Difficult to change

They say that madness is doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result so if I want a change then I clearly need to do something a bit different. I therefore thought a trip to Bygdøy on Thursday would do the trick but I was mistaken. A count of 92 Guillemots on a calm sea would appear to be the second highest winter count for Oslo ever but I was hoping for something a little more exciting. So, it was back to following paths well worn and I have filled my boots (not literally) at the smelly stream with Jacky boy revealing himself on a daily basis now although it is still not easy to find him. I keep returning more for the thrill of the chase rather than the bird itself which does little other than stand frozen to the spot. On Thursday he did move about half a metre in between visits and when I was then able to observe him from a distance such that I could only see his back then I also observed a couple of bobs so this does seem to confirm that he is active and searching for food in the daytime.

I have had a few unsuccessful visits to look for the Kingfisher recently but on Friday he showed really. He has also attracted the attention of the more serious photographer brigade with an occupied pop up hide erected a few metres away from its favourite perch. The hide was doing its job though and the bird perched unaffected so I expect to see some very good shots on social media in the coming days although I was also quite happy with the snaps I got.

Kingfisher (isfugl)

a very well camouflaged Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin)

do you see him?

In this video you see how motionless it stands but there is the occasional twitch of the eye

Yearning for a change

 Mid winter is a quiet time for birds around Oslo but this winter seems quieter than normal. There are some interesting birds around but the general quantity of birds is low this year and there is no indication of anything new turning up whereas some birds are disappearing (Pine Grosbeaks for example). I think we need a good winter storm to shake things up but the forecast for the next week is for milder weather. Birds definitely feel like spring is coming with tits, Greenfinches and Collared Doves all singing and I heard my first drumming Great Spotted Woodpeckers today.

A visit to the fjord revealed the over wintering Little Grebe who captured a sizeable Perch which took a couple of minutes to swallow. Maridalen continues to disappoint but my smelly stream still produces a Jack Snipe if you search hard enough.

Little Grebe (dvergdykker)

with a sizeable Perch (abbor)

not often I take pictures of a Magpie (skjære)

didn't know they had a blue nictitating membrane

Jacky boy (kvartbekkasin)

Colourless Mute Swan

I went for a walk in the forest on Friday on a windless day hoping to pick up woodpeckers by the sound of their tapping. I was in an area which in previous years has produced up to 5 species but this time just produced two Great Spots. There seems to be something going on in forest over the last 12 months with woodpeckers in strangely short supply. Bird of the walk was a singing, but heard only, Hazel Grouse in a usual area.

In Maridalen the Great Grey Shrike showed again but was very flighty and clearly doesn’t have a favourite area. A Mute Swan on the only area of open water is the first species of wildfowl I have seen in the valley this year and was a strange individual. Its bill was almost entirely lacking orange colour and on an overcast day it looks as though my pictures were taken in black & white. This bird had a colour ring and had been ringed just over a week previously on the fjord amongst a large group of bread eating birds. It was recorded as an adult female but without any mention of the strange bill colour. That it would then fly to Maridalsvannet on its own in January when there can not be much food for it to find is very strange but maybe it is a sick bird.

My smelly stream has again revealed a Jack Snipe but attempts to watch the bird in action again failed. I positioned myself about 20m from the bird such that I could just about see it and waited and waited but the bird would not move a millimetre. Maybe investing in a trail camera is what I need to do.

Mute Swan (knoppsvane) - all of these pictures are in full colour but the bird's bill was lacking orange colour

ring L761

Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin)

And here a video of the two Water Rails (vannrikse) I saw last week

Dicing with death

The weather has changed a lot last this week. There have been days with strong northerly winds, temperatures have been going up and down and we have even had some rain. The net result of this is that all paths and roads where the snow has been pressed down have now turned into ice rinks and you risk your life or at least the odd bone or two if you venture off gritted paths.

Last Saturday I avoided these perils by being lucky enough to accompany Halvard out on his boat although there was ice on the fjord in places which we had to sail through. It was a lovely windless but cold day and we enjoyed a magnificent sunrise. I had hopes of seeing King Eider or at a minimum getting my first Shag of the year but had to be content with various good wintering birds such as Purple Sandpiper, Red-throated Diver, Long-tailed Duck, Twite and Rock Pipit.

Other than this I can jut report how few birds there are this winter and I have even contemplated going to the dump to look for gulls but have so far remained strong. My smelly stream seems to have lost its appeal for snipe with just a single Jack noted this week. Whether this is due to milder weather or the birds having moved on will perhaps only be clear when we have the next snow fall and other sites become unavailable.

I visited the Water Rails at Østensjøvannet today and saw three birds. Interestingly two fed closely together but the third bird (an adult) was not tolerated at all by one of the other two (a 1st winter) which repeatedly chased it away and eventually caused it to fly off to another area.

A nice way to start the day. 08:48 on Saturday as we headed out onto the fjord

male Long-tailed Duck (havelle) - we usually only see young birds so this was a treat

Purple Sandpipers (fjæreplytt)

Maridalen has been very disappointing and this Great Grey Shrike (varsler) was the clear stand out bird

a new sign has been put up encouraging photographers to show restraint in their attempts to get an even better picture of the Water Rail than they have from before. It features one of my pictures 😀

the two friendly Water Rails (vannrikse)

and the lone and bullied bird. Grey chin should make this an adult

the aggresive bird of the pair

same bird - white chin should make it a 1st winter

Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin)