So quiet

Some spring days just feel birdless and today was one of those. After getting a feeling over Easter that things were warming up I expected quite a bit from today but was to be very disappointed. An overnight frost and cloudless, windless skies in the morning seemed just to have encouraged birds to move on without depositing any new ones. Maridalen was extremely quiet with just three Black-throated Divers and only a handful of Goldeneyes on the lake although a repeat visit in the afternoon did give me the valleys first Osprey of the year.  I quickly decided to move onto Nordre Øyeren where at least there were birds to see. Highlights were a close hunting Osprey and my first Little Ringed Plover of the year. Svellet hosted a massive 437 Curlews but not a single other wader species. One noticeably things today was how empty the skies were with hardly an overflying bird to see or hear.

fishing Osprey (fiskeørn) 

Teals (krikkand) at Merkja. A pair of the Wigeon were the only other ducks of note