Bob & Jack

Since my last update I have been out a few times including with Jules “Natural Born Birder” Bell and seen some good birds but haven’t found the time for photo editing or sitting in front of the PC.

A couple of trips to Nordre Øyeren revealed fewer waders than previously with raising water levels and the progression of autumn causing this. Two Black-tailed Godwits were all that remained of the mega flock (everything is relative). Great Egrets were still showing as were White-tailed Eagles and Marsh Harriers. When I was with Jules we also had a close Kingfisher although the camera was in the car and a flyover Stock Dover proved to be my first ever record at Nordre Øyeren. Most numerous bird was Barnacle Goose with at least 1500 birds present although I could find nothing more exciting amongst them. One always hopes to find a Red-breasted Goose amongst these birds as in a Norwegian context these are the perfect carrier species for the bird to be accepted as wild.

A trip to Fornebu today was enlivened greatly by a bobbing Jack Snipe. It was distant but allowed itself to be admired for a long time in the scope.

The range was close to 150m and this first video is take  with the 600mm bazooka and then 10x digital zoom on the camera.

This second video is taken with the iphone through the scope when I was closer - perhaps 100m from the bird (the battery in the camera was empty…)

And here is digiscoped photo of the Jack Snipe

Great (White) Egret (egretthegre)

two juvenile Marsh Harriers (sivhauk)

a juvenile Peregrine (vandrefalk) having its tail nipped by a Crow

this Raven (ravn) has a mouthful of road kill badger

Stock Dove (skogdue)

a late Wheatear (steinskvett)

some of the 1500 Barnacle Geese (hvitkinngjess) in Snekkervika