Siberian Jay

One bird I don’t see enough of is Siberian Jay (lavskrike). It occurs in much of mid and northern Norway even occurring only an hours drive from Oslo but is never an easy bird to find, living as it does in very low densities in often remote forest areas. When you do find them though they can be very confiding, even taking food from the hand, although they often just disappear into the forest after a couple of minutes once there curiosity has been fulfilled.

The forests below Beitostølen have always looked very good for this species but when we are here in the summer my focus is normally on and above the treeline. Today however we climbed a lower peak which took us through nice forest. On the way up Redstart, Kestrel, Ring Ouzel, a high-up Lesser Whitethroat, some fly lover crossbills that sounded very much as though they should have wingbars and many Willow Warblers were the only birds we noted. On our way down though we heard a real commotion in front of us where the girls we walking and weren’t at first sure what the noise was. It soon clicked though it was a group of Sibe Jays and they were flying around the girls (who quite incredibly were unaware of this before I pointed it out to them). The birds then showed very well for about 4 minutes and responded very well to pishing before melting away.

Soon after this an angry Ring Ouzel was evidence of a nearby nest or youngsters but we had no other interesting birds to add to our exciting Siberian encounter.

I was carrying my old Sigma 70-300mm lens which I must rate as the best value lens on the market and is so easy to carry on walks.

 

this bird with a tatty tail is probably an adult

the fresher plumage of this bird suggests a youngster

the worn plumage suggest another adult