Musings on Grosbeaks

Most pictures of Pine Grosbeaks are taken of them munching rowan berries to extract seeds. This is not because it is where you always find them but because it is where it is easiest to take close photos of them.

This year they are spending just as much, if not more, time feeding in spruce and to a much lesser extent pine trees. There is a common misperception in Norway that they eat the seeds from the cones (like crossbills) which may well come from their Norwegian name, Konglebit, which literally means cone bite. However, it is not the plentiful cones that attract them but rather the small buds. I have also seen them eating buds on deciduous trees such as birch.

In the invasion of 2021 the birds were nearly just seen in berry trees as they also were in 2019. These were both good berry winters but siginficantly less than this year such that the birds were more concentrated and eventually forced into urban areas whereas this year they can still find countless berries everywhere. It therefore seems strange that they would spend so much time eating buds on coniferous trees this year but maybe there is an especially abundant crop of these too?

In the invasion of 2012 there were no berries when the birds turned up (slightly later than in the three subsequent invasions) and here I saw them nearly exclusively in spruce.

Grozzas are significantly easier to find when feeding in a low and leafless rowan tree rather than high up in a dense spruce which perhaps also explains to some extent why they are so frequently observed in rowan bushes. But there is clearly something else going on. In the years when they have come into urban areas (as these are the only places where they can still find berries) they could have remained in the forests eating spruce buds so maybe their ideal is a mixed diet but when berries are in a low supply but still available they will feed on these as long as possible which can lead them into urban areas where there is little or no access to spruce.

This video shows birds from the same flock feeding in spruce, rowan and pine:

male Pine Grosbeak (konglebit) nipping off a tiny brown bud from a spruce

food would appear to be much more abundant on the rowan trees

look at the berry juice on the bill

they often just slice the berries in two to reveal the seeds and if you see berries like this on a tree then it is a good sign that Grozzas have been there

here eating buds on a pine tree

Winter?

It is unusually warm at the moment. When we have a cloudless night then we get a frost but during the day it gets up to 10C and we are now forecast a period of cloudy weather when we will not have frosts although daytime temperatures will not get that high either. We have yet to have any snow and none is forecast in the near future. Most birds have followed the calendar though and left anyway although there are still large flocks of Fieldfares and some Redwings around although they always seem to disappear after a cloudless night and then reappear on a foggy morning so I think it is different birds that are still moving through from further north.

The Hawk Owl seems to have unsurprisingly moved on but there are still Grosbeaks to be found. Here are some pictures from the end of the week of the usual suspects.

this male Snow Bunting (snøspurv) at Fornebu was something new

but the Kingfisher (isfugl) is probably the same bird I see most visits

spot him?

up to 3 Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin) reveal themselves to the thermal imager. All Common Snipe seem to have moved on after a heavy frost but their small cousins are of hardier stock

a few Brambling (bjørkefink) are still around but are outnumber by the Beast from the East:

the Pine Grosbeak (konglebit)

adult males make up around a fifth of the numbers but are very unevenly distributed amongst the small groups. Sometimes there are up to 8 birds without an adult male and then you find 3 or 4 adult males in a similarly sized flock

Maridalen Hawk Owl!

I have settled into a birding routine this week which has resulted in my visiting Sørkedalen daily (a very unusual occurrence). The reason is that I have been searching for a supply of Hawkie in Oslo and have decided that in addition to driving around Maridalen looking for a roadside or treetop dealer I would also check out its larger and probably more suitable sister to the west. In addition to visiting the two dales I have also had daily visits to Tryvann to follow the progress of the Pine Grosbeaks and to Fornebu where I have a hope of finding a rare warbler but in reality just end up looking at Jack Snipe and Kingfishers although a Snow Bunting was an enjoyable find on Wednesday.

Now my attempts to find a Hawk Owl have not been successful and neither have I found any other tree top perching mouse eating predators such as Great Grey Shrike or Pygmy Owl so I do not think there are good numbers field vole this winter. Nevertheless the theory for Hawk Owls turning up in the lowlands this winter is that there is a cyclical low in bank vole numbers in the higher forested areas this winter and that the Hawk Owls are forced into the lowlands to survive on a diet of field voles. I do not know how correct this is but the arrival of Hawk Owls into the lowlands of southern Norway this winter was predicted so it does sound like the theory holds water.

Anyways, my failure to find one doesn’t mean I haven’t seen one 😊 and in Maridalen no less. I was at Tryvann looking for Pine Grosbeaks (it was glorious sunshine and there were a number of photographers on the same errand) but before I could find any I had a phone call that led me back to the car and heading for the Dale. It had gone missing by the time arrived but a bit of searching found it quite quickly and it proved to be high quality Hawkie and allowed itself to be enjoyed at a nice distance whilst it stared intently at the ground beneath its chosen perch. It made one unsuccessful dive for prey but I suspect it will move on tonight in search of a better hunting ground. A flock of 17 Pine Grosbeaks flying over rather made my day!

 

This is not just my first Hawk Owl in Oslo this year but also my first in the country. #Oslo2024 marches forward to 206 species (204 post redpoll lump) and 210 now looks like a possibility!

Hawk Owl (haukugle) in the Dale

More of the same

As soon as I had expressed my gratitude to the Pine Grosbeaks for saving the birding winter then they seemed to disappear from Oslo. None were reported at the weekend and on Saturday a whooping 502 were counted viz migging in the SW of Norway suggesting that the invasion was continuing and birds were still continuing dispersing south. I tweeted about the viz mig sighting and as I hoped it got British birders excited😊

To all British birders:

502 Pine Grosbeaks were counted flying WEST on the coast of SW Norway yesterday.

Just saying😉https://t.co/R3UJzTj3KX pic.twitter.com/sDQqd7lDq5

— Simon Rix (@si_rix) November 3, 2024

On Monday and Tuesday though I found there were still lots of Grozzas in Oslo, or at least in the Tryvann area. It would be interesting to know if these are birds that have been here the last two weeks or whether they are new arrivals. And if new arrivals have they come from the north or are they reorienting birds from the south coast?

Whilst in the forests searching for the Grosbeaks it is impossible not to notice the enormous numbers of Common Crossbills which are singing and getting ready to breed. There is quite a variety of calls and bill sizes amongst them which I assume means a number of different types (sub populations) are present in southern Scandinavia this winter. Some approach Parrot Crossbills and indeed I thought I had a pair recently but looking at my pictures I get more of a parakeet feeling.

 

Hawk Owls are also coming with an increasing number of records in lowland habitats with the closest now only around 30km from Maridalen 🤞🙏

 

an adult male Pine Grosbeak (konglebit) in perfect light

an adult female I believe due to the rounded tail feather

a 1st winter male I believe due to the red feathering appearing on the head

1st winter male with pointed tail feathers and red on head

adult female with very rounded tail feathers

they are never as photogenic when they are feeding on spruce buds

crossbill challenge. The male in the middle which was paired with the female to the left has a very chunky jizz with thick neck and a sizeable bill but is it correct for a Parrot? I am unsure. The male to the right is a Common

a pair of Commons

I don't see any real reason for the current split of crossbills into three species in northern Europe: Common, Parrot and Scottish and it would be far easier if they were all lumped in the same way Redpolls have been. This lump may have cost me two species for #Oslo2024 but also means I do not have to worry with how to assign this individual

Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin) can still be found

a 1st winter Pink-footed Goose (kortnebbgås) can be found in exactly the same spot on a stubble field every day this week. It has no obvious injury (although I have not seen it fly) but is clearly not completely healthy