Firecrest

The Greenish Warbler of course topped things for me this spring and I don’t really think I gave it enough prominence in my blog posts but there was always so much else happening and lots of guiding. It has proven to be a popular bird though and lots of travelling birders have seen it although at times it has proven elusive and some have had to make a couple of trips before connecting. It was last reported on 21 June but is probably still there and taking in the harsh reality that its genes won’t get passed on this year.

The Greenish wasn’t the only exciting singing passerine in Oslo’s forests this spring. Red-breasted Flycatchers look they might be finally establishing themselves with multiple singing males recorded as well as breeding. The stories around the flycatchers are fascinating and will be the subject of a long blog post later in the year as well hopefully articles/academic notes! Exciting indeed.

But rarer than the flycatchers and the real subject of this post was a singing male Firecrest present from 17-20 May. I was lucky enough to be told about the bird as I had the time to follow up on and check its progress but news was not spread more widely so as to protect both this potential (first time Norway) breeder (it is expanding greatly in Sweden) and a wealth of other breeding birds in the area from undue pressure This may prove to be unpopular but Firecrest itself is likely to be on the verge of colonising Norway so with a little caution in the early years we could well find this species is widespread and more easily seen in not too long. In the UK it would be a no brainer (and you would be legally obliged) not to share news of such rare breeding birds but in Norway there is little tradition for such caution and legally definitely no requirement. Hopefully both these species will become regular breeders in the years to come and therefore easier to share news about and Greenish Warbler may well also establish itself despite still being a national rarity (just as Blyth’s Reed seems to be doing) and therefore also require protecting….

Photography in a dark, damp woodland was challenging but a Firecrest does rather light things up!

Firecrest (rødtoppfuglekonge). The orange and not red crest suggests a 2cy male