Svelling up

Since my last post I have seen quite a few good birds but have taken (thankfully?) very few photos so this post will be light on eye candy.

Svellet is once again showing its mightiness. Water levels have stabilised at a fantastic low level with enormous areas of wet mud and shallow water. Good numbers of waders are now arriving with ca.300 Wood Sandpipers and 100 Greenshank dominating. Distances and light are as always a challenge but conditions are not impossible. More spicy birds included 5 adult Little Gulls today, Spotted Redshank and Ruff. With no rain forecast in the next 10 days and little snow left to melt in the mountains we may have another 10 days, and possibly more, of ideal wader conditions. The lack of rain though is perhaps the only thing that will stop us getting amazing conditions as many birds will head straight over.

On Sunday the waders in Svellet were on the east side and relatively easy to see. Here amongst the Wood Sandpipers (grønnstilk) and Greenshank (gluttsnipe) is a single Spotted Redshank (sotsnipe). Today though all the waders were on the west side and are much more challenging to view

northern end of Svellet 5 May taken from the west side

and the southern end

A male Garganey was the result of a mini twitch (it is my favourite duck and in a poor spring for the species I was wondering whether I would see one) and a slightly longer driving trip with Jr (who takes her driving test in under a month) allowed me to check in on my GGO nest where the female was still sitting tight.

male Garganey (knekkand)

Great Grey Owl (lappugle) still incubating

In Maridalen there seems to be a Wryneck bonanza this year with two pairs and two to three additional males currently making themselves known. The Lapwing situation is that in addition to the three nesting pairs there is another pair on an adjoining field who have probably started nesting. Things have been rather disrupted though this weekend when the farmer ploughed the field. He is proud of his Lapwings and had marked the nests but I do not think he was particularly successful in avoiding them with the tractor and plough (as also happened last year) and today I could see none sitting.

the Lapwings (vipe) in Maridalen also have to deal with foxes

a week after I first saw a Wryneck (vendehals) pair prospecting this hole they were still looking at it although I am unsure they have made their minds up yet

this is I believe an unpaired male who was singing by this nest box

Otherwise Maridalen is not looking like it will have a particularly exciting May if this dry sunny weather continues. The fields are very dry and lifeless and for some reason water levels are very high in the lake and there are no muddy edges to attract waders. 

my first blue of the year, a Holly Blue (vårblåvinge) was an appetizer for next month when butterflies will really kick off

(Lesser) Redpoll (brunsisik) in Maridalen. It seems to be a good year for the species