Winter is still here and it is only in the middle of
next week that we are forecast to stop having frosts. Maridalsvannet is now
completely frozen again with the very small open areas where the rivers enter
the lake once again covered in ice. The fields are also completely covered in
snow and it will be a while before the Lapwings turn up again. There are
reports from further south of large numbers of passerines in areas that are
snow free so there seems to be a large wave of birds building up and waiting to
push north.
Yesterday I visited the Taiga Bean Geese again. It
is over a month since they first arrived but conditions are still not good for
them and one wonders whether they have put on weight as they need to do before
the breeding season. I expect them to be here for a couple more weeks at least
and this will surely be their longest recorded layover here. The flock had
increased to exactly 100 birds (don’t you hate it when that happens 😉).
There were no new collars/rings but X4 who I have previously seen was missing –
dead or just another place?
When I first found the geese I did not have time to
look at collars as they soon took to the wing and the reason soon transpired to
be young White-tailed Eagle that cruised over. I enjoyed watching the eagle it
then started thermalling and was mobbed by both a Buzzard and a Goshawk! Just
over 5 minutes later I noticed a large raptor thermalling in the same areas and
assumed it was the White-tailed again but no it was a young Golden Eagle!!! A
two eagle day is no common occurrence in this part of Norway. The Golden showed
was distant but showed well in the scope. Later I had both Kestrel and
Sparrowhawk so 6 species of raptor is a sign that things are warming up.
After this excitement I hoped to find the Bewick’s
Swan again but the field where it had been was covered in snow and there were
far fewer Whooper Swans there. I returned to the Taigas and they were now back
on the field allowing me to count them and read the rings.
At the start of the day I had intended to go to Aurskog-Høland
which can be very productive early in the spring but I decided instead to check
out further areas along the Glomma river instead. This turned out to be a good
idea when I came across a large flock of swans and geese in a snow covered
field. Amongst Pink-footed, Greylag and Canada Geese I fould a group of 4 Taiga
Beans and a single Tundra Bean. It is very rare that I find these two species
together and it allowed a good chance to compare them. The Taigas were large
birds and similar sized to Greylags whereas the Tundra was the same size as
Pink-feet who it associated with. Otherwise I was surprised by how similar this
Tundra was to the Taigas. It had a noticeably shorter neck but its bill shape
was very similar to the Taigas- The head shape was noticeably different though
with a steeper forehead.
Golden Eagle (kongeørn) - clear moulting in the flight feathers leads me to believe this is a 3cy
White-tailed Eagle (havørn) - I believe this is also a 3cy
Kestrel (tårnfalk). I had a wintering bird in January but this is my first migrant
The Taiga Beans on this years favoured field. The Taigas are mostly at the top with Pink-footed lower down
Taigas
a Single Taiga with Whooper Swans showing off it swan like profile
four Taigas with a slightly out of focus Tundra Bea Goose behind on the right
The Tundra Bean with Pink-footed Geese showeing its distinctive head shape with a steeper forehead than the Taigas. Also notice the short neck and similar body size to the Pink-feet
here one of the Taigas is behind a Greylag and you can see how similar in size they are
four species of geese (the Tundra is missing)
This video has the 4 Taigas and the single Bean
this neck collared Greylag was ringed in Sweden and has been seen there every summer since but has only once been recorded away from there which was in Nov & Dec 2020 in Holland as can be seen on map below
This winter is one of those old fashioned winters
that your grandparents will have told you about and that climate change deniers
will use as proof for their delusions. It is the end of March and it is still
cold and it is snowing and spring is still to come. I must admit that enough is
enough now though and having to shovel 15cm of snow this morning is I hope the
last time I have to do it for 9 months or so. But it is not just the weather
gods that are providing but the bird gods are also giving.
On Sunday birders and twitchers but few toggers were
out in force enjoying a couple of good birds found by some of Oslo and Akershus’s
finest. First Bewick’s Swans were found at 2 sites (this species has become so
scarce that it should be a national rarity now) and then a male Black-throated
Thrush turned up in a birders garden. I played it cool and waited until Tuesday
to go for them and ended up having one of those days that makes you think that
twitching has something going for it 😉
I did not intend to go for the thrush but the swans
were tempting especially as they were with a flock of Whoopers estimated at
over 800 strong so I knew it would be quite a birding spectacle. On the way I could
also check out the Taiga Beans and go for Woodlarks which I now knew were back.
A couple of Woodlarks sang high above me despite it being -5C, the Taigas
played hide and seek in an undulating field and then I was ready to go
swanning. The flock was on what looked to be a potato field. The swans were
arriving from the nearby river when I got there and I kept scanning and
scanning for the Bewick’s and it wasn’t until a good half an hour had passed
that I saw what I thought was two Bewick’s arriving with a small group of Whoopers.
On the deck though I only found one and over the next half an hour continued
scanning made me certain there was only the one bird present. A coupe of
bugling Cranes flew over which were new for the year but there was no other viz
mig to note.
