The Hawk Owl has currently made Maridalen the most popular destination
for bird photographers in the whole of Norway. They seem oblivious to the other
treasures that the Dale holds though and yesterday I was alone with the likes
of Pygmy Owl, Goshawk and Pine Grosbeak before briefly joining the throng when
I was lucky enough to see Hawkie catch a shrew of some kind which is the now
the third type of rodent I have seen him take.
We are having a cold spell now before it warms up again next
week. Nighttime temperatures have dropped to -13C and despite it being sunny it
has not risen to more than -3C in the day. Despite this there are, to my
surprise, still hundreds of Fieldfares enjoying the rowan berries. Even though
they quickly strip individual trees of their berries there are still berries
galore and it will be interesting to see how long the flocks remain. A few
Redwing also remain but these very rarely spend the whole winter here.
Pygmy Owl (spurveugle)
Pygmy Owls are less showy this year which I believe has to do with what food they are hunting but when they do expose themselves then the local passerines often take exception
adult Goshawk (hønsehauk). This bird seemed far less massive than the one I saw a few days ago but it may just have been due to posture
Grozza
Yesterday I drove around a corner and saw a line of photographers in a field and then saw Hawkie on the wires between me and them so there had to be a drive by video (for the record the homo sapiens were at a very respectable distance from the surnia ulula).
staring intently at something
he then launched himself into the field and took something in short grass
which turned out to be a shrew
on Thursday morning the owl was being given a lot of space and hunt unimpeded
by the afternoon though an excess of enthusiasm had taken over
Bullfinches (dompap) are quite numerous although are probably outnumbered by the Grosbeaks and feed on rowan berries in the same way as there larger cousins
a Common Scoter (svartand) on the lake
2 female Common Crossbills (grankorsnebb) and a Greenfinch (grønnfink) on ice and snow where they looked to be getting water
and a male Crossbill and 2 Siskin (grønnsisik) doing the same
and Goldfinches (stillits) seemingly doing the same although there may also have been wind blown seeds
Goldfinches have been exceptionally numerous this autumn
with a flock of at least 300 in Maridalen and groups of up to 50 many other
places. They are of course a beautiful bird but not one I typically don’t spend
much time looking at other than to count them. Yesterday though when I was
looking in vain for Grosbeaks at Grefsenkollen I became aware of flock feeding
on thistles in a lovely golden light so I just had to take some photos.
Goldfinch (stillits)
Goldfinches are all well and good but I know what you really
want is some Piney and Hawkie both of which were sourced in the Dale yesterday.
I contented myself with arty shots of Hawkie
he was followed by a gang of photographers all day and he moved over a kilometre as a result. Because he doesn't seem bothered by people standing close by there soon develops a thought that it is OK to stand in a semi circle in front of him and have a good old chat whilst we wait for him to fly down and catch something (which is the photo everyone hopes to get). Of course by doing this he is very unlikely to catch something because no mouse is likely to stick his head out when all those noisy, and smelly, homo sapiens are around. In this photo I was watching from a kilometre away and the owl did actually land right by the photographers (can you spot him) causing them to have to back up to get him in frame. It is OK to quickly get a close photo and then move away but the problem occurs when he is followed for 6 straight hours.
Birding in Oslo is rather nice at the moment. Even though
the bird scene is not changing very much it doesn’t really need to when it
includes so many good birds.
The Maridalen Hawk Owl has rather predictably proven to be
way to popular amongst photographers and it is all getting a bit untasteful
with the bird surrounded and chased. Early and late in the day it is left alone
though as the good light in the middle of the day is also a key factor for the
toggers and it does seem to be finding quite a bit of food but in some ways I
wish it had never turned up. I was watching it early yesterday morning and
standing 60-70 metres away when it suddenly flew straight at me and I had no
idea what was going to happen but it crashed onto the ground just 5 metres from
me and caught a mouse!! This time it seemed to be a wood mouse rather than a
vole.
Grosbeaks are turning up in even more places and a male even
flew over Hawkie calling which was of course a rather moving experience for me 😍.
We had a dusting of snow yesterday which seemed to cause a southerly
movement of Fieldfares and Redwings but they are still unusually numerous feeding
on both rowan berries and on the ground although that will stop if enough snow
comes.
winter coming to the Dale
Hawkie perched 60 odd metres from me and has noticed something
here he crashes to the ground just 5m from me
he had clearly caught something as he was using his wings to cover it
he then flew to a wire with his prey before then flying to a tree to eat it before immediately returning to hunt for more
the long tail shows this to be a mouse rather than a vole
the owl being admired respectfully (this time) from the road
got the ski jump in the background
and the edge of the city and the lake
and Grefsenkollen
it's snowing!
this is when it starts getting out of hand
This video of feeding Grosbeaks is taken with the Bazooka using a trip and I am very happy with the quality
male Grozza
6 Grozzas
Brambling (bjørkefink) and Waxwing (sidensvans) and the Norwegian flag
a Whooper Swan (sangsvane) pair flew over the owl
the kink in the neck of the bird to the left looks uncomfortable but I have noticed similar kinks a few times before and the birds seem to be OK
