Nordre Øyeren warming up for the autumn

I think we may be up for a very good autumn around Nordre Øyeren. As I wrote yesterday there are lots of ducks and geese using Svellet – the ducks (mostly Teal) are feeding there whilst the geese come into rest but are feeding on nearby harvest fields. Yesterday I discovered one of the fields that the geese (primarily Barnacles) are using and here there were also many raptors and Cranes. I assume there is lots of spilt corn which the geese and Cranes like but also rodents because the raptors (3 juvenile Marsh Harriers and at least 9 Common Buzzards) seemed to have no problem finding food. The harriers were quartering the field but the Buzzards were mostly just walking around and pouncing on prey. At least one juvenile Peregrine and 2 Hobbies were also in the area and it was particularly birdy. Amongst the geese was an interesting Canada Goose that I first noticed flying in when it was noticeably darker and slightly smaller than its compatriots but once on the field it was more difficult to find and the raptors, and my search for something rare, took my attention and I never formed an opinion on the goose. I was hoping to find a harrier other than a Marsh but failed although I am sure that with regular coverage something else will turn up. I also expect that Rough-legged Buzzards will soon discover the field as they migrate through the area.

There are rather surprisingly still some unharvested fields as well and one of these clearly also had a lot of rodents as another two Marsh Harriers were constantly hunting over it. Both these birds were second calendar birds – a male and a female.

If the stubble fields remain as stubble (i.e they don’t get ploughed this autumn) then they could continue to attract both geese and raptors until November or December depending on the weather. The passage of proper wild geese has yet to start and if Pink-feet discover these fields then there could be many thousands of geese still to come.

Numbers of waders using Svellet have fallen dramatically but a Black-tailed Godwit was briefly present as was the Little Gull and terns so there is still non-waterfowl potential. A Great White Egret was also present nearby but only visible very distantly.

2cy male Marsh Harrier (sivhauk) with a Hooded Crown (kråke). The dark secondary feathers are remaining juvenile feathers whilst the grey feathers are adult feathers

2 1cy/juvenile Marsh Harriers in the birdy field having a rest from their quartering

2cy female Marsh Harrier. Two generations of secondaries are clearly visible

the 2cy male quartering the unharvest field

many hundreds of Barnacle (hvitkinngjess) and some Greylags (grågjess) on their way from the field where they had been feeding to Svellet for a rest

this Common Buzzard (musvåk) was hovering over the unharvested field whereas those using the stubble field were mostly just walking around

the interesting Canada Goose. It has a dark breast and darker flanks compared to the normal feral Canadas and is also slightly smaller. It is possible that it is a wild bird but there are also feral birds of other subspecies and strange hybrids knocking around in Holland so it is impossible to know especially with only these grainy photos

a late(ish) Red-backed Shrike (tornskate)

Early trip to the mountains

the view from Venabu towards Rondane. There should be lots more snow at this time of the year

At the weekend I joined Per Christian for a trip to his cabin in the mountains of Ringebu, 3 hours drive north of Oslo. This was a repeat of a very enjoyable trip in 2022.

 

On the way up we stopped at Starene which is such a great place and I so wish it was closer to Oslo. There were close to 1000 Pink-footed Geese and amongst them we picked out 3 Tundra Beans. The real highlight though was when a young White-tailed Eagle flew in. It flew slowly over the geese, before almost hovering at about 30m altitude and then diving into the panicking geese. Amazingly it took one in flight and then landed with it just out of sight for us (due to a ridge in the field). For some reason it soon flew up minus the goose so presumably the goose somehow escaped the eagle talons once they were on the deck.

Ebird checklist here.

White-tailed Eagle (havørn) with a Pink-footed Goose (kortnebbgås)

the flooded fields at Starene with Pink-footed Geese above them

 

After this we visited the Taiga Beans at their second Norwegian staging post. This site is rarely visited but is in fact just as traditional as the one closer to Oslo and they also use a far more limited area here with just the same couple of fields used each year. They were mixed in with some Pink-feet and difficult to see but there were ca.80 birds so presumably the whole flock was there and I saw the two with neck collars.

