Fudge Duck

I got up before 5 this morning with a hope that a drop in the northerly winds would have a positive impact on the migrant scene and especially waders at Svellet. All that it seemed to have done though was to have encouraged birds to leave without replacing them with anything new. I was on site at 0530 and spent 45 minutes covering the east side (there did not look to be any birds on the west side). I had only 50 Greenshank, 2 Whimbrel and no more than 5 Wood Sandpipers and definitely no Lesser Yellowlegs which was a shame as lighting and distances (due to slowly rising water levels) were much better than previously.

I therefore decided to do Årnestangen. There was very little sign of any new birds here and it was all rather disappointing. When I got to the end at 8am a message came through that the Yellowlegs was present. I felt surprised, annoyed (with myself) but not entirely confident (in the sighting) but given that there didn’t seem to be anything at Årnestangen it was an easy decision to go back. I walked back to the car in what must be a personal record of 31 minutes and drove back to Svellet. When I got down to the water a sweep through the small number of Greenshank present revealed a brown bird with long yellow legs... but it was a striking female Ruff. This hadn’t been present earlier but I had seen a similar bird flying nervously around in Snekkervika so it was presumably this bird. Well, at least I had got some much needed exercise (I am developing a Corona belly). Sightings from yesterday have also been quietly retracted after pictures apparently also show a Ruff. The question is therefore whether the bird was seen yesterday at all with the only remaining observation being from before 5am when to be perfectly honest it ain’t light enough to ID such a difficult bird at Svellet!!

The day was still early and I felt a twitch developing. A male Ferruginous Duck had been found an hours drive south of Oslo yesterday. I would not normally go for a bird like this but the species has always been a favourite (after having seen them in Israel and Tunisia) and I thought what the heck. It was a long drive from Svellet but I got there by 1040. The location is very close to the last long (more than an hours drive) twitch that I was on which was for the Brown Shrike in October 2018. The bird is unringed and the wings are not clipped and it looks pristine so it will be accepted as wild BUT it had a very plastic feel about. Its chosen location is a small farm pond (barely 50 metres in diameter) and it was rather unafraid of people (swam to within 10 metres of us). It was very skulky and most of the time invisibile in the vegetation along the edges but this was because of the unwanted attention it received from an aggressive male Goldeneye that attacked it everytime it showed itself. The Goldeneye was responsible for me seeing it the first time when it chased it out of the vegetation and made it fly. Later though the Fudge Duck swan through the vegetation towards us and was not at all bothered by my having to shout to the assembled birders/toggers that it was right below them (not sure if all of them saw it…but those who did got some rather good pictures and far better than mine – something was not right with the camera settings). It then swam out on to the open water less than 10m from us and had a good preen before returning into the vegetation when the Goldeneye spotted it. Nice bird though 😊

The farm pond was a very birdy place with both Spotted and Pied Flycatchers, Moorhens and a couple of broods of newly hatched Mallards.

A quick stop in Maridalen revealed that the Mute Swan pair that has been around this spring is nest building. They are a young pair and I doubt that much will come of it but this is the first time Mute Swans have shown signs of breeding in the Dale. There was also a new pair of Three-toed Woodpeckers which makes, I reckon, at least 4 pairs – normally we are happy to find one pair.

Adult male Ferruginous Duck (hvitøyeand) - only about the 10th record in Norway

the first view after it was chased by a Goldeneye

I see you!

when it showed on the open water there was something wrong with my camera settings and I didn't get the pictures I should have

the farm pond that held the duck

Two Greenshank (gluttsnipe) at Svellet today

There are two pairs of Goshawks on territory in Maridalen this year. This pair is on eggs but the other pair is building a new nest (not using last years) and will I suspect not breed succesfully this year although will be set up for 2021

Yesterday saw a very unsuccessful attempt at dog walking and birding (which up until now has generally gone well). I did get to hear a Thrush Nightingale very well at Fornebu but all my attempts at seeing the bird were thwarted by a Beast who was not happy unless he was the centre of attention (I blame the owner…). Listen to the bird in this video taken on my phone: