On the eve of

I write this on the last day of April and therefore the day before my favourite birding day of the year – 1 May. This day may not statistically prove to be that great but it is a national holiday and I will always be in Maridalen from dawn following the migration. What will turn up tomorrow? Red Kite? Black-shouldered Kite?? Pygmy Cormorant???.

Since my last post I have added the following to Oslo 2024: Greenshank #145, Pied Flycatcher #146 and Whinchat #147. So, 150 is definitely a possibility before the end of April. When I first started noting my Oslo list I thought 150 for the whole year was a good result!

Migration is delayed this year so we could have some good days ahead of us but unfortunately there is no rain forecast and just lots of sun so there will be no big falls of migrants.

In the Dale the swan drama has now settled down with the Whooper Swans on the nest and presumably incubating whilst the Mutes are on the other side of the lake. I cannot wait (a month) to see if the eggs hatch.

The male Three-toed pecker was still excavating the nest hole today and hasn’t come very yet. The entire chamber will probably take him a couple of weeks.

Svellet is looking scrumptious and now the birds just need to come. 25 Greenshank today was a 400% increase on the day before so it can just keep on going like that for a few days and we will all be happy.

variety in the Dale - Common Sand (strandsnipe), Green Sand (skogsnipe) and White Wag (linerle)

Golden Plovers (heilo) at Årnestangen

my first Oslo Greenshank (gluttsnipe) of the year!

I was as surprised as the Snipe (enkeltbekkasin) when I came around a corner and we made eye contanct

the male Three-toed Woodpecker (tretåspett) has not come that much further with his nest hole building

my first toad of the year

first Whinchat (buskskvett)

and first Yellow Wag (gulerle) although not in Oslo yet. A male thunbergii

and I bumped into this beauty

Tomorrow...

Friday was again a quiet day in the Dale as was Saturday and although I had high hopes for today with there being rain the cold northerly wind again meant no obvious arrivals. Tomorrow though…

I have visited the Three-toed Woodpeckers again and after following the pair around thinking they were checking out trees suitable to excavate a nest hole in they eventually led them to a tree they have already selected and I was able to watch the male excavating the nest hole. This is the first time I have found a nest hole this early and it will be exciting to follow progress. It is 4.5m up which is higher than I have previously seen but is still easy to view. Whilst excavating the male was entirely oblivious to my presence and I was able to stand under him and have splinters rain down on me.

I was on driving duty on Friday night for Jr Jr and friends so I decided to fit some nocturnal birding in before I collected them. It is still too early for the vast majority of nocturnal singers but I did have a Long-eared Owl singing and was able to get very close. It is amazing how quiet the song is close up and it is almost as though the sound get louder the further away you are from the bird. I also heard and then found in the thermal imager a migrating flock of Common Scoters so now feel like a fully fledged novice nocmigger.

Svellet is now looking very tasty and although the weather has prevented any big arrival yet there is now an interesting assortment of waders with Spotted Redshank, Ruff, Greenshank and Whimbrel now present.

 The swan drama in Maridalen has become very interesting with the Whoopers having pushed the Mutes permanently off their nest and one of the Whoopers (the female?) is now sitting on the nest as though incubating. Is she on the Mute Swan eggs? Will they hatch? The Whoopers (and I am sure it is in the same pair) first nested in 2010 and possibly the female is now too old for breeding but she still has the urge to? It is still early in the season though and in previous years I have not seen them on the nest until early May.

Also interesting was 5 Grey Heron perched together in trees in Maridalen. Although I saw no sign of nesting it is perhaps a sign that they are attempting to establish a new heronry?

Only one addition to my Oslo 2024 list and it was the predicted Wryneck #144. What will come in the next few days? Wood Sandpiper and Greenshank should well turn up and maybe Yellow Wagtail and Redstart.

