Auks

The autumn arrival of auks has always been one of the notable events of the Oslo birding calendar. The last few years though there have not been that many and Little Auks have been more or less absent. This has been due to a lack of strong southerly winds to push birds up the fjord which is also the reason for a lack of almost any other exciting seabirds. This autumn we had a small arrival of Guillemots at the end of September and probably a few new birds since then but there are just a handful of Razorbills amongst them. These small numbers are the result of a lack so far of any strong winds to drive the birds north so it has been surprising to find birds on Maridalsvannet. What I assume happens is that the birds have problems when trying to return to open seas and end up flying higher and higher and around and around trying to find their way out of the Inner Oslofjord and some end flying north as a part of this endeavour. This would help explain why I found a LITTLE AUK on Maridalsvannet yesterday despite there being no wind at all. This is my first record here and my only new species in the Dale so far in 2025.

Since Sunday there have been a lot of Little Auks turning up on the fjord. They have been flying north over calm seas and are clearly very lost. My theory is that storms associated with Amy displaced many Little Auks from areas further north and into the southern North Sea. These birds are trying to return north from whence they came and if they were far enough east then they will end up in the Oslofjord and if they continuing flying north despite the ever narrowing fjord they will hit Oslo City. Yesterday morning I was watching from Fornebu and saw a steady stream of birds arriving from the south and then flying around confused in circles and clearly one of these birds just decided to not stop and continue heading north before then seeing just forest and deciding Maridalsvannet would be a good place to abort the northward flight and contemplate its choices in life.

No other species are turning up on fjord so the movement is restricted to Little Auks although I have a hope a Puffin may also turn up.

 

Fornebu is getting very quiet with just a Kingfisher to liven things up and apart from auks Maridalen has had the first Pygmy Owls turning up which as usual coincides with the first heavy frosts further into the forests.

 

The fact I am writing about Auks in Oslo clearly means that I haven’t travelled to Værøy. Kjell has gone up but his messages today have not had me feeling jealous with not a wing bar or scarce bird in site. He does have two more days though… and I wish him luck but not too much.

Little Auk (alkekonge). They do not seem to be scared of people at all and also often feed (dive) right by the shore meaning they can offer great views

look at the legs right at the back of the body

a group heading north with the Oslo - Nesodden ferry in the background

here a group flew in a circle around Lysakerfjorden and were at one point flying over land

here with the offices at Fornebu in the background

they returned to the fjord and flew right past me

before all 15 landed right in front of me. They were calling which can be heard in the video above

the Maridalen bird. Completely unidentifiable in this photo but with a landmark in the background

a Razorbill (alke)

Guillemot (lomvi) and Razorbill together

this Guillemot was hoping I had a fish for it

here it almost felt like it was performing so as to be rewarded with a fish

and my first Pygmy Owl (spurveugle) of the autumn in Maridalen

it's very autumnal now

Kingfisher (isfugl) at Fornebu

Mute Swans (knoppsvane)