If it wasn’t for the influx of Pine Grosbeaks this late
autumn then it would be very dire out there. This period of time used to be
good for seawatching or perhaps an influx of geese but not this year and not
for the last few years either. Up until about 10 years ago we seemed guaranteed
to have a good storm which would result in lots of exciting seabirds. In recent
years these storms have not occurred or when we do get some strong southerly
winds they invariably bring very little with them.
The Grosbeaks might be brightening things up but they are
not yet settled and quite a few people have really struggled to see them, if
they have seen them at all. They are a very trusting species and often allow
ridiculously close approach as this video taken with my phone taken around one metre range shows:
and of course the obligatory selfie with Piney
But when they are in a flock they rarely make any loud
noises and can sit in the same tree for a very long time. It is only when they
are scared or decide it is time to move on that they will make loud calls.
Single birds are usually quite vocal as they are searching for their kin but
once they have found a flock to join then they too become quiet.
unfortunately when I encounter adult males it is foggy and dark
here the sun is just shining through the fog
this bird with a lot of red is I presume an advanced 1cy male but could perhaps be a 2cy male
although all the preceding pictures are of birds feeding on rowan seeds they spend equally as much time high up in spruce trees feeding on buds
and also in this instance in a pine
it was pretty foggy at Tryvann when I found at least 35 birds. Here the 118 high telecom tower is just peeking out above the fog
there have been some other birds. Here a Blue Tit (blåmeis)
here a size comparison of Blue Tit and Pine Grosbeak
Waxwings (sidensvans)
and a Mistle Thrush (duetrost)
this Meadow Pipit (heipiplerke) flew up from the ground in Maridalen without ever making a noise which makes it a scary pipit. I don't think its hind claws look particularly long but cannot make it into anything else
Luck is a major factor in life and no less so in birding. A
flyover bird will only be seen if you are in the right place at the right time
and ditto hearing a calling bird. Hard work and long hours in the field will
obviously increase your chances and knowledge of especially calls will help you
find a lot more birds but luck is still probably the single most important factor.
The last couple of days have certainly been lucky for me. On
Saturday as I got out of the car at home I heard a goose calling that I immediately
recognised as from one of the Bean Geese and I just had time to get my bins
from the car and see it was a Taiga Bean! – species 204 in #Oslo2024. Then today I was in the car in Maridalen when a message
came through of a Yellow-browed Warbler in Oslo. 12 minutes later I was at the site
and after a further three minutes I had species 205 on the list!!!! That was
where my luck run out though. The bird was by a kindergarten and I am not a fan
of hanging around places frequented by small kids with a big camera over my
shoulders… I therefore had my camera in my bag and after just a second of watching
the YbW I went to get my camera out such that I could digitally record this moment.
Of course, once I had the camera raised I couldn’t find the bird again. A
couple of minutes later I glimpsed it in flight as it was being chased by a
Goldcrest and this was also the only time I heard it call. Another 45 minutes
of waiting gave no other sign of it and the three other birders who arrived
after me were not lucky either. But I had been lucky 😊
Even if it was my worst ever view of the species I had at least seen it and it
was safely on the year list despite me having given up on seeing the species at
all this year.
Pine Grosbeaks are still being seen and I had eight in Maridalen
today but they are clearly still on the move and not yet settled although I am
sure that quite soon there will be some settled and reliable flocks.
still 2 months to go and my Oslo year list is 205 (203 post redpoll lump), this is a total way beyond what I thought possible
I have now lived in Norway for 23 and a half years. It took
me 10 years to see my first Pine Grosbeak and that was on the breeding grounds
in Pasvik, Finnmark but I followed that up with my first Oslo bird the next
year on 29 Oct 2012 with my first Oslo bird. That winter there were lots in
Maridalen although as it was not a berry year they were always feeding in the
top of the highest spruce trees.
Late autumn in 2016 there were a few birds in Oslo and then
autumn 2019 there was a proper invasion which was surprisingly followed up only
two years later by another invasion. Piney has long vied with Hawkey as my
favourite bird but I realise now that maybe I have seen enough of them…
Finding them is cool but twitching them as I did today has
lost most of its charm.
I had been suitably motivated by finding the first birds of
the autumn on Wednesday that I went on a long walk in the forest yesterday. I
was sure I would find many flocks of Grosbeaks as well as plenty of owls (ever
the optimist..) but had only a single Black Grouse for my efforts. Today though
Grosbeaks were being seen everywhere around Oslo and I joined others at the restaurant
at Grefsenkollen where a small flock was splitting its time equally between
eating rowan seeds and then flying into spruce trees and eating buds. Maybe
they see that there are so many rowan berries and realise that they have food
sorted for the next 6 months and think it might start to get boring so want to
spice up their diet a bit.
It was nice to see them though 😊
and especially adult males.
In Maridalen I failed to find any Grozzas but a flock of 35
Waxwings were nice. They were initially ignoring the rowan berries and eating
aphids and flycatching but in the afternoon were wolfing down the red berries.
A flock of 9 Common Scoter sleeping on the lake were my first of the autumn and
raises my hopes of a Long-tailed Duck dropping in.
adult male Pine Grosbeak (konglebit) in a sea of rowan berries
an adult female or a 1cy bird
look at all the liquid oozing out of the berry
they also fed on spruce buds
Waxwings (sidensvans)
spot the Common Scoters (svartand)
a beast of a Goshawk (hønsehauk) that looked like it could eat me
I am by NO means a plane spotter but I was intrigued when I saw these 4 vapour trails. A check of Flightradar24 showed apparently no planes in the area so they had to be military
the Norwegian airforce only flies F35 and F16 so as they are clearly not the former I guess they are F16s unless they are from a foreign military. They were flying NNE at a great height and I heard nothing from them
