Dipping

Looks like 2014 is going to be a bad year for me and Dotterel (boltit). After seeing a report of 4 near Ås in Akershus I decided to have a go as this would be an Akershus tick. Unfortunately I was unable to locate them although did see 51 Golden Plover (heilo). That would have been OK were it not for the fact that I later saw Rune had been there just 10 min before me and seen 2 Dotterel - I am clearly losing my touch. I also failed to add Brent Goose (ringgås) to my Oslo list with a bird seen at Østensjøvannet yesterday seeming to have moved on today although I’m sure I’ll see a report of it later today..... But that was how the birding day ended. It started much better.

No pre breakfast trip today but a visit to Maridalen right after breakfast was saved by a flock of 9 Golden Plover heading north. It was raining as it had been overnight but this failed to cause a big, or indeed any, fall of migrants although 3 Whinchat (buskskvett) and 2 Wheatear (steinskvett) were a marginal increase from yesterday.

Svellet though delivered as expected. Greenshanks (gluttsnipe) are now on the way down but Wood Sandpipers (grønnstilk) are increasing and have become the commonest wader with 350 compared to 207 Greenshank. 10 male and 4 female Ruff (brushane) provided some excitement when three of the males started lekking for the attention of 2 of the females. Lekking Ruff are a great sight and it would have been great if they were not at telescope range. Still 3 Spotted Redshank (sotsnipe), 35 Redhsank (rødstilk) and 7 Bar-tailed Godwits (lappspove) which were all females rather than the brick red males which predominated last week and new in were 4 Temminck’s Stint. Only 3 Ringed Plovers (sandlo) and a single Dunlin (myrsnipe) were disappointing. There were a few hundred Swallows hawking for insects low over the water in the drizzle and I scanned them hoping, in vain, for Black Tern or Little Gull but three Arctic Terns (rødnebbterne) weren’t too bad.

Whilst goose searching at Østensjøvannet I had my first Swifts (tårnseiler) of the year with 14 amongst a few hundered Swallows (låvesvale)  and House Martins (taksvale) plus some photogenic Common Terns (makrellterne).

Common Tern - not so easy standing on small poles

this female Mallard (stokkand) with day old young was at Maridalen and I had another female with equally small young at Årungen