OSLO BIRDER: Three day catch up - far more than it felt like

Even though the northerly winds continue and it feels like there is nothing to see (you really have to work up some enthusiasm to even go out) it is still the end of April and three days without blogging causes a real build up of experiences that need sharing (plus far too many photos and videos that have to be gone through).

On Thursday I visited Østensjøvannet and there is always lots of activity there in the spring. The Black-headed Gulls didn’t seem to have started nesting which may be a result of the weather and a lack of food at the moment. Various ducks were present including my first Shoveler of the year and the hybrid Wigeon x Mallard who was fighting a male Mallard for the attentions of a female Mallard and may well have been the winner.

Various trips to Maridalen have not revealed too much although the White-fronted Goose is going strong and the Black-throated Divers are on the lake. A Dipper on the lake far from a stream must have been a migrant and was an unexpected sighting. I also got good views of the Crane pair bugling but have no idea of whether and where they are thinking of attempting to breed. Males of Lesser Spotted and Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming in a duet was a novel experience and it took me a while to realised what I was listening to.

Yesterday afternoon I had to drop Jr Jr off at a friends in Lillestrøm which gave me an excuse to visit Svellet again. I stopped off first at Merkja and bumped into another birder who kindly gesticulated and said “it’s there”. I had to ask what “it” was and found out the Green-winged Teal was there. There were three groups of the most ardent listers in the Oslo area watching the bird and had apparently been doing so for quite a while. The news though hadn’t been disseminated beyond the ranks of the Twitcher. This is an old chestnut of mine but I don’t get any less irritated every time it happens – why are there so many more takers rather than givers in the birding game? I know that twitching is inherently a takers game but if we all decided to be takers then there would be nothing to take….

This morning I had to pick up Jr Jr and my leaving the house coincided nicely with a message about 3 Shore Larks not far from where I had to go. Although a breeding bird in the Norwegian mountains they are rarely seen on passage (just two records ever in Maridalen for instance) and it is always a joy to get to see one. I was lucky that the finder, Èric, stayed until I arrived as they were in a very large ploughed field and blended in perfectly - I did get to see them well thankfully.

Not too far from Oslo a Cattle Egret was identified and then localised via Facebook and this has been the centre of gravity for birders of all hues over the last couple of days. I have not yet summoned the enthusiasm for the close to two hour round drive that is necessary but hope that this still major rarity turns up closer to Oslo. What is assumed to be the same bird has been seen at three places now after first appearing on the south coast and it is not inconceivable that its journey will take it to Maridalen although with a lack of cows in the Dale it will be dependent on following the plough to look for food.

I took quite a lot of video yesterday but that will have to wait until a later post.

Shore Lark (fjellerke)

not at all easy to find in a ploughed field

all three Shore Lark

much better views of the male Green-winged Teal (amerikakrikkand) and his European cousins than on Wednesday

he was part of a group of unpaired males that were following this female around

note the difference in head pattern with the american bird lacking the yellow lower border to the face mask

the American version also has a much warmer coloured breasy although some European birds can also be like this

here he is displaying

and being told to get lost by the female who is presumably a European Teal but it is impossible to know. I have once seen a hybrid between these two (sub)species