All quiet on the northern front

A light northerly wind today made it bitterly cold and temperatures were still -5C at midday despite the sun shining strongly. A very brief visit to Fornebu revealed the Long-tailed Ducks (havelle) to still be present but no sign of Twite (bergirisk).

I have been asked to help with the filming of a music video where they need footage of a large flock of birds ideally flying out of a tree – not the easiest of tasks in the middle of a very cold March in Oslo when there is hardly a passerine to find but I will do the best I can.

This afternoon was spent working on a review of Norwegian records of spring/summer male Siberian Stonechats (Saxicola maurus). I really do hope that race stejnegeri remains just that and is not split into a full species as I’ve no idea, based on current knowledge, if it will be possible to separate these from maurus in the field.

No photos from me to adorn these pages today but here is a link to a fantastic picture of a Pygmy Owl (spurveugle). It is only when you see the head of the female House Sparrow (gråspurv) in its talons that one appreciates quite how small this owl is. This is a bird that is clearly aptly named both in English and Norwegian.