Only ten years ago it looked like Blyth’s Reed Warbler was
going to establish itself as a regular, if rare, breeding bird in south east
Norway. It bred in Maridalen in 2015 and in my experience a surprisingly high
number of the singing males that turned up other places around Oslo ended up
finding a mate and breeding.
But then the upward curve peaked and a decline started with
the species becoming less regular. It is a classic nocturnal singer species and
also a late arriver and is often not found until us birders go on our nocturnal
trips when there is nice warm weather in mid June.
This year though the species was looking like it was going
to be desperately scarce with only 10 birds in Norway up until June 8th but
since then there has been a solid arrival with at least a doubling of birds.
One of these was found last night in urban Oslo by who else than Stig Johan (there are not many people who would go birding in the middle of the night where he goes) and
was still singing strong when I visited at 11am in a rain shower. They really
are one of our best singers and this bird put on quite the show at point blank
range. It was along a well vegetated stream under overhead wires by a car park
for busses - perfect habitat!
The weather forecast for the coming week is conducive to
nocturnal trips so maybe there will be more Blyth’s to find and hopefully a
River Warbler or Corncrake.
Blyth's Reed Warbler (busksanger) - I took a bit too long before I tried to take any photos as before this it was singing very openly
My negativity towards nocturnal outings didn’t even last a
day and Wednesday night saw me out for more pain. It all started when a Great
Reed Warbler turned up in a «what is this?» posting on Facebook. It was not in
Oslo although it was close to Oslo Airport and normally I would not have gone
for it. However, as it happened Mrs OB was landing there in the evening and Jr
wanted to surprise her by picking her up and getting some driving practice in.
So a little «5 minute» detour on the way home was in order?
The bird could be heard from the car park and when I walked
the 100m to where it was the song was so loud and so constant that I seriously
considered the whole thing was a wind up and someone had placed a loud speaker
in the reeds! This thought was only strengthened when I was able to walk to
what must have been only 5 metres from the bird and it just carried on singing
and remained invisible! Eventually though it did clearly change position and
then finally flew into a bush where it could just about be seen.
It
is a while since I have heard a GRW (this is my third in Norway) and I had
forgotten just how loud their song is. In the video you first hear the song and then get a glimpse of the bird
Great Reed Warbler (trostesanger) - a screen shot from the video
Buoyed by this I then decided to do just one more Oslo night
singer trip. Maridalen had nothing new to offer but in Sørkedalen the Blyth’s
Reed, Oslo #186, that had been quiet in the afternoon was now singing his heart
out in the garden of a farm at midnight. Add to that multiple Marsh Warblers
and a Reed Warbler and I had a four acro night. I do think this will
be my last trip though unless of course someone else finds something for me to
twitch.
the Reed Warbler (rørsanger) that is singing in the video above. As can be heard teh bird had a very varied song and I also do not think it looks completely right for a Reed. Could it have some Marsh genes?
In
Maridalen I feel I must have found the Hobby nest although am still to see a
bird on it (this was also the case for a long time last year).
Hobby (lerkefalk) presumably the male
I
could only find two Lapwing young with their parents yesterday and saw no other
birds although the crop has become so high that the incubating bird would be
hidden if it still present.
mum Lapwing (vipe) on the left and what seem to be now the only two remaining young which as can be seen are soon fully grown and were both frequently flapping their wings
On Tuesday and Wednesday I had a fantastic 24 hours
of birding and butterflying and have a couple of thousand images to go through.
I took my note-to-self to heart and remembered that there are a lot of good
birds to see in mid June if you travel a bit away from Oslo. Pictures that Per
Christian sent me of a displaying Mountain Marsh Runner he found at the weekend
were all I needed for a spur of the moment trip. I planned on spending the
night (and sleeping little) as I reckoned activity would be highest in the very
early hours. As it happened the bird was far easier to find and I was left with
a lot of time on my hands.
Butterflies
returned to my thoughts though as it was really hot and sunny and from previous
research I reckoned there was potential to find 7 new species. I found 4 plus
saw Apollo again and am very happy with that outcome. But birds did also figure
and figure big time. I literally stumbled on nesting pairs of what must be
Norway’s two rarest species of breeding birds. As far as I know these are the
only pairs of these species discovered this year. Both species have long been
written off as having a future in Norway but they seem to cling on by the skin
of their teeth. As observer coverage is so thin and suitable habitat so
extensive there is of course (many) more are out there.
I
will come with blog posts with far more information on what I saw but for now
here is a little update from Oslo:
Oslo
also has its own share of interesting breeding birds. Honey Buzzards and
Hobbies are back although actual nest sites are as yet unknown. Blyth’s Reed
Warblers have turned up (late) at a few sites and checking out a reported
singing bird today I found a nest building pair. This is the fifth time I have
discovered breeding of this species and it amazes me that such thinly spread and
very scarce birds so easily find each other. An Arctic Tern at Maridalsvannet yesterday
was most likely a late spring migrant and mirrors a sighting I had on the exact
same date in 2021.
