Mjøsa, Vorma & Glomma

Anders and I did the Mjøsa, Vorma, Glomma winter trip again today. It was quite windy so there was no problem with mist this time, but the waves were rather on the large side meaning we could have still missed quite a lot. At Minnesund, highlights were three Smew (all redheads) together, 3 inland Guillemots and a majestic adult White-tailed Eagle.

We visited Petter Osbak in Feiring and whilst enjoying a coffee got to see the female Grey-headed Woodpeckers that visits his feeders once or twice every day and which is the only bird being reported in the whole of Oslo and Akershus this winter. On Mjøsa we could only manage to find 2 Slavonian Grebes but no divers of any description (we had really hoped to find a White-billed).

Travelling down the Vorma we bumped into Gjermund Graver at Eidsvoll who could tell us we had just missed a Kingfisher and we then managed to drive past a male Smew that he later found. All our other stops along Vorma and Glomma were remarkably bird free and no more so than at Årnes were we had had in excess of 700 waterfowl a couple of weeks ago (mostly Canada Geese) but this time had only 70 of which 60 were Mallard.

We stopped at the dump in Oslo and again failed to see the Glaucous Gull although it was seen in a park nearby today so is clearly still in town. Leif, the leucistic Herring Gull was again at the dump.

female Grey-headed Woodpecker (gråspett)

2 distant Slavonian Grebes (horndykker)

adult White-tailed Eagle (havørn). I believe that the adult pair we saw at Årnestangen in the spring and summer are the same birds that we saw on the Vorma in winter. This belief has been strengthened after an adult was found dead last(?) winter along the Vorma and since then there has only been one adult seen at both Årnestangen and Vorma