OSLO BIRDER: Tristis time

I see that I have returned to infrequent blogging and that is a sign of the seasons although hopefully the discovery of good local birds will change things soon. There are far fewer birds now with most of the thrushes seemingly gone and leaving behind enormous quantities of uneaten rowan berries which will be welcomed by Waxwings and Grosbeaks if they ever get this far south.

Ducks continue to move through and although the Scaup on Maridalsvannet last week moved on I had good views of another Scaup together with three Pochard on the river at Lillestrøm last Friday.

The weekend was spent doing that most Norwegian of things working at a flee market where the proceeds go to the local school band (of which Jr Jr is a member). As a sign of the enormous wealth in this country (and especially the area of Oslo where I live) we raised 100,000 euros selling the unwanted household items of people in the neighbourhood. And we do this twice a year.

Today I walked the beast a t Fornebu in glorious sunny, windless conditions following a heavy overnight frost that had left puddles and the ground frozen. I hoped to find Bearded Tits which have just started their usual autumn wanderings but found none. Next on my list was to find a rare warbler with Dusky the favoured outcome. As usual though for this time of the year the only warbler to be found was a couple of tristis Chiffchaffs. Fornebu has a nearly unique ability to attract these otherwise scarce birds whilst not attracting anything else….