 |
| autumn in Maridalen |
Birding was a good tonic today. Yesterday was cloudy in the morning and there were a lot of thrushes in the air. Today was clear blue skies and it was very quiet with presumably many birds having migrated during the night. I gave Fornebu another go hoping that I might get some photos of the Dick. That wasn't to be although an equally rare event was bumping into two birders of stature - a rare sighting indeed at Fornebu these days. There were some birds to be seen though with a flyover Lapland Bunting deciding to drop down just metres from me amongst a mixed group of finches. The finches were feeding in high weeds but I eventually got to grips with the bunting and managed a couple of pictures. Summer visitors consisted of a few Chichaffs and single Blackcap and Wheatear. I got to see a Water Rail distantly and had another calling. Possibly rarest bird of the day was a Bullfinch with a trumpet call (very much like a 2BC). There was a pair of Bullfinches and I couldn't ascertain if only one or both were giving the call but I did not hear any normal call. This trumpet call is supposed to signify an eastern origin. I have not noted any sign of an invasion of Bullfinches this year and if anything there are fewer than usual although I did hear a normal call in Maridalen later in the day.
I stopped in at Østendjøvannet hoping to get some better photos of the Little Grebe in much better light. One of them was feeding close to the path oblivious to non birders walking past but as soon as I stopped and pointed a big lens at it it got all nervous and made for the closest reeds.
Maridalen was exceptionally quiet with none of the migrating raptors I had hoped for. A Guillemot is surviving on the lake and a duck had me scratching my head: well marked young Tufted or poorly marked young Scaup. The birds jizz definitely suggested the later and after studying it I became happy it was a young Scaup and with a couple of grey feathers on the back and some greeny black coming through on the head a male. These young birds have much more black on the tip of the bill than is illustrated in the Collins Guide and are often a source of confusion. Edit: I am now not happy that it can be a Scaup with such a large black "nail" on the bill and it is either a hybrid or a Tufted Duck.
 |
| Lapland Bunting (lappspurv) |
 |
| Little Grebe (dvergdykker) |
 |
| female Blackcap (munk) at Fornebu |
 |
| Coot (sothøne) at Østensjøvannet |
 |
| Goldfinch (stillits) Fornebu |
 |
| Great Crested Grebes (toppdykker) are now in winter plumage but 3 pairs were displaying at Østensjøvannet perhaps as a result of the springlike weather |
 |
 |
| Water Rail (vannrikse) Fornebu |
 |
| a late Small Toroiseshell (neslesommerfugl) in Maridalen |
 |
| and a late Wheatear (steinskvett) at Fornebu |
No comments:
Post a Comment