A trip to Owl Rd with Jr after I had been informed of a new
site to try for GG paid off big time. It was once again a “perfect” night with
no clouds and no wind although this time there was no moon either. At a barmy
-2C it was also warm…
On the drive down Owl Rd we heard nothing of the GG. We (or
more accurately me as Jr doesn’t get out of the car to just hear
owls) did hear a single Tengmalm’s and
then of much more interest a hooting male Ural Owl. Although it was at looong
range it was a special bird for me as it represents a self found tick, an
Akershus county tick and the first time I heard song (my previous records have either
been nesting or winter birds).
The forests here are a southerly extension of the deep
forests of Hedmark where Norway's ca.25 pairs of Ural Owls breed and there are a couple of previous records of singing birds on the Akershus side of the county line. It has therefore always been a species
I have hoped to hear on my visits to the area so was very satisfying when it
finally happened.
On the way back the desired Great Grey sang and was right by
the road meaning Jr also got out of the car to enjoy him. It was in the same area as the bird I filmed last year so could well be the same
individual. There was nothing to suggest a pair but I will follow up.
As if that wasn’t enough, I then had the pleasure of
reacquainting myself with Hawkie in Maridalen who is now hunting from low
perches in open woodland which would explain why it has not been seen for a
while. I was lucky enough to see it catch a mouse/vole and then eat it.
As it that wasn’t enough a bit later an alarm calling
Crossbill alerted me to a Tawny Owl at is daytime roost high in a spruce. It
was close to a Goldeneye nestbox and I will have to follow up to see if there
are Tawnies nesting here although the hole looked a tad small.
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| Great Grey Owl (lappugle) |
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| Hawk Owl (haukugle) |
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| here he has just landed on the other side of the road with his prey |
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| by the time I had got a bit closer the head had been removed and swallowed |
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| then the inners get eaten |
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| before the rest is just swallowed |
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| ever get the feeling you are being watched? Tawny Owl (kattugle) |
A trip yesterday in very similar conditions revealed just one distant hooting Tengmalm's so it clearly isn't a great owl year any more. I have read that if the snow melts too quckly then this can cause a collapse in rodent populations that had been thriving under the snow and the snow did definitely melt quickly here at the end of February. Even if owls don't always play ball though there can be plenty of other things to see on a cloudless night in the forest. I have seen meteors burning through the sky and last night Jr and I saw this very strange sight which was apparently a string of US Starshield satellites launched by Space X from Californian the day before (Friday) and which are moving themselves into orbit. They moved through the sky in a straightline and were a definite a UFO until we heard about them on the radio a bit later (clearly lots of people had contacted the press about them).
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| we also had a good show of Northern Lights |
and a couple of still white Hares running along the road
