Getting my fix

Today I had the company of top Spanish birder, Fernando Arce, who is in Oslo for two years undertaking research at the University.

We headed for Østfold and on the way I tried to prepare him for how few birds we would see at the end of November in this part of town but I still think he was surprised by how few we saw! We did have some quality though.

The Moss Hawk Owl (haukugle) failed to show on the way out but on the way back we located it perched behind the warehouse buildings and enjoyed good views as it perched on the tallest tree in the neighbourhood. This bird appears a far more substantial bird than the one in Maridalen and I wonder if that is a sign that this bird has found a good supply of food (it has been around for nearly a month) whereas the Maridalen bird hadn’t.

Kurefjorden served up two Rough-legged Buzzards (fjellvåk) on the islands with both actively hunting by hovering. We also had a few Slavonian Grebes (horndykker), Velvet (sjøorre) and Common Scoters (svartand) but little else except for a roadside Great Grey Shrike (varsler) on the approach.

Returning to Oslo after a cold day in Østfold we just managed to squeeze in Maridalen before it got dark which these days is before 1530 even on a day like today with blue skies and sun. Still no sign of the Hawk Owl but four adult Whooper Swans (sangsvane) flew over and a big surprise was a Great Grey Shrike  – my first of the autumn here.

If you are tired of pictures of Hawk Owl then look away now....

for the first time I had sun light but the bird was more distant

fluffing

for what its worth....Great Grey Shrike (varsler) in Maridalen