesterday, two different red males came down, separated by around 20 minutes so I am assuming that this was two family groups. I am looking forward to seeing more and more of them and getting the chance to take even more pictures.