Ross's Gull

On 21 May an adult Ross’s Gull was found at Horten just over an hours drive from Oslo. It has been hanging out in a Common Tern colony and has settled in but has always seemed to be very distant (judging by the photos I have seen) so despite it being a lifer for me I have resisted any urges to travel there. Many others have been though (apparently they can be described as the who’s who of Norwegian Birders… isn’t that right Jack 😉 ) and this has resulted in a number of other decent birds being seen including Sandwich Tern (still missing from my Norwegian list), Little Gulls, Caspian Tern and Black Tern.

On Sunday we were visiting the brother-in-law in Tønsberg and I felt that the dog needed to stretch his feet on the way and it is not that much of a detour to Horten. There were other birders present and I was told the gull was behind a rock This was a bit infuriating as I really couldn’t stay there long without straining family harmonics too much. The Black Tern and Little Gulls showed and then all the Common Terns flew up and someone shouted they had sight of the Ross’s Gull. I took a while to see it but then it showed reasonably well in the scope flying about offshore including at one point with the Black Tern. If I had more time and spent less of it trying to take photos then it would have been a rather enjoyable twitch of what is a fantastic bird but I had to leave much sooner than I would have liked. Anyhows, it’s not that often I see a lifer!

On Friday I had a very enjoyable guiding session with a grandfather and grandson and we experienced Maridalen's hidden gems.

adult Ross's Gull (rosnemåke)

and together with a Black Tern (svartterne) - I cannot believe these 2 species have been seen together very often, if ever, before

the Black Tern on its own

a brood of 12 Mallard (stokkand) ducklings and do you spot the other bird in the picture?

my first female Red-backed Shrike (tornskate) of the year in Maridalen

feeding time with the Black Woodpeckers (svartspett)

a Garden Warbler (hagesanger) with nest material

a Redwing (rødvingetrost) with food for young

this Starling (stær) is nesting in the same hole that Wrynecks (vendehals) used last year and the mud shows that Nuthatches (spettmeis) have also used it

Close views of Temminck's Stint

I had high expectation yesterday (but then again when don’t I?). A combination of a fresh southerly wind and rain showers meant there could be seabirds, shorebirds, raptors and who knows what. I was not sure where to go in the time I had available. Should I be unfaithful to the Dale? Should I visit Svellet? Or what about the fjord for seabirds and if so where? In the end circumstances meant I had to stay close to home so chose to look over the fjord from Fornebu. I was thinking skuas, scarce terns and the like but after 30 minutes had to accept that wasn’t happening although 4 Red-throated Divers did migrate purposefully north.

Storøykilen was equally devoid of interesting waders (it is time for a Broad-billed Sandpiper) although my first Rosefinch of the year sang and when I finally saw it it was a 2cy male. A Cuckoo also sang.

So, it was time to head for Maridalen and she was as expected good to me. The waders that arrived in the rain on Tuesday were still present and the Temminck’s Stints showed REALLY well. A singe vocal Little Ringed Plover was also present but I think that the (2?) pairs that were previously nest scraping have now moved on to pastures new (but why?). The 3 Lapwings were still sitting on their nests whilst others were around the lake shore (although I didn’t check out where the young are).

A male Red-backed Shrike was my first of the year and singing which I don’t hear often. With luck we will have another good breeding season for this species which is one of my absolute favourites. A Cuckoo here didn’t sing and was I believe a female and for once I saw it albeit distantly.

I was able to fit in a short trip to Østensjøvannet just after it stopped raining and about 250 Swifts were hawking along with swallows but once again I failed to pick out the rare that I was sure would be amongst them. Whilst there I received a message that someone was sure they were listening to a Thrush Nightingale along Akerselva close to Maridalen – well I had to check that out and sure enough it started singing very close to me. Seeing it was something else but I did get some glimpses through the foliage. This is only my third record of this species in Oslo and the first urban bird. 

close up of a Temminck's Stint

size comparison with Redshank (rødstilk) and Lapwing (vipe) - they are TINY!

and a video where you can hear the Thrush Nightingale (nattergal)

my first Red-backed Shrike (tornskate) of the year in a favoured tree

female? Cuckoo (gjøk) in Maridalen

Garden Warbler (hagesanger)

my first Small Copper (ildgullvinge) of the year

a ringed Reed Warbler (rørsanger) at Fornebu - thr ring looked very new and shiny but I do not know if any have been ringed there this year

Willow Warbler (løvsanger)

Oslo update

Returning to the local patch after a trip to see the specialities of Hedmark is always a bit of an anti climax but things have been quite rewarding and the weather forecast suggests more may come.

Wader passage through Maridalen is coming to end with another Ringed Plover on Sunday and just a single Wood Sandpiper today but there is still time for a Broad-billed Sandpiper to turn up. A trip to Svellet on Sunday amazingly revealed just a single Common Sandpiper (in stark contrast to the day before) but the rain still has the potential of bringing down something good.

