Kingfisher & 3 x Crossbills

Yesterday there was finally some wind from the south and although I knew it was not enough wind to result in any serious movement of seabirds I had to get my sea gazing boots on and headed for Krokstrand. There were no shearwaters, no petrels, no skuas, not even a single Gannet, Fulmar or Kittiwake but there were some auks and I saw my first Little Auks of the year. They were actually the most numerous auk with 30 heading north an 4 heading south. The smaller numbers of Guillemots and Razorbills that I saw were either heading south or sat on the sea so the behaviour of the Little Auks was noticeably different.

Back home in the afternoon I was preparing dinner when a phone call got me to drop everything. Nothing that year but a Kingfisher in Maridalen is nothing to be sniffed at. It took me less than 15 minutes from the call until I was watching the bird and it was a joy to see and we even watched it catch a fish. The distance was too far and the light definitely too bad for any good photos but it was as always a privilege to watch this species in action.

Today was a windless day and sun was forecast so I had plans to hit the forest again first thing and then to enjoy the Kingfisher in good light. The forest was shrouded in mist when I arrived and at first was very quiet. Eventually though I had a lot of birds although I had no repeat encounter with Grosbeaks. Highlight was seeing, hearing and getting pictures of all three Crossbills species. Common Crossbills were by far the most numerous (at least 50 in the area but maybe twice as many) and were singing at the same time as I saw that there were birds still in juvenile plumage. I heard a few birds that I took to be Parrot (although telling them apart on call is a perilous exercise) and managed pictures of one male to confirm the ID. The “trumpet” call of Two-barred Crossbill is much easier to recognise although caution is needed here as well as I have previously documented Common Crossbill giving a very similar call. I was therefore very happy to see and get pictures of two different 2BCs which I first picked up on call. There are so many young pines cones on the trees that the Crossbills should stay the winter and breed and it will be interesting to see if it is only the Commons that breed or whether hopefully all three species do so.

My Kingfisher plans didn’t work out but some flycatching Waxwings were some compensation.

Little Auks (alkekonge) heading north. All the birds were in small groups with the largest 9 birds

a young male moose I saw on the drive home

Kingfisher (isfugl)

can you see it about to hit the water?

flying up with a fish

Common Crossbills (grankorsnebb), the bird on the left is streaked and is a juvenile

male Parrot Crossbill (furukorsnebb) - note the huge bill

Two-barred Crossbill (båndkorsnebb) - the wing bars make the ID easy but note also the small bill

another 2BC. The streaking on the breast suggests this is a young bird. Its wing bars were very difficult to see either due to angle ad other feathers covering them but it may also be moulting some of the feathers. Other features though are the small bill and the black around the bill and eye which it a feature I have noted on female 2BCs

Waxwing (sidensvans)

Goosander (laksand)