I was back in Oslo today and very keen to get out to Svellet and
Maridalen especially as reports yesterday showed wader numbers were building up
in Svellet. With easterly winds and rain and had huge (as usual…) expectations
for even more birds today but curiously there were if anything fewer than
yesterday but birds there were. Dabbling ducks are still numerous and alongside
560 Teal (krikkand) were 6 Shoveler (skjeand), 4 Pintail (stjertand), 7 Tufted
Duck (toppand), 4 Mallard (stokkand) and 3 Wigeon (brunnakke). Waders were at
some range but my approximate totals were: 80 Greenshank (gluttsnipe), 15 Wood
Sandpipers (grønnstilk), 8 Oystercatcher (tjeld), 3 Curlew (storspove), 1
Whimbrel (småspove) and best of all 2 male Ruff (brushane). Nearby Merkja held
3 Little Ringed Plovers (dverglo), 16 Wood Sandpipers and 4 Greenshank. The
water level is still low and things are now looking very good for the rest of
this week and next week when the large numbers of waders should be on the move
(weather conditions permitting).
In Maridalen there were no waders other than the local Lapwings (vipe)
and a Common Sandpiper (strandsnipe) and the only duck of interest was a single
female Common Scoter (svartand). Whilst I was in Jæren the Wryneck (vendehals) pair
returned to Maridalen and I was naturally very keen to see them. With the rain
I did not expect to find and definitely not hear them today but I chanced upon
one sitting in a tree close to a couple of old woodpecker holes so hopefully
there will be breeding this year.
At Østensjøvannet I hoped that the rain would have concentrated large
numbers of hirundines but there were only 20 or so with a single Sand Martin (sandsvale)
amongst them.
The national reporting system is being upgraded and will be down for
three days so we are entering a dark period and it will be exciting to see what
gets report for these three days when the system is up again. The system is
used by the majority of serious birders in Norway (although unfortunately not
all for reasons difficult to understand) and the database is now large enough
that it can be used to extract much interesting information. It also has great
reporting and validating tools which makes the work of the national and local
records committees so much easier (if they can be bothered to use it). The
upgrade will hopefully greatly improve the user interface and encourage even
more people to share their sightings and be part of a national database where
they records can have some value. We after all extremely lucky in Norway that
we have such a national reporting system. Here’s hoping!
My camera stayed safe and dry today but here are a few pictures fro
yesterday post by blog post. We birded our way to the airport and surpsiringly
found a small arrival of passerines in one small area. We had 4 Pied Flycatcher
(svarthvit fluesnapper), 3 fantastic male Redstarts (rødstjert), Blackcaps
(munk), Chiffchaff (gransanger), Willow Warblers (løvsanger) and a couple of
Whimbrels walking around under some bushes.
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| Redstart |
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| male Pied Flycatcher - the amount of brown in the primaries and mantle suggest a 2cy male |
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| a different male with dirtier underparts and also a lot of brown suggesting it is also a 2cy |
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| female Pied Flycatcher |
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| the two males together |
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| Whimbrel (småspove) |
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| showing the distinctive head pattern well |
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