Great Skua

Since I posted last I have NOT seen a Mediterranean Gull despite others seeing one and myself trying hard. A 2cy bird (possibly 2 separate birds and quite possibly the same as I saw in Maridalen) has been seen various places out on the fjord and also in the city so has clearly not settled into a routine making it hard to find but also meaning that one should look at gulls no matter where one is. With luck it will spend the winter and should then become easier to locate.

I have seen a nice male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and a Kittiwake but the best birding was with Anders BS at Fornebu today. We had a long session there and hoped there would be some interesting passerines but latish Blackcap and Chiffchaff were the best we found. Eating our lunch overlooking the fjord paid dividends though. First a 1cy Arctic Tern flew past and then showed a couple of times later and then a Great Skua flew right over our heads. We picked it up a tad too late but luckily it then circled a bit at some range and allowed some OK photos to be taken. It was flying over land and we lost it possibly heading inland towards Maridalen!

a young Great Skua (storjo)

the back of a 1cy Arctic Tern (rødnebbterne)

this young Kittiwake (krykkje) was much braver than the nearby Herring Gulls (gråmåke) and went down to take the discarded fish inner

but then the brutes came

but he did manage to swallow the food

male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (dvergspett)