Having done a bit of reading about Crossbills recently, it appears that irruptions occur from May onwards and include juveniles hatched sometime between January and April ( a trap for the unwary who may think they are locally bred birds) BUT some of the birds do remain in the areas they've arrived in (eg Dovestones) and breed the following year. This suggests we could have breeding Crossbills at Dovestones this year.
So please, if you are going to Dovestones/Binn Green in the next couple of months, be on the lookout for Crossbills and note what they are doing in the way of breeding behaviour (singing, carrying nest material etc)
Apparently Common Crossbills prefer spruce cones.

-- Edited by Judith Smith at 13:53, 2009-02-14