Slavonian Grebes

Whilst we were at Hulvik a Ring-necked Duck was found in the north of Akershus County. This was a county first although there has previously been one in Oslo. It was too far for me to consider going for it when it was found but this morning I thought I would see the duck, then some Slav Grebes, Woodlark and Kingfishers. Well, let’s just say the Slav Grebes were nice 😊

In the garden there has been some drama with the Pied Flycatchers. After the nest was completed the male first sang little but then has started singing non stop and the female is nowhere to be seen. I cannot believe she would move off after having built a nest so assume she has been predated by either cat or Sparrowhawk. It is quite something to have a Pied Flycatcher singing in the garden and be able to follow his moves from the terrace.

In Maridalen the farmer has now tilled and sown on the Lapwing field and the nesting situation was quite changed today. Of the 6 marked nests that I saw last week only 2 were still present, a new marked nest was present and a fourth bird was sitting at an unmarked nest. A female was also in long grass and gave the impression of having young nearby – she chased off a Swallow that had landed to collect nesting material.

Slavonian Grebe (horndykker)

female Whinchat (buskskvett)

Wryneck (vendehals)

Grizzled Skipper (bakkesmyger) in Maridalen

and some pictures from 16 May that I had forgotten to post

a selection of birds on Maridalsvannet: Common Sandpiper (strandsnipe), Teal (krikkand), Mallard (stokkand), Greylag (grågås) and 2 Pink-footed Geese (kortnebbgås)

Swallows (låvesvale) on a rainy day at Østensjøvannet

6 of 8 Temminck's Stints at Fornebu

Wheatear (steinskvett)

male (Grey-headed) Yellow Wagtail (såerle)