4 out of 4

A grey day with temperatures over zero but no rain and no fog. I headed for Lillomarka again hoping to reconnect with some of the exciting species I had there last week. Today I added a new species to the list with a Hazel Grouse. This bird was in an area I have walked past thinking was ideal for the species and today I had it singing and saw it briefly in flight a few times but it can’t be classified as a cooperative individual. I also had Pine Grosbeak giving me sightings on all four of my visits. I had a single noisy bird today (seems to be the case that lonely single birds make quite a bit of noise but flocks remain mostly silent). I saw the bird once and heard it (or I at least assume was the same bird) a couple more times over the course of half an hour or so. I also had a noisy bird flying over me a kilometre away when I was walking back to the car which could possibly have been the same individual. No Three-toed Woodpecker today but a Black Woodpecker was feeding in the same place and gave me unusually good views.

In Maridalen the Scaup and Great Grey Shrike showed as well as a single newly arrived Whooper Swan on the lake. I didn’t find the Hawk Owl in Sørkedalen but it was seen over the weekend.

The poor light again made taking photos challenging but videos were OK.

view from Lillomarka (where the grosbeaks are) towards NE Oslo

Pine Grosbeak (konglebit)

Black Woodpecker (svartspett). Note the two very broad shafts to the tail feathers which it actively uses to hold itself steady when banging away

The Scaup (bergand) and Tufted Duck (toppand) still on Maridalsvannet