OSLO BIRDER: Record shots of raptors

Thursday, 14 May 2020

Record shots of raptors

Another day and another Beast walking session in Maridalen. 6 hours today and 12 new species added to yesterdays total bringing me up to 88 species in the Dale. There are still a few easy species that I have not noted (as maximising species has not been the goal) but it has got me thinking as to whether it would be possible to see 100 in a day in Maridalen. I think the answer is yes but it would have to be an absolutely outstanding migration day in mid May combined with hard work to get all the breeding birds. In addition it also got me thinking what would be possible in the whole of Oslo in a day. 100 would seem to be very manageable even if the day isn’t outstanding and I would have thought 110 should be a target.

The day started very well when almost the first bird I saw when I started walking the Beast was a large raptor that was visible with the naked eye (not my usual scanning at distance). Unfortunately, the dog was very happy to be out and it was a struggle to raise my binoculars and keep them on the bird. It was already flying away from me but was clearly not a Buzzard. It eventually started thermalling (although now at some distance) and my photos confirmed my suspicion that it was a Marsh Harrier and the first one I have ever had close enough for a photo in the Dale.

Walking across the fields it was clear there were fewer birds than yesterday and the lake seemed devoid of birds and I reckoned that raptors might be the best hope for the day. I kept looking out for them but it took a long time before I saw anything resembling one when I had what I took to be a Hobby in a shallow stoop towards ground level. I was quite happy with it being a Hobby (I had not seen much plumage but the dark upperparts and jizz suited) but upon walking towards where it seemed to have disappeared a Cuckoo flew out. Now Cuckoo is a good bird in Oslo so I was very happy with that but I was left now unsure about my Hobby record and feel it best to try to forget about it….

I retreated to my favoured raptor watching area and had good views of the local Common Buzzard but it took a while to pick up anything else. I eventually found a large raptor on the other side of the valley (about 3km range) and only had my binoculars. It was clearly not a Common Buzzard but I couldn’t see any plumage details without my scope – at that range it was a wonder I saw it to be honest. I decided to try to get photos and eventually managed to find it and focus although frequently lost it and took ages refinding it in my bins. I saw it being mobbed by another much smaller bird but didn’t think too much about it there and then. Looking at one of the photos on the back of the camera I thought that the jizz suited Honey Buzzard which was a species I had been hoping to find (when you have a species that you are expecting it becomes easy to shoe horn another bird into your expectations..). 14 May is still very early for this species (the earliest documented bird in Norway that I am aware of is 10 May and any records before this date should be taken with a pinch of salt) but it is around now that the first birds can turn up so I was quite happy and also satisfied that I had some documentation. When I looked at more of the pictures though I realised I had misjudged the size horribly – the bird that had mobbed it looked to be a Kestrel and the size difference was huge. The bird was actually an adult Golden Eagle but they should be breeding in the mountains and not flying over Maridalen in May! One explanation is that there have been a series of records of adult Golden Eagles in Nordmarka during the summer months over the last few years and it would seem likely that the species is actually breeding somewhere north of Oslo. I don’t know the distances they cover in the breeding season but would imagine that 20+km is no problem and this bird did look like it was cruising looking for food rather than migrating. Honey Buzzard will have to wait a bit (but will come) and I only added Goshawk, 2 Sparrowhawk and a Hobby in the next hour.

I checked out the two nest boxes with breeding Tawny Owls. At the first one there was no sight or sound of owls but a downy feather snagged by the hole was new from last time I looked. A nocturnal visit will hopefully reveal if there are begging young either in the box or in the woodland nearby. At the other box I found an adult keeping watch in a tree before I even got to the nest box which suggests that the young are large. The adult was so close to me when I saw her that it was almost inevitable that she flew away. It wasn’t far but meant she was discovered by a couple of Jays and Blackbirds who made a terrible noise as they scolded her – it is no surprise that owls are normally very good at hiding themselves during daylight hours.

On the Lapwing front a pair at Nes which only arrived about a week ago (I believe they had failed at Skjerven) is now nesting and at Skjerven there are at least 5 adults now in the long grass (and none on nests anymore) which I hope means they have newly hatched young with them.

As is to be expected my pictures of the rare raptors are only just in the category record shot (although even that is open for discussion) but I did manage a nice picture of a Common Buzzard. Fingers crossed, one day soon I will get a great picture of a self found rare raptor.