Maridalen

Yesterday’s snow has already melted but it was cold and unpleasant today and there was only a slight increase in bird activity. I kept things local with just a short trip up into Maridalen. A pair of Snow Buntings that flew in to the fields by Kirkeby were the undoubted highlight but they flew off again before I could get any pictures. The Whooper Swan flock had increased to 8 birds but the new pair did not seem to be welcomed and were chased off.

I had a couple of Black Woodpeckers that were drumming and making a lot of noise and it will be nice to follow these through the breeding season. I also had a calling flyover Common Crossbill which is my first of the year in Oslo. There were actually a few spruce trees here with cones on so maybe they could hang around and breed.

With the cold weather red squirrels were again using the feeding stations

as was this male Bullfinch (dompap)

and these 3 Hawfinches (kjernebiter) which were part of a group f 9

 

 Also a couple of pictures from a second trip I took up into Maridalen yesterday afternoon when the snow was thick on the fields and the trees.

MistleThrush (duetrost)

Roe deer (rådyr)