I have been drawn back to Nordre Øyeren daily now in
the hope of uncovering something rare. The numbers of geese are just enormous
and you can see them either feeding on stubble fields or resting on the water
at Svellet. There are at least 2000 each of Barnacles and Greylags but probably
a lot more as well as 400 Canadas. Finding something scarcer amongst all these
has proved tough going but I have now found a single White-fronted Goose,
single Bar-headed, single Pink-footed and 3 Greylag x Canada hybrids. I have
only found one bird with with a collar - a Greylag ringed in Germany in 2021
and since either close to Oslo or in Germany.
I have spent too long looking at the Canadas and have got a
headache at the amount on variability amongst them with some birds definitely
looking «wilder» than others but all probably within the variation of size and
plumage of a feral population that probably has little genetic diversity.
White-fronted Goose (tundragås)
Bar-headed Goose (stripegås)
neck collared Greylag (grågås) D780 and its history below
this Canada looked very interesting from afar
but closer up I wasn't s sure
and this one while not being so dark also looked quite different
enormous numbers
Water levels have risen a lot due to heavy rain and there is
no longer mud in Svellet so waders and dabbling ducks have vanished but there
are now 4 Little Gulls and also 4 «commic» Terns (I remember as a child hearing
the term Commic Tern and not being able to find it in my bird book. It caused
me lots of confusion for a long time until I finally plucked up the courage to
ask an older birder what it was and found out it was from COMMon and ArctIC and
referred to unidentified birds of the species pair. I also remember very soon
after calling out “Commic Tern” and it being a white dove….). I initially
thought there were 2 Common and 2 Arctic but with better views have now come to
the conclusion that there are at least 3 Common and the fourth bird is also
most likely a Common. It has been quite a learning experience where I relied
too much on jizz and behaviour to start with.
a commic tern and 2 Little Gulls (dvergmåke)
3 f the 4 Little Gulls. All were 1cy
this 1cy tern with grey secondaries must be a Common (makrellterne)
I have had 10 species of raptor which is a good showing and
my first Great Grey Shrike of the autumn.
my first Great Gre Shrike (varlser) of the autumn which I saw eating a mouse
a very distant, but very smart, male Hen Harrier (myrhauk)
Peregrine (vandrefalk) and a pale Common Buzzard (musvåk)
this immature White-tailed Eagle (havørn) flew over Svellet
and a bit later I found it on a field that had previously been covered in geese with just a few crows for company
Merlin (dvergalk)
I have also had a couple of attempts to locate the Taiga
Beans but have failed. I assume they are still around as it would be record
early if they have already left and I remember that in previous years the GPS
tagged bird(s) have shown they have often used one particular field that is
very well hidden and that I have never tried to get to as I am certain it will
just result in flushing the birds – they may well be using it again.
I have only had a couple of quick visits to Maridalen but a
perched and then hunting White-tailed Eagle was a very good sighting.
the Crane (trane) family is still feeding in Maridalen
it is very unusual to find a perched White-tailed Eagle in the Dale
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
This post will inevitably include H & G but will cover
what was, for me, a very exciting experience. Thursday was a sunny day with a
thick frost covering everything and Hawkie was posing in a tree top when I
arrived. He was moving from tree top to tree top which I interpreted as meaning
there was no food to find and he was restless to move on but then suddenly he
launched himself out over the stubble field. I tried to follow in the camera
and just pressed the shutter hoping that I would capture something exciting. I
saw the owl hit the snowy ground and then could see a mouse running away from
it over the snow! I assumed therefore that the hunt was a failure but then saw
that the owl did have a mouse in its talons. It flew back up to the tree from
which it had descended and I quickly ran to get to a position from which I
could better see it with its brunch. In the few seconds that I used to reposition
myself the owl must have snipped off and eaten the head as my pictures show it
to have a head when it landed in the tree and to be headless once I had started
taking pictures again. The head or perhaps the brain does seem to be a delicacy
as I have previously noted a vole with a large hole in its head. The owl pulled
at the mouse a few times and seemed to eat some of it from around the open neck
area before swallowing the remains whole.
I was very unsure as to how my pictures, and film of all this
would come out as my fingers were cold and I had no real idea what settings I
had chosen on the camera but with the good light I have actually managed some
quite OK documentation.
Later in the day I had a pair of Crossbills feeding in a low
tree which also allowed me to watch them carefully extracting the seeds from
cones with their specially adapted beaks. There are still lots of Crossbills
and lots of cones and I guess egg laying will start soon in the New Year.
The cold weather is now set to end for a week so
Maridalsvannet that was in the process of freezing over may well remain ice
free until the New Year. It is proving very popular with Cormorants with upto
12 birds clearly finding lots of fish.A
family of Whooper Swans is also present and they have had the company of a late
Tufted Duck and a Canada Goose which I believe to be the injured bird that I
last saw on 18 November but which would seem to have just been very successfully
avoiding my gaze.
Yesterday was very birdless in Maridalen despite it being a
good day weather wise. I registered NO thrushes of any kind and finches and even
tits were hard to come by.
Hawk Owl spotting something
just before it strikes a mouse running over the snow
here we see the mouse in its talons
and here a mouse erupting from the snow
and running away over the snow which I had seen whilst taking the photos
I was very surprised to see that the owl had caught a mouse which must have been the one that was running over the snow. The owl that escaped was I assume under the snow and was rudely interrupted when the owl crashed into the snow to take its buddy
when it landed the mouse had a head
by the time I had repositioned myself the head was gone
I managed to film the swallow
this Blue Tit caught the owls eye but I don't think was in danger
male Common Crossbill (grankorsnebb)
and his mate
Whooper Swans (sangsvane) with a Tufted Duck (toppand)
and with a Canada Goose
Cormorants (storskarv)
Goldfinches (stillits)
did you really think you wouldn't see a pic of a male Grozza?
where there is snow it is very easy to see if Grozzas have been in the area as it looks like there has been a murder due to all the blood red berries staining the snow
still a work in progress - getting good pictures of Grosbeaks with the city in the background. Here the bird was momentarily in just the right spot but it was before sunrise on a dark day and me and the camera were not ready
