LRP in Maridalen

Yesterday, I had my weekly trip to Nordre Øyeren and as usual expectations were high. I knew that water levels are rising by around 20cm a day so had hopes that the muddy edges and therefore the birds would be within telescope range. And indeed they were but there were hardly any birds in Snekkervika and the reason for this is that when the water levels are raised so (unnaturally) quickly then the bone dry mudflats are covered much too quickly and do not have a chance to come to life. Svellet looked more promising and 1600 Teal were feeding but nothing more exciting could be found amongst them. As a sign of how late this spring is there were only 12 Greenshank but we can hopefully look forward to 1-2 weeks of much higher numbers of birds until the mudflats disappear.

Bird of the day was my first Wryneck of the year which sang strongly and showed well. I also had my first Wood Sandpipers flying over calling but failed to get a picture…..

I had hoped to find a Little Ringed Plover somewhere at Nordre Øyeren but failed in this quest so it was very satisfying to find one at Maridalsvannet on the way home. This is only, I think, my 5^th record here but was a bird I felt confident would turn up this year with the low water levels we are experiencing.

I was out early this morning and as always had high hopes. We didn’t have an overnight frost, there was no wind to speak of and it was nice and sunny. But were there any new birds or sign of migration? No. The LRP was still present but no new waders and not a single raptor recorded although I did clockup 71 species.

Little Ringed Plover (dverglo) 

male Redstart (rødstjert) in Maridalen this morning

female Ring Ouzel (ringtrost) and male Wheateat (steinskvett)

my first Wryneck (vendehals) of the year. Interestingly the others who were at the same spot as me when the bird was singing strongly just behind us recorded this single Wryneck as two Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers..

Black-throated Divers (storlom) on Maridalsvannet. This morning there were 6 Black-throated and 5 Red-throated and lots of noise when both species displayed

Greenshanks (gluttsnipe) at Svellet

a female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (dvergspett) at Nordre Øyeren

and a male in Maridalen at the third site where the species looks to be breeding this year

Excitement and frustration

I am filled with both excitement and frustration at the moment. Excitement because we are now starting the absolute best period of the year for Oslo birding but frustration that we continue to have northerly winds and no sign of rain such that we may not get one of those amazing days fall days that happen every now and again and which I long for.

Yesterday I visited Gressholmen and Lindøya with Jack D and we both had high expectations but these were not to be met unfortunately. The northerly wind was just too strong and too cold and there was no sign of any passerine migration. Waders were also in short supply although a small flock of Curlew were surprising as their migration has already peaked. Otherwise the only breeding Ringed Plovers in Oslo were present although do not look to have started breeding yet. The first Common Terns were back and it was a real joy to hear them calling and watch them diving for fish. A few Red-throated Divers and Common Scoter on the sea were clearly migrants although the Velvet Scoters we saw were probably birds that have wintered here.

Maridalen is warming up and today I added Redstart, Common Sandpiper, Greenshank and Tree Pipit to my 2022 list.

I have had two exciting encounters with Goshawks in Maridalen the last two days. Yesterday a (the?) 2cy bird was hunting Wood Pigeons over my head but failed in its quest and today I saw a 3^rd cy female catch a Wood Pigeon and then got to watch it standing over the still moving bird.

Today’s eBird list from Maridalen with a respectable 63 species.

2cy Goshawk (hønsehauk) chasing Wood Pigeon (ringdue) and being chased by a Hooded Crow (kråke)

the pigeon got away

but not this one which ended up being lunch for a 3cy bird

male Shoveler (skjeand) at Østensjøvannet allowed a closer approach

male Gadwall (snadderand) in Maridalen again

male Goldeneyes (kvinand) in Maridalen

male Teal (krikkand) in Maridalen

and male Tufted Duck (toppand)

an 2cy and adult Whooper Swan (sangsvane) in the Dale. In addition to these birds the breeding pair are back on their nesting pool and another adult pair are on the lake

there were lots of displaying Red-breasted Mergansers (siland) on Lindøya

these two males managed to display completely synchronised

Common Tern (makrellterne)

Curlews (storspove)

male Linnet (tornirisk)

I have said that early Common (and Wood) Sandpipers should be documented so here you have it..... a Common Sand with a Green Sand

and a slightly more convincing picture of the Common Sand (strandsnipe)

my first Greenshank (gluttsnipe) of the year

Mistle Thrush (duetrost)

male Redstart (rødstjert)

one of 6 Ring Ouzels (ringtrost) in Maridalen today

Skylark (sanglerke)

Wheatear (steinskvett)