It was now midday and I had intended to keep on
looking for swans and geese but thought what the heck why not go for the
thrush. It was an hours drive but 40 minutes of that was to get me back to Oslo
so it wasn’t really out of my way…. I had very good instructions on where to
park and where to walk to view the thrush without scaring it and when I arrived
I also found chairs had been put out and another birder was already there –
luxury twitching! She had only just arrived and not seen the bird but it only
took about 15 minutes before it flew in for just a minute and showed relatively
well before vanishing again. It seemed to be loosely associating with the few
Blackbirds in the area which had arrived just before it did. This is my second
Black-throated Thrush in Norway. After the thrush it was only a 15 minute drive
to see the long staying Oslofjord King Eider. Despite it being about 2.5km out
it was surprisingly easy to see in the scope and I even managed some video.
I might have twitch more often 😊
male Black-throated Thrush (svartstrupetrost) and the bill of a male Blackbird
Bewick's Swan (dvergsvane)
it was an impressive job by the finders to pick out Bewick's from such a large flock of Whoopers
the male King Eider (praktærfugl) at 2.5km range
Woodlark (trelerke) in song flight
some of the over 700 Whooper Swans (sangsvane), there were very few juveniles
Pink-footed Geese (kortnebbgås) coming into land
Taiga Bean Geese (taigasædgås) at the top and Pink-feet at the bottom
Great Grey Shrike (varsler) still in Maridalen
A Little Grebe (dvergdykker) has also turned up at Østensjøvannet. Here it is with a male Goosander (laksand), Coot (sothøne) and Tufted Duck (toppand)
The car has been in the garage for a couple of days
and I used the chance to bird Oslo by public transport including on the boat out
to Gressholmen. Despite damp, grey weather there was lots of life on
Gressholmen with displaying Shelduck, Red-breasted Mergansers, Oystercatchers
and Black-headed Gulls making lots of noise. 11 Ringed Plover was a very high
count and may well be the entire local breeding population. The coastal
breeding birds return early where as the birds that breed in the mountains or
tundra do not pass through mid May. Chaffinches were also back and singing and
it was pure heaven to hear them 😊.
I was hoping for some more unusual migrants such as Rock Pipit or Snow Bunting
but it was very quiet on the passerine front except for my first Grey Wagtail
of the year.
With the car back I paid a visit to Fornebu today and
could add Snow Bunting to my year list and in Maridalen I finally added Black
Woodpecker plus had my first Mistle Thrush and Buzzard there.
The Oslo area is still very much in the grips of
winter whereas places to the south but also inland to the north east have far
less snow cover. We are forecast to have temperatures below zero again next
week so there will not be any big arrivals of migrants for a bit.
here the male Shelduck (gravand) seem to be making the moves
but here it is a female chasing off another female
this video has displaying Shelduck and Red-breasted Mergansers (siland)
And this video has a sound I had not heard for over half a year
3 of the 11 Ringed Plovers (sandlo)
the Little Grebe (dvergdykker) at Frognerkilen now in near full summer plumage. Look how small it is compared to the (not very large) Goldeneyes (kvinand)
this gull caught my eye and had a definite Caspi vibe to it. It was ringed in Oslo on 26 July 2020 as a 2cy Herring Gull but the ringer also wondered whether it was a hybrid. Since being ringed it has been reported from exactly the same place year round
In my last post I predicted that I would see my
first Lapwing, Mistle Thrush and Snow Bunting this week. The week is still
early but the first two fell today along with Linnet and Twite and despite lots
of snow on the ground and temperatures below zero in the morning there is a
definite feeling that the gates have opened and nothing will close them again.
I have been following the plots of the two GPS
tagged Taiga Bean Geese excitedly the last couple of days and yesterday (a
sunny day with temperatures rising to +8C in the afternoon) I saw that they had
decided to head north again after a week’s holiday in warmer clines.
Interestingly they had split up the previous night and both birds had spent the
night feeding on fields (normally they roost on water) but the next morning
they headed north independently and followed near identical routes. I went to
look for them today and found only 74 birds along with 18 Pink-feet and a
Barnacle. I noted 6 collars which means 2 that I had seen previously seen were
missing - I still hope that more birds will turn up as the flock size is small
compared to previous years. Hardly any other wildfowl is moving yet though with
only Whooper Swans moving in any numbers and I noted no dabbling ducks apart
from local Mallards.
I went searching for Woodlarks but they do not seem
to be back yet but 2 Great Grey Shrikes were some compensation.
I saw Lapwings at three different sites today including 3 birds back in Maridalen. The fields are still covered in snow and they were stood forlornly on the ice. I suspect that they will now disappear for a few days but will pop in every now and again to see if conditions are suitable. All three looked to be males which would make sense as they usually return first.
a slighly later arrival date than the average
not much food to find there
Taiga Beans (taigasædgås), Pink-footed Geese (kortnebbgås) and a single Barnacle Goose (hvitkinngås) back on a south facing field where the snow has melted
in this picture the 2 tagged birds 5 (black right leg) & 6 (orange left leg) can be seen together as well as V8
6U on the right
their movements on the 19th when they ended up splitting up
and on the 20th when they both flew north and eventually joined up
small flocks of Whooper Swans (sangsvane) flying north made a lot of noise and gave a real spring feeling
one of 2 Great Grey Shrikes (varlser) which were most likely spring migrants
