OSLO BIRDER: Releasing my inner togger

The weather is all over the place again. Earlier in the week we had blizzards and snow is now around a half metre deep and even more where it has drifted. Today and yesterday we had blue skies, no wind and temperatures dropped to -21C in Maridalen creating magical conditions to be out in. We are forecast more snow on Sunday before temperatures then turn positive and we will have a lot of rain before it again goes below zero and everything will turn into an icy hell!

Yesterday I was at Fornebu for sun rise and felt my inner togger bursting to be set free. I was hoping to see the Beardies and as I looked over the reedbed the reeds were covered in snow, the sun was just rising creating an amazing golden light and the tits were not too far out. The low golden back light just looked magnificent and in my head I was seeing amazing, indeed prize winning, images with the icy breath of the birds visible, snow flakes flying through the air as they fed and amazing halos of light around the birds. Of course things didn’t turn out quite as imagined with a lack of skill, freezing fingers and a camera that was struggling but the best pictures do capture how it was to be there.

There were a least 8 Beardies and they gradually came closer and closer until some eventually came through the fence and were feeding less than 5 metres away. At one stage it became clear that a predator had been sighted and the birds all called and flew down just as a young male Sparrowhawk whizzed past me and ended up crashing into the fence. It seemed unharmed by the fence and flew off to a nearby tree with empty talons. The tits went quiet for a long time and were clearly hiding on the ground (in the snow) within the reedbed but eventually started making some noise although seemed reluctant to return to feeding exposed.

A week ago in the garden a Blackbird was taken presumably by a Sparrowhawk and this resulted in an exodus of all things feathered. Blackbirds which had previously numbered at least 7 birds have now only numbered, at most, 2 and the 30 strong mixed flock of House and Tree Sparrows was completely absent for 6 days and whilst most of the House Sparrows have returned I have only seen a single Tree. I am surprised the effect this single act of predation has had but assume that when they fled they found another garden in the neighbourhood with a better menu (and cover?) than mine.