 

After this we went owling. A stop at a Ural Owl nestbox revealed no birds but the thermal imager strongly suggested there was a bird inside. After this we then intended to see lots of Great Grey Owls as we drove forest tracks at dusk. That wasn’t to be the case though and we had precious few other birds which was also to be the case at the cabin. The cabin is at about 950 metres and as expected there was still snow but not very much and there were many bare patches in the mountains. But neither in the mountains or down in the valley could we find many birds over the weekend. No grouse of any kind, and just a few Mistle Thrushes and Chaffinches of migrants. A single Siberian Jay on the feeders at the cabin was of course much appreciated but it was a brief visit and a Golden Eagle was very distant. We also went owling in the area and had definite plans to hear Eagle Owl. The owl was not aware of our plans though but a Tengmalm’s did show well and we had a daytime  Hawk Owl.

On the way back a stop at the Lågendelta in Lillehammer gave a few early migrant waterbirds with 4 Rock Pipits being the highlight.

Ebird checklist here.

the White-tailed Eagle hovering above the geese

and the stooping

it then singled out a bird

this is about a minute later when it flew up prey less

a closer up of the geese as they flew around following the eagle putting them all up

after the geese eventually settled there were quite a few Barnacles (hvitkinngjess) and three Tundra Beans (tundrasædgås) amongst the Pink-feet

same bird

and a second bird with its orange feet allowing it to be easily picked out from the Pink-feet

Taiga Bean Geese in the damp corner of a stubble field where there was rough grassland - a typical habitat

this bird was very distinctive and had me thinking 2cy Greenland White-front for a bit due to all orange bill, slight white around the bill and dark plumage

here it is again. It was a very large bird though so must have been a Taiga Bean but I cannot remember having seen it before

3 Taiga Beans and a Pink-foot

a mixture

Siberian Jay (lavskrike)

Tengmalm's Owl (perleugle)

Hawk Owl

northern lights over Lillehamer

and a much weaker display over the mountains

The Big Pink Day

The last week saw the greatest migration day of the spring, at least as far as quantity is concerned, when the Pink-footed Geese decided that conditions were favourable and took off on mass from Denmark early in the morning before passing over Oslo some hours later. Thursday was the day and is the earliest ever date for the big day which 30-40 years ago used to occur in the first week of May. Over the course of 3 hours I counted over 9000 birds heading first NNE over Maridalen and then after the wind changed from southerly to northerly they started heading ENE. I made a real effort to check every flock hoping for something white or red but could only find a few Barnacles and just a single Greylag amongst them. When you spend so long scanning the skies you expect to notice other signs of viz mig but amazingly apart from some Wood Pigeons and some gulls I just had a single Buzzard and two Sparrowhawks which were probably local birds.

Passerine migration has picked up slightly with a few Mistle Thrushes, Twite and Reed Buntings now around in Maridalen but it can feel very birdless at times.

My major excitement this week has been with owls again but they will be the subject of their own post very soon.

hundreds of Pink-footed Geese (kortnebbgås) streaming over Maridalen on Thursday

here with a Barnacle Goose (hvitkinngås) amongst them

the juvenile Common Crossbills (grankorsnebb) are growing and will probably leave the nest within a week. Note however that they have yet to develop the crossed bill of their parents

food time

with the sunny days there are suddenly insects and Goldcrest (fuglekonge) are appearing openly in bushes to exploit this new food source

Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers (dvergspett) are getting quite vocal as they search for mates. I had two very noisy birds yesterday which as far as I could see were both females

a pale Buzzard (musvåk)

my first Adder (hoggorm) of the year

and my first Oslo Small Tortoiseshell (neslesommerfugl)