In quarantine in the Dale

In these Corona times I think my birding will be limited to dog and child walking in the Dale but that suits me quite fine to be honest as it will allow me to document the arrivals of summer migrants in more detail.

Today I had my first Mistle Thrush for the year plus my first Common Buzzard for the Dale. A Stock Dove was the second time I have observed one in the Dale this year and is a species which is I think trying to establish itself as a breeding bird. The Smew was also still present but the only owl I had was a Tawny. This species suffered after a cold and long winter a couple of years ago and I have not located any breeding birds the last two years. It was therefore a good sign when one flew out of a nest box when I scratched on the tree trunk although I would have preferred it to just stick its head out before returning to the eggs or quite possibly young in the box.

my first Common Buzzard (musvåk) of the year in Maridalen. The bird was on territory and calling

it is a dark bird and was I think one of last years breeders

the female Smew (lappfiskand) still present. The white wing bar and trailing edge should make it a 1st winter bird. It could possibly be a male still in juvenile plumage but I would expect to see some white feathers coming through on the head

Stock Dove (skogdue)

this Common Crossbill (grankorsbebb) was singing which you would expect to make it a male however the plumage is female like and according to the literature females do also sing