OSLO BIRDER: Bopping geese

Tomorrow I am off to Lista for their annual Bird Race. This will be only my second ever visit to what can probably be fairly described as Norway’s premier birding locality and definitely the home of Norway’s most famous bird observatory. If I am lucky I will also win the evening quiz and be crowned Norwegian Birding Champion 2025 (after being runner up on my previous visit in 2017 although most likely I will be knocked out in the early rounds... The birding should be good though and with a bit of luck a rarity or two will turn up when we are there.

Local birding has been pretty good though this week although a hoped for rush of seabirds this morning after a night of strong southerly winds revealed not one single non-local seabird and the only real unexpected sighting was a juvenile Honey Buzzard battling into the headwind to cross from Bygdøy to Nesodden.

I have been to check on the Taiga’s a couple of times and found them to be on the same stubble field that they used for the first time last autumn and then also used this spring. This is quite typical that they will change preferred field in one season and then also use it the following 1-2 seasons and I would not be surprised if next spring they choose somewhere else. When they are on a stubble field they can be surprisingly difficult to count accurately and they have also had both Canada and Greylag Geese, and a hybrid between the two, in amongst them but in the end I concluded that the flock size was still 129 meaning no additions or depletions.

Visits to Hellesjøvannet with raptors in mind turned up trumps with a Red Kite and lots of sightings of Hobbies, Marsh Harriers and especially Common Buzzards with one “kettle” containing 18 birds.

I have only had fleeting visits to Maridalen but had a real head scratching surprise today when I discovered a family of four Whooper Swans on a field and then river (they were very shy) 4km away from where I had last seen the intact family on the lake. The young were large but not fully grown and I am sure could not fly meaning they must be the Maridalen family but I don’t know how to explain the sighting of 18 August and my subsequent sightings of just an adult pair or no birds at all.

Red Kite (rødglente) at Hellesjøvannet. Only my second in Akershus (I have had more in Oslo) and the first one I have managed to photo. Clearly not a juvenile but other than that my knowledge of moult and plumage in this species doesn't allow me to say any more

I was very lucky to come across this juv Goshawk (hønsehauk) eating what looks to be a Jackdaw (kaie) right by the road at the Taiga Bean place.

Lots more pictures lower down

male Marsh Harrier (sivhauk) at Hellesjøvannet who was regularly bringing small rodents to two juvenile that would fly to meet him and would catch the mouse mid flight

an adult Hobby (lerkefalk) catching a dragonfly whilst brave Swallows (låvesvale) try to chase it off

the wings have been removed

a bit of nictating membrane

Taiga Bean watching

V8 and kids are in the video but when they are distant and in stubble I cannot unfortunately see any legs rings

part of the Taiga Bean Goose (taigasædgås) flock

here with Canada Geese, a Greylag and a hybrid between the two

a family of Cranes (trane)

just a single Pochard (taffeland) at Hellesjøvannet and very few other birds including only 2 Great Crested Grebes suggests to me a lack of oxygen, and life, in the water. There were 3 visits from at least 2 Ospreys and they left with a fish each time on their first attempt which I reckon means there were fish at the surface gulping air