Three-toed Woodpeckers (tretåspett) frequently search for food very low down on trees

tongue out

the female (white as opposed to yellow crown)

feeding on a fallen tree

the nest hole - about 4.5m high

whilst I was watching it was the male doing the excavating

just the entrance has been excavated. It will be interesting to see how long it takes to finish

from below

Long-eared Owl (hornugle) after sunsent

singing from a tree top

a Moose encountered in Maridalen

one of the Whooper Swans inspecting the Mute Swan nest yesterday (with the female Mute looking on)

and here the Whooper pair is seeing off the male Mute

and today a Whooper was on the nest whilst the Mutes seemed to watch forlornly from the water

a flyby from one of the Whoopers

wing tip grazing the water

my first, and a most welcome, Wryneck (vendehals) of the year

a rare visit this morning to the oxbow lake called Stilla near Lillestrøm revealed this male Pochard (taffeland) that has been around for a week with Tufted (toppand)

and also a newly arrived pair of Shoveler (skjeand)

Videos

There was some footage worth keeping so here are three videos of  Wednesday and Thursdays happenings in the Dale. I can also add that an evening trip that day added Shelduck to the list. This is a rare and way less than annual species here.

Time for another good day in the Dale

Cold northerly winds both here and, I believe, further south in Europe mean that migration has nearly dried up and until today this week has been slow going. I have, however, added 5 species to my Oslo year list and with three from today being ones I would classify as not guaranteed. Best of all though Maridalen has recorded a new species thanks to Halvard’s keen eyes and I of course duly twitched it although it took a bit of finding. Water levels are also falling such that we may have a decent wader passage in Maridalen (everything is relative…) and also at Svellet (up there amongst the best in Europe) so the next couple of weeks look to be promising.

So the new Maridalen new species was Little Grebe (Maridalen’s 225 species and my 206^th there). Although a relatively common species I had not seen this coming as I never thought Maridalsvannet suitable for the species. Birds can of course turn up on migration but it was a real surprise that it has spent two days – it is clearly finding food but hugs the shoreline and hides behind stones instead of disappearing into thick vegetation which it would do elsewhere. Other common birds missing from the Maridalen list are Moorhen and Pochard and we need to be looking out for these now.

The Oslo year birds have been Willow Warbler #139, Common Sandpiper #140, Whimbrel #141, Little Ringed Plover #142 and Slavonian Grebe #143. The Slav Grebes were particularly pleasing to see and today was clearly the day that species was on the move as there were a number of other records around Oslo.

Of the little migration that has materialised then ducks have been the most obvious with the first Common Scoter, Wigeon and Red-breasted Merganser appearing on the lake.

My eBird checklist from Maridalen today is here.

The Mute Swan pair is nesting on an island in Maridalsvannet but have as in previous years attracted the attention of the Whooper Swans who spend their time beating up the Mutes. The male Mute tries to stand up to the male Whooper but doesn’t seem to have a chance and I fear that the Mute Swans will fail but also that the Whoopers will not breed as they will spend all their time fighting the Mutes.

Close to the house a pair of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers have enlivened morning dog walks with drumming and “singing” and hopefully they will stay to breed although based on previous experiences they will move on.

 

I also took far too much video which I have yet to go through. If there is anything that evades the trash can then I will publish it later.

adult Little Grebe (dvergdykker) - not often I see them in this plumage in Norway

not often I see them in flight either and have never noticed this "speculum" before

Slavonian Grebes (horndykker) in breeding plumage are surely one of the best birds we have

here there was some display

dwarfed by a Whooper Swan (sangsvane)

part of a flock of 10 Curlew (storspove) that briefly landed on their way north

the swan drama. Here the male Mute Swan is getting a beating from the male Whooper

who then chased him around the island and then up onto it

my first Common Sandpiper (strandsnipe) of the year in Oslo

and a male Common Scoter (svartand) - I have never appreciated their impressive tail before

male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

this young male Marsh Harrier (sivhauk) headed north today and had me hoping for a good raptor day. But of course it didn't happen

2 males Adders (hoggorm)