OSLO BIRDER: Male Smew

Life in Norway is taking the first steps back towards the pre-Corona normal. Hairdressers opened a week ago and schools this week. May birding is not normal though with constant winds and occasional snow showers really slowing up migration.

Yesterday I was 90% birder when I was In Maridalen and then 10% twitcher when I went looking for Black Redstarts in the city. Maridalen gave me Whimbrels on the deck and my twitching gave me only a brief glimpse of the female Black Red as she flew past me and disappeared into the presumed nest cavity in a building.

Today I was 60% birder and 40% togger. Anders and I first went to Svellet (definitely birding) where despite there still being lots of mud and shallow water there were very few waders (not even a single Wood Sandpiper) and 18 Greenshank and 17 Ringed Plover (a high spring count) were the most numerous of 6 species present. A singing Wryneck though was a much awaited for treat of a species that seems to be in serious decline in Norway. See eBird checklist here.

After this we visited a number of other areas hoping for waders, specifically Temminck’s Stint but found only a few Wood Sands.

After this it was time for Togging. Pictures emerged of a male Smew on a stream in Lørenskog (between Oslo and Svellet) and it had apparently been there since 28 April. Male Smew is a fantastic creature and the chance to see, and photograph, one at close range was irresistible. Exactly what such a normally shy bird should be doing on a stream in a town in May (should be in the north now) is of course a question that should be asked and this area has a string of records of plastic ducks including near annual Mandarins and a White-cheeked Pintail so I have always wondered if there is a private collection nearby. We had to work a bit to find the bird and found it on a small lake where the presence of a female Goldeneye seemed to explain the presence of the Smew (they are known to hybridise). We tried to get close to the bird which was feeding on the edge of the lake but it did seem decidedly shy and swam strongly way from us (unlike the Fudge Duck) so maybe it is just a confused and in love wild bird.

Birding continued after this in Maridalen where the northly wind was cold and we had a blizzard. There were birds to see in the few sheltered areas and there were quite a few Redstarts, Whinchats and Wheatears in one area and Swallows, Martins and Swifts in another. See eBird checklist here.