Yesterday afternoon I had a nice encounter with a small group of Common Crossbill. There were 5, one adult male and one female and what looked like 3 juveniles.  This looked to be a small family group and would mean that the pair may have bred very late in the year…..or very early in the season depending on how you want to look at it.   Of course, I can't be sure but it could be the case, they do breed when feeding conditions are right and for them, that is when there is an abundance of pine seeds to feed on.  They were at the top of a very high pine tree and seemed to be taking water from the wet foliage.   I have suspected that they do drink in this way but I have never read about this and a quick internet search drew a blank as well. 

This image seems to show the bird taking something from the needles as described.  The image below shows the small group.