Back in Oslo I am now getting tired of winter. We have had
one of the longest cold spells in Oslo for many, many years and there is no indication
of it stopping. Temperatures have not risen above zero since 20 Jan and since 1
Jan we have only had plus temperatures on 16 – 19 Jan. Although I always say
that I like “proper” seasons it does get a bit boring when nothing changes. One
possible upside from this long winter is that we will get a much more noticeable
beginning to spring migration when the thaw finally comes. One thing for sure
is that we will not be seeing an early arrival of the Taiga Beans this year.
On Tuesday I had my first owling trip of the year, a year
and a day since the first trip of 2024 which produced 11 singing Tengmalm’s.
Owling conditions were good with no wind and temperatures of -14C but there was
no moon which may or may not (depending on who you speak to) be an important
factor. The result of the evenings endeavour’s was just a single Tengmalm’s
which sang constantly and could be heard at over 2km range but which was not
close to the road. It is still early in the spring but this disappointing
result is I believe due to a collapse in the rodent population but there is
still time for things to change and there are always local variations.
In Maridalen I have seen Pygmy Owls in three different locations over the last three days and all sat
high and were easy to see which is how it should be.
I am guiding this weekend and on Sunday we will drive up to
the taiga areas in Hedmark with the hope of Hawkie, Piney and Sibe Jay. It is
forecast to be sunny with little wind but very cold but these should be good conditions.
I have had a chance to go through my Tromsø pictures on the
computer so present a few more here.
a close Pygmy Owl (spurveugle)
Moose are becoming easier to see in Maridalen but luck is still needed
the Østensjøvannet Water Rails (vannrikse) have not been that easy to see so far this winter but this one showed well
Common Eiders (ærfugl) in Tromsø
a Queen Eider (praktærfugl) with her Common cousinns
from the left: female Common Eider, 2 different looking Queens, a young male Common and an adult male Common
Our first mid winter trip to Tromsø has been a resounding success. We arrived at the end of Sami Week, an annual celebration of all things Sami, and got to see the Norwegian Championships in both lasso throwing and Reindeer racing. The reindeer racing happened on a snow lined downtown street on a 201m course. It was explained that 201m is the internationally defined distance for the sport but no explanation was given for why. A skier holds on to the reins whilst the animal runs and covers the distance in around 17 seconds. It all looked great fun although the animals didn’t exactly look thrilled whilst being harnessed up. Animal welfare was not mentioned once..
The Northern Lights also put on a show and this is one of the main reasons the City has become such a popular winter tourist destination and the streets were heaving with winter clothed tourists from ever corner of the globe. This tourism results in hotel prices going through the roof and rented accommodation being used for Air BnB rather than for locals or students who need it and is causing quite a lot of resentment among many natives.
I put on a «show» for the 100 or so students in Junior’s 8 storey high student block when whilst making food I slightly burnt some mince causing the smoke alarm to go off and the whole building to be evacuated. The fire brigade arrived within 10 minutes and were very good about it - I even think they were grateful to me for being given something to do on an otherwise boring Sunday evening ☺️
But what about the birds I hear you say. Well, they were tip top super. King Eiders and an adult Iceland Gull topped the bill and all seen whilst walking from Junior’s into town. Passerines are of course going to be in short supply in winter this far north but an abundance of rowan berries resulted in small flocks of Waxwing and and most surprisingly a Redwing which would be an exceptional mid winter sight even in Oslo.
The trusted superzoom and mobile phone resulted in the following documentation of the delights of Tromsø (this is done at the airport and I may come with some better edited photos later):
King Eider (praktærfugl) pair
Adult Iceland Gull (grønnlandsmåke)
Fieldfare (gråtrost)
Redwing (rødvingetrost)
I saw no divers in the field but this Yellow-billed was in Tromsø Museum
Where I also had my best ever «views» of a Gyr Falcon (Jaktfalk)
According to accepted Norwegian birding wisdom Shags (toppskarv) never perch like this…
Purple Sandpiper (fjæreplytt)
Herons have been roosting in the heronry trees by Junior’s flat all winter and they were present and noisy when we were there
The first week of February is done and dusted and I cannot
say that things have got better yet. A Wood Pigeon flying north may count as my
first spring migrant of the year although could have just been an
overwintering bird moving between
feeding sites and I did have a Greylag a couple of weeks ago that may also qualify
for that distinction. Although why either of these birds would be heading north
when temperatures are still constantly way below zero is anyone's guess.
