Thought I'd better get some work done in the garden today ahead of what looks like a busy week in the field. I have been hearing crossbills occasionally in the mornings as we get into the car on the school run and it was nice to spend some time in the garden. It all paid off just after lunch when five crossbills sat up in some nearby spruce trees. I ran for the scope and the first bird I looked at was my first ever male two-barred crossbill. Red! The air was thick with expletives, what a bird! Two trees along a female. Superb and a mega garden tick. This invasion really is big.
For tea we all piled down for a BBQ at Ripagården, taking advantage of a complete lack of wind and fine, sunny weather. The obvious thing here was a huge flock of 220 siskins in the seeding spruce trees. A single common crossbill flew through and somewhere in the wood there was at least one crested tit. The flat calm sea revealed five guillemots and a 1K little gull.
Thomas Wallin worked BK during the day and reported a pallid/Monties ringtail and yet more two-barreds. I will be back out there tomorrow.
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