Kingfisher and Pygmy Owl

Today was the first day since 1 Jan that I got some proper birding in and it was quite a good day with the sun shining and birds showing.

I paid the Kingfisher a return visit and the light was much better than on Saturday and the bird showed very well. It sat patiently on a branch looking for fish in the murky water beneath it and I was able to sit in the car and stay warm whilst watching it. I thought that it would be good to take some video but just as I changed cameras it plunged into the water and caught a fish! I was able to record it eating the fish but would have loved to see it diving into the water. After swallowing the fish on a rock by the water it immediately flew up onto a branch again and went into fishing modus so it clearly is in need of as much food as it can get.

A drive around Maridalen in the afternoon revealed tree top sitting Great Grey Shrike and Pygmy Owl. It is a while since I have seen either of these species and there is clearly not much food for them to find as they moved around quite quickly. The Common Buzzard had also moved on before xmas which is a sure sign that there are not many rodents.

Kingfisher (isfugl) in front of shipping containers in Oslo harbour

with a nice sized fish

with a blue moustache and white goatie

Pygmy Owl (spurveugle)

a Cormorant of the subspecies sinensis which is now the commonest type around Oslo

2cy Goshawk (hønsehauk)

Great Grey Shrike (varsler)

I think this is a Grey Seal (havert) rather than a Common Seal (steinkobbe) which I usually see around Oslo. Anyone who can confirm from this picture?