Pygmy Owl with mouse and vole and still in the sun…

Yesterday was a particularly rewarding day. A start at Fornebu on a cold, wind free and cloudless day revealed all the bays were frozen and there was hardly a bird to see although I did hear Bearded Tits so we can only hope that they stay and start feeding high up on the seed heads rather than on the ground.

Maridalen was where the action was though. There are very few birds here too and although the lake remains ice free I only counted exactly 10 birds on it! A Guillemot (presumably a long stayer) and a Great Crested Grebe topped the bill. Passerines other that tits were hardly more numerous although I did not find the Marsh Tit – I assume the fact that the horse manure it has been finding food in is now frozen has caused it to exploit a new food source.

But it was a Pygmy Owl that stole the show and it performed to a group of generally well behaved photographers and the odd birder for pretty much all of the short day. And there are clearly rodents. I witnessed it take 2 Field Voles and a Wood Mouse with 40 minutes between each catch. One of the voles was eaten but the two other catches were stashed in a nest box for leaner times. It often was hunting right by the road where its two legged admirers were stood and after catching one of the voles it then flew with it at head height through our throng (a slight exaggeration we were never more than 10) to a small wood on the other side of the road where it ate in privacy before soon appearing high in a tree where it looked suddenly very plump and content and preened and enjoyed the sun.

 

Today though was if anything even better. Jack needed to add his 198^th species to his Oslo list so we met up to try to find the Marsh Tit for him. And we suceeded in finding two! The usual quiet bird by the horses and only 300m away a very loud bird. We saw and heard this bird long enough to be confident that it was single so my theory of a single bird and a pair does not look to hold water but two separate single birds is interesting. Why do they not hang out together?

We also had great views of the Pygmy Owl in lovely golden light and had it catch a Field Vole right in front of us and generally go about its business seemingly completely unaffected by out close presence.

I’ll start with documentation of today’s events: 

Pygmy Owl (spurveugle) with freshly caught Field Vole (markmus)

the new and noisy Marsh Tit (løvmeis) which can be heard in the video

and the other mostly silent bird which doesn't seem to move far at all

Yesterday in chronological order:

first seen perched quite high

it then flew  into this nest box but without taking anything in. Through a crack in the side of the box it could be seen moving around and was in there for a few minutes.

after it came out it was searching for food in the area of the nest box and right by the road and a number of admirers

here it has taken a Wood Mouse (småskogmus) from the ground and flown up into the tree

much longer tail and larger ears on a mouse than a vole

the mouse has been repositioned and the owl is ready to fly..

..over 50m back to the nest box

here it can be seen inside. I believe it deposited the mouse in one of its larders rather than eating it

but there is no obvious layer of dead rodents or birds covering the base of the box although there could of course be some to the left

peering out

plunging down to a branch under the box

and immediately in hunt mode again

here it had clearly heard something and was leaning further and further forward

and (s)hes off

it disappeared into the dead grass but this shot just about shows the vole in its talons

here it has taken control of, and killed, the vole and is getting ready to take off

a plump and content owl enjoying the sun after having eaten this vole rather than storing it