Raptors at Årnestangen

Wednesday and Thursday were characterised by blue skies and a strong northerly wind which were conditions that I did not expect to produce very much whereas today saw a dying down of the wind and it even turning to the south plus it clouding over a bit. I therefore had no real expectations of raptors on Wed and Thur but high expectations today. As usual the outcome and my expectations diverged.

Wednesday saw me at Østensjøvannet where my raptor highlight was a male Marsh Harrier low over my head. There have been a number of records here so far this spring and with the growing breeding population not that far to the south east of Oslo I would not be surprised if they do try to breed here in a few years time.

Thursday saw me at Årnestangen and I walked out to the end for the first time this year. The high water levels meant there was no mud but some of the fields were flooded and this is where there were waders. An astonishing 51 Green Sandpipers had the company of my first 2 Wood Sandpipers of the year plus Little Ringed Plover, Lapwing, Curlew and Oystercatcher and the star bird a fine Black-tailed Godwit which has been found the previous evening. A pair of Garganey topped off the list of wildfowl and on the passerine front my first House Martin and Yellow Wagtail of the year were noted. In the field I thought the Yellow Wag was a Blue-headed (flava) but my pictures were useless and I will not claim it a such.

Raptors were the real highlight though and I had 11 species which I believe is a personal record. I had Golden and White-tailed Eagle, Common and Rough-legged Buzzard, Marsh and Hen Harrier, Osprey, Sparrowhawk, Goshawk, Kestrel and Peregrine. Barring rarities (and I really did hope to find either a Red Kite or a Pallid Harrier) the only species missing was Merlin which I saw in Maridalen both the day before and day after (today). Here is my eBird checklist.

Today was surprisingly quiet in Maridalen especially as messages kept ticking in from Nittedal to the east where there was clearly quite a lot going on. I did hear my first Willow Warbler of the year singing away and that in itself was enough to make my day.

looking out to Årnestangen from Snekkervika yesterday. High water and lots of brown vegetation

Maridalsvannet today. The ice is starting to melt around the edges but an overnight frost had caused a thin layer of ice to reform. The thicker winter ice will last a few more days at least

young (3cy?) male Marsh Harrier Østensjøvannet

Osprey (fiskeørn) in Maridalen

pair of Shoveler (skjeand) at long rainge at (for me) at Østensjøvannet

but at close range for some

despite lots od work having been done to try to make conditions more suitable for Black-headed Gulls these were the only ones that seemed to be nesting and there were less than 100 birds in total present. I think previously around 2000 paris bred.

this bird was apparantly ringed in Cumbria in December 2019 and has been seen there and Østensjøvannet annually since

2 Curlew (storspove) feeding in Maridalen is a rare sight (they normally fly over) although commoner with Whimbrel which will hopefully turn up up next week

there was a large group of male Goosander (laksand) at ØStensjøvnnet and they were diving as a flock in the manner of Cormorants

both the Mute Swans (knoppsvane) in Maridalen are ringed. The female (K933) was born in 2017 at Smestaddammen in Oslo and does not appear to have bred before although she was paired to another male last year. The male was ringed in December 2019 in Oslo as a juvenile but it is not known where he was born. He does not appear to have been in a pair before and has travelled quite a bit including to Tønsberg (69km)

The Black-tailed Godwit (svarthalespove) with Osystercatcher (tjeld) and Curlew

Garganey (knekkand)

ringtail Hen Harrier (myrhauk) at Årnestangen

this wagtail at Årnestangen was not very straightforward. It has been present (and previously photographed) since early April and on the face of it looks like a straightforward female Pied Wagtail. Only problem was it was making a lot of noise that I took to be song which should make it a male and

the rump was not particularly black

which I think makes it more likely to be an intergrade between Pied and White Wagtail

Ring Ouzels (ringtrost)