Yesterday was one of those glorious winter days that I just wish we had all the time – blue skies, no wind, 30 cm of crisp snow and temperatures a very refreshing -15C! As long as you are dressed correctly, which I do not always do, then it is just lovely to be out. If, on top of this, the birdies play ball then we are talking dream like conditions and yesterday was indeed a dream!
Quantity of avian biomass was low, very low, but
when I had close encounters with two Hawkies and a Pygmy Owl plus a couple of
Moose then I am very pleased. The snow that has fallen is so deep (and
especially so just a little higher up) that it is affecting the wildlife:
1. The Hawk Owls are now feeding
within woodland where there is less snow rather than in the clearings and are I
believe finding it harder to locate rodents
2. The Pygmy Owl was my first
sighting in Maridalen since Dec 2018 and is a sure sign that the species is recovering/returning
to the area due to the good rodent numbers and also that the conditions further
in the forest are becoming unsuitable so they are moving to lower more open
areas.
3. A mother Moose and her calf
feeding by the side of the road in the middle of the day is a sure sign of animals
that have had to flee the thick snow and look for easier pickings closer to people.
4. There seems to be just one
Common Buzzard left in Maridalen and when I saw it today its wings were
drooping and it didn’t look to be coping so well with the snow and cold (there
is a reason this is the first time they have tried to spend the winter in Oslo)
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| Pygmy Owl (spurveugle) - my first in Maridalen since Dec 2018 |
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| one of two Hawk Owls (haukugle) |
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| and the second bird |
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| I think this is the only Common Buzzard (musvåk) that is left |
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| I only avoided hitting this Moose which suddenly crossed the road because I had already started braking after having noticed the Buzzard |
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| mother and calf |
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