A Black Woodpecker gave a nice performance on Thursday as
both it and a Great Spotted were seemingly finding lots of food in some dead
spruce trees. Otherwise it has really just been same old, same old. A trip to
Tromsø this weekend to see Jr fills me with the promise of finding white-winged
gulls and rare eiders but will probably be a failure judging by the lack of records
of anything exciting on either eBird or Artsobservasjoner.
this Grey Heron (hegre) had found some open water but I don't think there were any fish for it
whereas this Water Rail (vannrikse) was happy to eat porridge oats that had been put out for it
adult male Goshawk (hønsehauk) back in a favoured tree in Maridalen suggests his mind is turning to the breeding season and we may soon see some display
And these are still easy to find and for the first time in sunshine:
The last week of January has been quite like the preceding
three, i.e uninspiring, with the exception of reacquainting myself with my Hazel
Grouse. We can now look forward to February with hopefully some cloudless,
freezing cold, nocturnal trips interrupted only by the sound of trees cracking
in the cold, owls of various sightings hooting and northern lights flickering
overhead. By the end of the month the very first spring migrants will also with
luck have arrived and then we can really look forward to the spring and all the
bounties it brings.
I have had a few walks in the forest but it is incredibly
quiet there with, other than the HG, hardly a bird to see or hear. There are
ZERO finches in the forest and even in more suburban areas with feeders there are
hardly any so a flock of 18 Hawfinches that I came across at Østensjøvannet one
day was quite a surprise.
A noisy Nutcracker (nøttekråke) was one of only a handfull of birds seen on my forest walks but it is always a good bird to see.
the Pygmy Owl (spurveugle) has become harder to see again and when it does give itself up it is usually high up as here with a Magpie (skjære)
Mallards (stokkand) at Østensjøvannet
where this female Teal (krikkand) is still hanging around
and where with some patience Water Rails (vannrike) can be seen
an unusually large flock of Hawfinch (kjernebiter)
Woodpeckers are not really making themselves known yet although I have heard a drumming Great Spotted and this female Black Woodpecker was making a lot of noise hacking away at a dead tree trunk
In my last post on Hazel Grouse I wrote about how “my”
reliable and easily accessible pair had vanished with my last sighting in the
early spring of 2024. I have only visited the area a few times since then but
have drawn a blank each time but have always had high hopes that I would find
birds again as I consider the habitat to be absolutely perfect for the species.
Getting a bit tired of searching for Jack Snipe and Pygmy Owl yesterdy I wanted
a change of scenery and a walk in the forest and decided to head for the Hazel
Grouse area. The forest is dead silent this winter with NO finches of any
description and even tits are hard to come by. It therefore brought a huge
smile to my face when I heard the thin whistle of a male HG. And it was in
exactly the same trees where I have had many close encounters with “my” pair.
With it being close to two years since my last sighting here I naturally
assumed that this was a new pair that had taken over this prime piece of real
estate but they were a very confiding pair allowing me to stand under them and
noisily crunch around in the snow (this was behaviour that the previous pair
displayed but which I do not otherwise associate with the generally shy
species). I then checked my photos and the male lacks an obvious red eyebrow
exactly as the previous male did and the female has a particularly dark throat
as the previous female did. So, are they same birds that have just evaded me
for all this time? Is one of them the same and has brought a new mate back to the
territory or are they both new birds? I guess we can never know for sure but if
they hang around through the spring then their behaviour and especially how
close they allow me to approach will give some strong indications.
Today, Thursday, I paid another visit and found the male
feeding on the ground. He allowed such close approach that I am feeling quite
confident that it is my boy.
Most importantly it looks like I may be able to add Hazel
Grouse back onto my list of highly likely species for guiding 😊
male Hazel Grouse (jerpe)
and the female. Her dark throat can be seen better in the video below
