[ogopogo]

are these Red Crossbills? first I've seen. a flock landed high in a Douglas Fir above Children's Playground in Beacon Hill Park at 1pm today. I thought they were just Finches. Might be lower tomorrow for good shots. see my distant attempts.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ogopogonat ... y/?saved=1

[StevenRoias]

Your Flickr photostream does appear to have three photos (uploaded on Jan 3rd) of Red Crossbill. Also, Crossbills are finches, just an FYI. Finches are a large and diverse family of passerines, featuring great variability in physical appearance, such as crossed bills. When you become a more experienced birder, you will learn that a finch is not just a finch, as such with other bird groups. A generic bird is somewhat of a summarized interpretation illustrating features commonly shared between species in a group of interest and placed on an imaginative outline, which in this case would be called a finch. I'm saying this to help you become a good observer and pay close attention to detail. With practice, you'll never see another little brown bird/job again.

Cheers,

[ogopogo]

thank-you Steven.