A real birding highlight not just for me but Norway in general was the discovery of breeding Firecrests
in Oslo and I got to enjoy these early one morning as we had a day back at home
before heading to Bodø.
I found no rare birds at
the cabin this summer with the Siberian White-winged Scoter not reappearing but
close encounters with summer plumaged Red-necked Phalarope, Great Northern
Divers and Red-necked Grebes is not to be sniffed at.
We were back in Oslo at
the end of the month which allowed me to discover that Red-backed Shrikes had successfully
bred in Maridalen.
30 July was probably my
second best day of birding in 2019 with a trip to Årnestangen paying off big
time. I had hoped for waders due to a real change in the weather and rain being
forecast and waders there were – in fact it was cooking with them! 21 species including a real local rarity in the form of a Pectoral Sandpiper plus
a couple of Broad-billed Sandpipers. Finding two different Great White Egrets
on the way home was just a bonus.
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| the male from Norway's first (known) breeding Firecrests (rødtoppfuglekonge) |
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| Red-necked Phalarope (svømmesnipe) |
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| Great Northern Divers (islom) |
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| Long-tailed Skua (fjelljo) |
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| Red-necked Grebes (gråstrupedykker) |
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| only my second Pectoral Sandpiper (alaskasnipe) in Norway |
August also involves
many non-bird experiences with butterflies still on the wing, new dragonflies
to discover (8 new species during the year) and a large
pod of Atlantic White-sided Dolphins cruising offshore from downtown Oslo for a
few days.
August is also the best
time to see Honey Buzzards with many sighting of adults collecting food in Maridalen. Årnestangen and Nordre Øyeren
deserves attention in August and a visit on 30 August gave fantastic views of
Great White Egret and a juvenile Honey Buzzard.
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| my first Northern Emerald |
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| Atlantic White-sided Dolphins |
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| Red-backed Shrikes (tornskate) - dad and son(?) |
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| migrating young Bluethroat (blåstrupe) in Maridalen |
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| adult male Honey Buzzard (vepsevåk) - I saw this individual a number of times as it took food to its nest |
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| an unusual sighting of a juvenile Honey Buzzard at the end of the month |
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| Great White Egrets (egretthegre) have become an expected autumn sighting now |
September is primarily
about two events: the Taiga Bean Geese autumn migration and Værøy although migration
is obviously in full swing and there are plenty of birds to see.
September 2019 also gave me my third encounter with Great Grey Owl of the year and a rather special one as this bird was hunting in the rough of a golf course.
September 2019 also gave me my third encounter with Great Grey Owl of the year and a rather special one as this bird was hunting in the rough of a golf course.
Værøy was fun (as
always) even if the bird gods were not particularly pleased with us. The island’s
first Rustic Bunting and some Killer Whales will long be remember though.
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| Great Grey Owl (lappugle) |
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| Rustic Bunting (vierspurv) |
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| Olive-backed Pipit (sibirpiplerke) |
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| bad picture, good bird. This Spotted Crake (myrrikse) at Fornebu was a rare sighting of a species that is normally only heard |
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| Killer Whales from Værøy |
October started with
point blank views of a young Black-throated Diver getting hunting lessons in
Maridalen. Two pairs bred on the lake this year but only one pair was successful
and raised two young. Something seemed to be wrong with one of the youngsters
though and it didn’t leave the lake with the rest of the family which resulted
in one adult returning to try to help it.
The month ended on a
real high with the forests full of birds. Crossbills of all three species were
present in good numbers but best of all Pine Grosbeaks arrived in what turned
out to be the largest invasion for many decades. The Grosbeaks would remain for
the rest of the year and moved from the forests into the city where they fed on
berries right over your head and became the most photographed of the species if not decade.
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| Black-throated Divers (storlom) |
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| Shoveler (skjeand) |
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| Siberian (tristis) Chiffchaffs are annual at Fornebu in late autumn. This was a particularly striking individual |
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| only my second Kingfisher (isfugl) in Maridalen |
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| there was hardly any seabird action this autumn except for good numbers of Little Auks (alkekonge) |
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| Pine Grosbeaks (konglebit) rather saved the autumn though |
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| and Two-barred Crossbills (båndkorsnebb) were also nice to see |
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| all my excursions in the forest also resulted in my best ever views of Hazel Grouse (jerpe) |
November mainly revolved
around getting better and better photos of Grosbeaks – and I took many
thousands of pictures of the species. By the end of the month I was more
interested in getting a new and interesting background for the photo than the
bird itself... These birds also involved me getting my 15 minutes of fame with
interviews on Norwegian radio and an article in Birdguides resulted in people
coming over to see them with me.
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| more Grosbeak |
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| Markus from P3 Morgen even got to see them |
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| this shot wo the acolade of Birdguides Photo of the Week |
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| The Whooper Swan (sangsvane) pair in Maridalen failed in their breeding this year but still remained faithful to the valley until late in the autumn |
In December I tried to
observe birds other than Grosbeak which I did partially succeed in and I was greatly helped in that quest by finding a Great Grey Owl in Maridalen 😊
and then when Halvard Hauer gave me a White-billed Diver as an xmas present.
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| snow came early this winter |
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| Great Grey Owl |
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| White-billed Diver (gulnebblom) - my best ever views of this species thanks to HH |
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| Oslo is 5 km away but the looks so much closer |
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| Waxwing (sidensvans) |
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