Yesterday I had high expectations for migration in
the fjord and planned to meet Per Christian early doors at Huk where we would
watch flocks of migrating ducks, divers, waders, terns and skuas. I awoke later
than planned and did not get there until 06:30. Rain and a lack of birds soon
told me that once again this spring there was a large gap between my
expectations and reality. PC arrived at the car park 10 minutes after me and
just a couple of hundred meters before he got to me by the sea he saw a Golden
Oriole fly in front of him!! Despite me getting there just a couple of minutes
after he saw it we could not refind what would have been an Oslo and Norway tick
for me. I feel this sums up how my spring has been.
We did watch the sea for a couple of hours but apart
from a flock of 15 Red-throated Divers and a Hobby we saw next to nothing.
Today is 17th May which is Norway’s
national day. With Corona restricting how many people could meet up plus it
raining I suddenly found that I had some free time mid afternoon. I went to
check up on another Long-eared Owl nest I know about and again found a
youngster already out of the nest. A quick SMS meant that 20 minutes later and I
was guiding to these birds (working on a bank holiday!) and will be able to do
so for a while yet as they should hang around the same area for quite a while. Nearby
I stopped at a flooded field and found it be full of birds. Six Temminck’s Stint
topped the bill with 30 Wood Sand, 6 Common Sands, 1 Green Sand, 4 Little
Ringed Plovers, 3 Ringed Plovers and a Greenshank providing a good number of
migrant waders. There were also a massive 6 pairs of Lapwings with 5 on nests
and one with two recently hatched young. There were also many Yellow Wagtails
plus Wheatear and Whinchats. This all gave me a renewed faith that the spring
is not over and maybe the next week or two will still produce something big.
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| Long-eared Owl (hornugle) - it seems to be a good year for them around Oslo with breeding having started very early |
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| two of six Temminck's Stints on a flooded field |
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| it's not often I take a picture of Stock Dover (skogdue) |
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| the (partially) flooded field which held so many birds |
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