The Lapwing situation in Maridalen is looking good. Yesterday, I discovered three broods (4,4 & 2) feeding along the lakeshore with parents in attendance and the two nests that were made after the farmer ploughed still had sitting birds. My assumption at that time was that the very first nest had failed, and that the broods were from the remaining three nests that the farmer saved. Today though there was a bird sitting on one of those nests (the one I had originally overlooked) and given that the young in the brood of 2 were slightly larger than the other 2 broods my working assumption now is that the nest that I originally thought was abandoned is the source of the 2 larger young, the two broods of 4 are the birds I saw when they hatched on Thursday and that the bird in the fourth nest was just not sitting the times I have checked on Sunday and Monday (this is possible as the female leaves the nest to feed). Time will tell but there currently still looks to be the chance for 3 more broods 😊.

Raptors have been slightly more visible with Buzzard, Osprey, Sparrowhawk, Goshawk, Kestrel and Hobby in Maridalen plus a bird that I thought at the time was my first Honey Buzzard of the year but provided a cautionary tale in trusting too much in jizz (see pictures lower down).

A couple of trip to Østensjøvannet revealed an insect hatch with lots of Black-headed Gulls, Swift, Swallows and both Martins hawking over the water and I have been diligently searching them for something rarer but a single Common Tern was the best I could come up with. Two adult Peregrines flying about together was a strange sight and perhaps a sign that the pair that breeds in Østmarka have failed.

Bird of the period though was none other than a new Maridalen species for me. No, not a House Sparrow ;-) but an Arctic Skua (tyvjo)! A most unexpected species but not the first for the Dale as one was photographed on 10 June 2017. I remember the photo appearing on Facebook with confirmation sought for species and I remember wanting confirmation of location! Today's bird was picked up over the forest ridge to the west of the valley and through the bins I thought I was looking at a falcon of some description. Picking it up in the scope proved rather difficult but when I did it was not the Hobby I expected but a skua and the jizz, extent of the white wing flask, length of tail and all dark plumage made it a clear adult dark phase Arctic. Some trees then got in the way (where I was standing was not the best place to be scanning the skies) and as I fumbled with the camera and waited for it to appear again that was the last I saw of it.

This afternoon the wind turned to the south after having previously been easterly and it rained so after dinner I headed for Svellet with high hopes. When I arrived at 18.30 it was still raining and visibility was poor but I scanned and scanned and could not find a single wader and a Common Tern was the only tern or small gull I saw. I then checked Merkja which was equally dead before I remembered to send a message to Anders about how quiet it was as we had messaged earlier in the day about checking out Svellet in the evening. He replied immediately along the lines of oh shit, I've just got here... I then headed back to Oslo and thought I would see if Maridalen had anything to offer. Twenty minutes later as I arrived in Maridalen Anders rang and I knew he had found something - a Black Tern. I considered about driving back but instead used this as motivation to find something in the Dale. It was soon clear that birds had arrived since this morning and 2 Temminck's Stint, a Redshank, a Greenshank and a pair of Velvet Scoter was a good showing. Tomorrow also looks like it could deliver but then again I am forever optimistic when it concerns birds.

what would you make of this raptor? Long tail, small protuding head, narrow wings. Well I took it to be my first Honey Buzzard (vepsevåk) of the year until..

I lightened up some photos and saw it was a Common Buzzard (musvåk). The streaking on the breast shows it is a young bird and they do have much narrower wings which has caused me problems a number of times in the past at this time of the year

one of the still sitting female Lapwings (vipe) taking a food break

one of the slightly larger Lapwing young from the brood of 2

one of the parents protecting it

here a couple of adult Lapwings chase off a Grey Heron (hegre)

the young have hatched in the Black Woodpecker (svartspett) nest and could be heard calling when dad came

these Common Scoter (svartand) rested on the lake all day on Monday but were clearly restless and waiting for night to continue their migration

A single Crane (trane) in Maridalen instead of a pair. Are they still attempting to nest after all?

first brood of Goldeneye (kvinand)

Hobby (lerkefalk)

this year seems to be very good for Icterine Warbler (gulsanger)

first Mallard (stokkand) brood

adullt Peregrine (vandrefalk) at Østensjøvannet

both adults together

Little Ringed (dverglo) and Ringed Plover (sandlo) together in Maridalen - this has I think only been witnessed once before

Starlings (stær) are a common breeder in Maridalen usually using old woodpecker holes or nestboxes but this one has squeezed into a hole in the church ruins

the 1st summer White-fronted Goose (tundragås) looks like it will stay the summer and moult at Østensjøvannet

a Wren (gjerdesmett) visiting its tiny and very open nest

a male Orange tip Butterfly (aurorasommerfugl)

the scene at Østensjøvannet with insect hawking Black-headed Gulls (hettemåke)