In Maridalen a Lapwing is still sitting on a nest and
if the eggs don’t hatch very soon then I think they must be infertile. The fate
of all the broods that have hatched over the last 3-4 weeks remains a mystery to
me as the birds, including adults, just disappear.
In the garden the Pied Flycatcher saga took a new
turn. The male who sang for three weeks non stop eventually attracted a new
female and with a fully furnished house awaiting her she got down to egg laying
in record time. An egg a day was laid but yesterday I could see nesting
material sticking out of the nest hole and the whole nest had been turned
upside down with 4 eggs no hidden under material and in the opposite corner of the
nest. I can only speculate what has happened but suspect a cat has got its claw
through the hole (as has happened once before). I do not know the fate of the
female but the male was singing outside and entering the nestbox which does not
bode well.
I have also had loads of Oslo bug action but will have to leave that for a separate post. I feel now that I have too many photos t go through, too many exciting observations to share and not enough time (or patience) to do so...
Male and female Honey Buzzard (vepsevåk), the female is at the bottom
now the female is at the top
and here at the bottom again
note the difference in shape with the female having broader wings
and here the male is being divebombed by a Common Buzzard (usvåk)
pair of Blyth's Reed Warblers (busksanger)
with nesting material
this was clearly the male as he sang at the same time
Arctic Tern (rødnebbterne) - presumably a late spring migrant
Lapwing (vipe) still on the nest in 30C. She seemed to be crouching with her wings out and I wondered if she was trying to cool the eggs down
while walking in the woods I heard a sound that reminded me of a chicken. I had a good idea what it must be but seeing this chick didn't quite seal the ID
although seeing mum did. There were at least 5 young Hazel Grouse (jerpe) and mum was calling quite a lot to keep them all together. Only the third time I can remember coming across a family party
Hobby (lerkefalk)
male Pied Flycatcher (svarthvit fluesnapper). Not the garden bird but a nice photo me thinks
Tawny Owl (kattugle) whose presence was given away by the scolding Fieldfare (gråtrost) to its left
after giving up last year the Whooper Swan (sangsvane) have 4 young this year (one was on the other side of mum)
Icterine Warblers (gulsanger) came quite late to Maridalen this year but I think there are way more that normal although the fact that many are still singing suggests not many are paired up. This one sang from an unusually exposed perch
I find the song of Iccy to be very variable and must admit to often having problems ID'ing them with me on more than one occasion thinking I have found a Blyth's Reed or Marsh Warbler but to then realise it was "only" an Icterine
My lack of recent blog activity does not reflect a
lack of birding activity, to the contrary I have been busy with both guiding
and good birding. On Sunday I again had the company of local photographer Eirik
and despite rain and wind we had a successful day around Nordre Øyeren. Today I
was guiding David and Jaye again and this time with a focus on the nocturnal
singers. With a desire to see rather than just hear the birds I chose not to go
nocturnal (I also like my bed) but rather visit known birds and hope to see
them early in the morning. The day started disappointingly with Corncrake and
Grasshopper Warbler that had both been heard during the night deciding not to
make themselves known. The Corncrake was particularly annoying because I have
heard and seen the bird each of the last three days and even managed to take good
photos of it. Time will tell whether the birds had moved on to pastures new at
the end of the night or whether we were just unlucky. The morning definitely
ended on a high though with Blyth’s Reed and River Warblers heard and seen REALLY
well and then a visit to the Tengmalm’s Owl nest (thx Rune for the tip) revealed
a youngster ready to leave the nest. We also had many Marsh Warblers, Wryneck
and Rosefinch during the day. We will have a nocturnal trip later in the week
to look for Nightjar which you really have no chance of finding otherwise.
Yesterday, whilst reccying for today’s trip I found
a tatty 1st summer Little Gull at Maridalsvannet which is only my
third record there.
There are lot of pictures and videos to enjoy here so I suggest pouring a glass of wine, sitting back and enjoying. Don't drink too much wine though or you might think some of the videos have been taken without a tripod... 😂
Corncrake (åkerrikse)
River Warbler (elvesanger) my best ever views
and pretty good views of Blyth's Reed Warbler (busksanger)
young Tengmalm's Owl (perleugle) close to leaving the nest
Little Gull (dvergmåke) and Swift (tårnseiler)
and some videos taken with my phone recording the sounds
in this video in addition to the BRW can you hear Marsh Warbler and Common Rosefinch (which the BRW also mimicked)
cropped close up of Corncrake
more River Warbler
compare the mouth colour with the BRW lower down
when seen like this I doubt many would get the ID right
Blyth's Reed Warbler
as with other acro warblers it has a much more orange mouth
Tengmalm's Owl
Little Gull
picking insects off the water surface
with Black-headed Gull (hettemåke)
the weather has not been great for butterflies or dragonflies nor have I had much time for them but today I saw my first Large Skipper and Swallowtail
Large Skipper (engsmyger)
this Swallowtail (svalestjert) is only the second I can remember seeing in Maridalen and was in a real hurry and disappeared quite quickly
