An Unusual Visitor

On Wednesday I set up my blind to photograph the birds in our backyard. I took several photos of what I thought was a sparrow. But when I looked at the LCD monitor of my camera I noticed that it had a crossbill; its upper bill was longer than the lower bill and its tail was very long. We consulted our birding guides and websites and came to the conclusion that it was probably a juvenile white-winged crossbill, a very rare visitor in our parts. I'm now waiting to have my sighting confirmed. During spring migration we often see birds that we don't observe for the rest of the year. But this bird is truly a life list bird.