Wyre Forest. January 11, 2014

I visited the Shropshire side of the Wyre Forest this afternoon looking for common crossbills (loxia curvirostra) which have been reported there recently.  The birds (flocks of up to 30) have been seen in the Postenplain area of the forest.  They have been feeding on the larch trees cones which are abundant in that area.

I managed to see a flock of about ten birds high up in the larches and spruce trees, but they are very flighty and mobile so only brief views were had.  But those views were worth it with the males in their red plumage and the females (or immature birds) greenish-yellow.  Of course, it's their name (and Latin name, see above) that draws you to them and makes them unique in the ornithological world. The mandibles cross at the end which enables them to extract the seeds from conifer cones. Crossbills are the only birds that are able to do that and so have a food source all to themselves.  Sometimes, though, there is a cone crop failure in Scandinavia and further east and birds then 'erupt' and move west and south in search of food.  That's what happened this winter and thousands of birds have been seen all over the country.

These enigmatic birds also have a distinct flight call.  To me it sounds like 'chip-chip', but to others it is a 'zip-zip' or 'glip-glip' call.  Unusually some of the birds were singing their high fluting and twittering song which is not unlike a greenfinch. Crossbills are one the earliest nesting birds and so their singing could be a indicative of that.

With those 'eruptions' also brings some of the rarer species and this year has been no exception.  Among the common crossbills in the Wyre  up to three two-barred crossbills have also been seen.  When they were first found in December I went to see them and managed brief but good views of one of them - a female.

As their names implies, they have two white wing bars which make them stand out from the common crossbills.  Even though I didn't see any this time they had been spotted by other birdwatchers earlier on in the day - early morning is probably the best time to see them.

Felled logs close to crossbill site.