OSLO BIRDER: Oslo island birding

Monday, 19 August 2019

Oslo island birding

It rained all day on Saturday and with it came some waders to Oslo. I was able to twitch my first Oslo Turnstone on the Galteskjær skerry at a range of 900m in pouring rain – doesn’t get more satisfying than that….. and afterwards I found a young Knot seeking refuge on a field on Bygdøy. A Common Sandpiper had previously flown up from a puddle by the side of the road so I had an idea that there might be some more waders to find.

Today I went out with Jules Bell to do the islands although we had to contend with the summer timetable and my inability to understand it. There wasn’t a great deal to see although we did have another Knot and it was pleasing to see many Common Terns including young.

Knot (polarsnipe) in the rain on Bygdøy on Saturday

and one today feeding on Hovedøya

a young Common Tern (makrellterne) begging for food

a group of adult and young Common Terns

just one youngster in this group

there were still a few Oystercatchers around but most have already moved off

young Goldfinch (stillits) begging for food

surprisingly on the island of Lindøya there were three broods of still small Mallards. I saw an ill fox on here in the spring and this may have taken earlier broods and caused the birds to try again (their later success perhaps a result of the fix dying or having been killed)

a Ringed Plover (sandlo) on the same skerry (picture taken from the ferry) where I twitched the Turnstone on Saturday

a young Starling (stær)

and a young Wheatear (steinskvett)

My first Migrant Hawker in Oslo was the pond on Lindøya. Although this is the first observation here I was hoping to find one

and another from Fornebu on Sunday - this time a flight shot using autofocus

and there was also mating to be witnessed

And here pictures of three of the four red darters (høstlibeller/sympetrum) that can be seen in Norway (the fourth is the extremely rare, but definitely possible, Red-veined Darter). They all look quite similar don't they?!