A pastic lifer lifer..

This weekend I was in Amsterdam on a strictly non birding trip but one that did result in a lifer in the form of a flock Alexandrine Parakeets which have established themselves in the city alongside the far more numerous Ring-necked Parakeet. I also had Firecrest and Short-toed Treeceeper so not bad for a no bins or camera weekend.

Whilst I was away a Dusky Warbler was found at Fornebu which I looked for yesterday but it seemed to have done a bunk. Like the bird I found at Østensjøvannet last autumn this bird was also apparently super skulky and despite being seen (and heard) by 4 people did not allow itself to be photographed.

Fornebu did give me a new Norwegian bird in the form of a Ring-necked Parakeet but this species is not yet established in the country and all birds are believed to be recent escapes and are therefore untickable but the frequency of observations is increasing so there may be something else going on. Otherwise there were a few Bearded Tits.

Maridalen has revealed Pygmy Owl and today a very late flock of migrating Pink-footed Geese. Temperatures have now fallen below zero both day and night and with the ground frozen it was perhaps not surprising that a thermalling trip last night did not reveal any Woodcock. A trip last Thursday revealed 7 birds though which was a huge increase over previous counts and probably represented birds from further north making there way south ahead of the coming freezing conditions. A House Sparrow today suggests that they are establishing themselves and I look forwards to seeing if I can prove breeding next spring.

I visited Østensjøvannet today which I expected to be frozen but there was only a bit of ice on the edges and in the south. There were very few birds but a couple of Great Crested Grebes had surprisingly returned after the ice had melted following the previous complete ice over last week.

male Bearded Tit (skjeggmeis)

female

and another male

a young male House Sparrow (gråspurv) in Maridalen. Perhaps the best picture I've ever taken of a species I normally spend little time on

ca.300 Pink-footed Geese (kortnebbgås) heading south over Grefsenkollen

Pygmy Owl (spurveugle)

this male Wigeon (brunnakke) at Østensjøvannet thinks he is a Mallard

whereas this (young?) female seemed to know who she was

one of the Grey-headed 'peckers in Maridalen on Friday

and a video from last Thursday with the thermal imager of a Woodcock seemingly not bothered by a runner and 2 dogs passing no more than 7 meters away