2022 The Year That Was part I

Another birding year is over and I must say it was a pretty good one. Post Corona I was able to travel again and had two trips to Nordland (to the cabin and Røst), a trip to Jæren and a number of trips to the mountains and forests of mid Norway. But it is birding in Oslo and most dearly Maridalen that excites me and 2022 was a very rewarding year due to exceptionally low water levels on Maridalsvannet in the spring and summer and then some good rarities in the autumn.

I added 4 species to my Norwegian list with 2 being self-found. My Oslo list increased by 3 although I only found one of these and my Maridalen list increased by 4 of which I found 2.

My bird of the year was the Hume’s Leaf Warbler I found at Fornebu….

 

January

The previous autumns invasion of one of my all time favourite species - Pine Grosbeaks just hung on into January but it was an urban Kingfisher and Jack Snipes that I gave most of my (birding) attention to and managed some pictures that I was very happy with.

Pine Grosbeaks (konglebit) at dawn on New Years Day

Kingfisher (isfugl)

Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin)

close up and in the right light you can see how amazingly coloured they are

February

February continued where January finished and gave few clues as to what a good year 2022 would eventually become. The Jack Snipe kept me very entertained and trips into the wintery forest led to close encounters with Hazel Grouse but unfortunately it was not an owl winter locally.

male Hazel Grouse (jerpe) in the snow

the Taiga Bean Geese (taigasædgjess) returned record early in 2022

March

March is when spring migration starts although it wasn’t until right at the end of the month that anything unusual turned up when I had a Rock Pipit and Lapland Bunting in Maridalen.

Pygmy Owl (spurveugle) being mobbed by a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (dvergspett)

displaying Goldeneye (kvinand)

Lapland Bunting (lappspurv) in Maridalen

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (dvergspett) were easy to find in the early spring in the Dale

my first ever Rock Pipit (skjærpiplerke) on the deck in Maridalen

April

The month started with a trip to Per Christian’s cabin in the mountains where a singing Long-eared Owl was the undoubted star bird.

Long-eared Owl (hornugle) in torch light

Good views of the Oslofjord King Eider displaying with Common Eiders mid month were most welcome and I twitched a Stork. 21 April saw the first of the years Maridalen ticks when Halvard found 4 Garganey! Slavonian Grebe was the next good bird and a Little Ringed Plover at the month’s end was the first sign that the low water levels were going to give us the best ever wader year in Maridalen.

male King Eider (praktærfugl) with Common Eiders (ærfugl)

my first ever Garganey (knekkand) in Maridalen together with a pair of Goosander (laksand)

Slavonian Grebe (horndykker)

Little Ringed Plover (dverglo)

Osprey (fiskeørn) being mobbed by Common Gulls (fiskemåke)

May

May at Maridalsvannet was a veritable wader bonanza with Temminck’s Stints and Ruff topping the list. A number of pairs of Little Ringed Plovers and also 6 pairs of Lapwings bred with the low water levels and access to feeding and nesting areas being the reason.

A spur of the moment trip to the forests of Hedmark reacquainted me with two of the rarest breeding birds in Norway: Ural Owl and Ortolan Bunting. And the following day a trip to Svellet in rain gave me Caspian Tern.

A surprise Arctic Skua flying north over the forests in Maridalen was my second patch tick of the year.

At the end of the month a family trip to Tønsberg allowed me to stop off and see the adult Ross’s Gull that had been found there a few days previously. This was my first Norwegian tick of the year and it was quite incongruous to see it together with a Black Tern. I failed to see Sandwich Tern though which had also been seen there and this remains the most glaring admission to my Norwegian list.

this young White-fronted Goose (tundragås) was a surprise bird at Østensjøvannet

nest scraping LRP at Maridalsvannet

one of the last remaining Ortolan Buntings (hortulan) in Norway

Ruff (brushane) and Wood Sandpipers (grønnstilk) Maridalsvannet

adult Ural Owl (slagugle)

and the young she was protecting

juv Lapwing (vipe) - they had a very good breeding season in Maridalen

Temminck's Stint Maridalen

my first ever Ross's Gull and a summer plumaged adult to boot

June

A singing Grasshopper Warbler in Maridalen was a good bird and it stayed most of the month although did not seem to attract a mate.

Two trips to the mountains of Valdres  gave all the specialities such as Red-necked Phalarope, Great Snipe, Long-tailed Skua, Dotterel and Siberian Jay.

Towards the end of the month Svellet gave me my second NO tick of the year when I twitched a Little Tern.

Grasshopper Warbler (gresshoppersanger)

Bluethroat (blåstrupe)

Dotterel (boltit)

Geat Snipe (dobbeltbekkasin)

Log-tailed Skua (fjelljo)

Snow Bunting (snøspurv)

Red-necked Phalarope (svømmesnipe)

Siberian Jay (laveskrike)

my second NO tick of the year Little Tern (dvergterne)

Nesting Three-toed Woodpecker in Maridalen