OSLO BIRDER: Maridalen in the fog

After having a couple of good drive-by birds in Maridalen yesterday I decided to invest a bit more time on the patch and do a walk-by. It would probably have been a good idea to wait for a day without fog and visibility over 100 metres but He Who Dares Wins….

There was predictably little to see and also little to hear. Common Crossbills were to be heard all the time although little song in the dull conditions today. This winter must be the best I have experienced for Common Crossbills and I would imagine that most of the Fenno Scandinavian population will breed in Southern Norway this year.

I came across a flock of 12 Long-tailed Tits in a dark forest which lightened things up a bit and the Great Grey Shrike was searching for rodents from the telegraph wires that it favoured earlier in the winter but on which I have not seen it since long before xmas (the snow has melted away in many places so it may mean that old hunting grounds have again become favourable).

The garden is now almost completely devoid of birds which must have other causes than simply the occasional fatal visit from a Sparrowhawk.