Jack Snipe and Great Grey Shrike

I have been walking around the last few days waiting and expecting to hear a Yellow-browed Warbler and I can hear the call every time I close my eyes but it is all in my mind as one has not revealed itself to me in the living flesh….. yet. I would really like this to be my 200^th species for #Oslo2024.

Two classic autumn species has turned up though in the form of my first Jack Snipe of the year although unfortunately not in Oslo and Great Grey Shrike. There has also been a good influx of Common Snipes and with very damp fields at the moment there are lots of places for them to hide away.

Bramblings have started flocking in huge numbers on rape seed oil fields in Maridalen and there could well have been in excess of 5000 birds in one flock. There are also good numbers of geese with 250 Greylag and 150 Pink-footed feeding on oats.

Two surprises have come from the Dales largest and usually most obvious birds.

First, a family of 4 Common Cranes has appeared on one of the species favoured fields and I am sure this is the pair that has been hanging around every summer since 2018 but which have never previously successfully raised young. They are around in the spring and then normally disappear before turning up again late summer and I have assumed they have bred further in the forest but probably not that far from Maridalen.

Secondly, there were three juvenile Whooper Swans on this species favoured field. They were accompanied by a lone adult and nearby were a pair. I am quite sure that these are not the same young as I saw on 6 June (but not since) and if they are then they have done an amazing hiding job. Instead, I think they must come from another breeding site in the forest and the parents will be one of the pairs that are always chased off by the valley’s breeding pair who may well also be grandparents to these young. The young looked to be just accompanied by one parent so may have lost the other and the pair I saw were, I believe, the valley’s long reigning masters but who may well have realised that their days are over due to their old age and uncharacteristically were happy to allow the presence of other birds (although their typical territorial behaviour is probably more of a spring thing).

Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin) found with the use of the thermal imager

and a Common Snipe (enkeltbekkasin) that was some what easier to find

there are 6 Common Snipe in this shot

Great Grey Shrike (varsler)

the thin wing bar shows this to be a 1cy bird

Meadow Pipit (heipiplerke)

a Merlin (dvergfalk) eating what may well be a Mipit

a close view of a Brambling (bjørkefink)

capturing the thousand strong flocks though is not so easy

geese flocking on a partially harvested field of oats (havre)

here Pink-footed (kortnebbgås)

a Crane (trane) family in Maridalen which most likely represents the first successfully local breeding

and three juvenile Whooper Swans (sangsvane) which also represent local breeding although I am not sure how local

this female duck was noticeably smaller than the Mallards (stokkand) it was with and I wondered whether it was a hybrid with Teal (krikkand) but can't find anything in the plumage that confirms that