Black-throated Divers

After yesterday's rush things were very quiet today. I only paid a brief visit to Maridalen which was later in the day than yesterday’s visit but even so the reduction in birds was obvious. A Crane that spent a long time flying over the valley tried to land a couple of times and may well also briefly have succeeded. As far as I know there are no records of this species on the deck in Maridalen but with the annual increases in migrating birds plus the recent records suggesting breeding in Nordmarka it is surely only a matter of time before we get regular records of feeding birds although there is a lack of large fields which may be a limiting factor.

It was not just me who saw Kestrels yesterday and the records from the Artsobservasjoner reporting system show a big arrival occurred. Marsh Harriers also arrived in force yesterday and would be a nice species to see in the Dale. Today though I only one raptor: a Buzzard.

after the first Black-throated Diver (storlom) on Maridalsvannet yesterday there were three today

two soon flew off and this one came quite close but I struggled with exposure

this shows Kestrel (tårnfalk) observations in the last 4 weeks. Although there is always a surge in records at weekends it is clear that there was a significant arrival yesterday