Back in Oslo and a Med Gull reunion

Due to the almost viral success of my Reunion posts I am sure that you, dear reader, are overjoyed to see that you have yet another one to read….

This one concerns a species that looked like it would become an annual if still rare guest in Oslo before suddenly vanishing from the record books. From 2011 there were almost annual records of Mediterranean Gull including three observations in Maridalen and there was even a breeding attempt a Fornebu in 2022 but after a bird in the autumn of 2023 there has been a complete stop in records, that is until yesterday (my bird at Nordre Øyeren earlier in the autumn doesn't count as Oslo). 

Yesterday' bird (it has not been reported so far today) was at Middelalderparken where the fresh water lake and lawns are very attractive for gulls to wash in and rest on. It gets too little attention though from birders though probably because we have lost our greatest larophile (Sindre Molværsmyr who found Norway's first Pallas's Gull nearby in 2014 has moved away from Oslo) and since his departure the number of interesting gull sightings especially those of the Large White-headed variety has fallen off a cliff. There are a couple of ringers who occasionally find an interesting gull or two but seem to be uninterested in disseminating the news to mere mortal birders. I do think though that there has been a real reduction in the frequency of rare and scarce gulls in Oslo - white wingers definitely are much less frequent not just in Oslo but in Norway generally. The one birder who does still look for gulls on a fairly regular basis, including trips to the tip at Alnabru, is Stig Johan Kalvatn so it was fitting that he found yesterday's bird on his lunch break. After he put out the message it was an easy bus ride for me with the bus leaving 3 minutes walk from one stop and being 3 minutes walk from another - maybe I should be looking for gulls myself...?

There were not huge numbers of gulls in the park yesterday possibly because the lake has, for a long time, been drained for maintenance and mostly resembled a muddy puddle but there was an interesting array of Lesser Black-backed Gulls of all age classes and appearance.

1st cy Med Gull (svartehavsmåke) when I first set eyes on it.

with Common (fiskemåke) and a Black-headed Gull (hettemåke)

three species in one photo. If the BhG had also been a 1cy then it would have been a very educational shot

the gull in the middle and another couple of admirers watching it

A young Black-headed Gull (hettemåke) that I think did a quite good Slender-billed Gull (smalnebbmåke) which seems to be in quite an advanced and abraded plumage for early October

a fairly pale young Herring Gull (gråmåke).  Species is easy enough (unless it is a Great Black-backed Gull in which case I will get my coat..) but what age is it? A 2nd cy due to the rounded primaries? With the uncertainty I have over these birds it is no wonder I normally stear well clear of them...

and a much darker bird that I have to admit to being unsure as to its identity. I had assumed 1cy Lesser Black-backed (sildemåke) when I took the photo but looking at the details on the tertials and great covert feathers I am unsure and it may be a  dark 1st year Herring Gull (gråmåke). A photo in flight would have nailed the ID

a 2cy Lesser Black-backed Gull (sildemåke)

and another 2cy LBbG

and what I believe must be a 3cy LB-b Gull but I wonder why it still has such pink legs. This bird is exceptionally long winged which is a feature associated with ssp fuscus. It were to be a fuscus (which is recorded extremely rarely in southern Norway) then it would have to be 2cy but I am now really getting out of my depth so will stop talking about gulls..

the first Great Grey Shrike (varsler) of the autumn was in Maridalen