The sightings and occasional thoughts of an English birder in Oslo
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Tuesday, 14 November 2023
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
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