Hawkie & Piney!

Yesterday I was tempted out of Oslo for some non-Piney birding. The temptation was a report of a Hawk Owl - a species that has been very scarce in the south of Norway this year. It was reported from an area of farmland that has history with this species and I found it easily sat atop a rather distant dead tree. It didn’t do much other than move its head but will hopefully hang around and offer closer views. Before my dose of Hawkie I had stopped off for a dose of Piney with 12 birds eating berries along a busy road by a Pizza kiosk. So I got that rare, and much talked about (at least by me) Piney and Hawkie double high although not quite on the same level as my encounter on  23 Jan 2013 when I saw both in the same sweep of the bins.

I also had two Great Grey Shrikes, including one in Maridalen, a couple of Peregrines on their favoured pylon in Oslo and two more encounters with Grosbeaks when back in Oslo including 22 feeding along a dual-carriage way by a Kebab shop! In total I had 60 Grosbeaks and the species is probably more numerous and widespread than ever before.

Today it was snowing (although lower down in the city it fell as rain) and I kept things local. Piney was again very much on the menu and I had birds at four sites, and it was very satisfying to find them quite close to home eating berries in a car park which I have been checking regularly. Waxwings are also very numerous and I had 2 flocks of 150 birds.

the Whooper Swan pair is still in Maridalen. Here they are contemplating whether the new snow means it is time to migrate

Hawkie!

Pizza loving Piney :-)

Great Grey Shrike (varsler) in Maridalen

Waxwing (sidensvans)

male Pine Grosbeak in the snow today

and a female or juvenile