Treecreeper and Firecrest

Yesterday offered blue skies and sun and I hoped a chance to enjoy the Firecrest in good light. I was clearly not alone in that thought and when I arrived the bird had already been seen which at least meant that I didn’t need to spend too much time searching for it. The bird eventually showed very well and was feeding high up in some small pine trees and calling frequently which was very different behaviour to my previous observations. I believe that this difference in behaviour was driven by the sunlight which was making small insects easier to find in the pines. It was in constant movement and could be frequently seen grabbing microscopic food items. It moved around quite a lot and at one stage was together with a Goldcrest. These two birds were chasing each other around although I couldn’t work out who was the chaser and who was the chase.

The bird made a variety of calls today but only on a couple of occasions did I hear the characteristic call which attracted me to the bird when I found it last week. Otherwise it was making calls very similar to Goldcrest and also Treecreeper. Indeed, it was in the same vicinity as a Treecreeper for a while and I found it difficult to separating the quite contact calls of both birds.

Firecrest (rødtoppfuglekonge) in sunlight although it was cold (-5C)

with a tiny food item - maybe an incest egg

an unusually trusting Treecreeper (trekryper)