Some urban birding

The last week has continued along well trodden paths with Maridalen’s current specialities showing whenever the Bird Gods deem me to be deserving. On Thursday I was out with Jack who was hoping to finally see Grey-headed Woodpecker which was a potential lifer. Jack’s well won reputation for keeping the birds away made me unsure as to whether to join him but I did and the pecker also showed. This needed celebrating and we decided to then head for town for some urban birding along the seafront before heading for a Christmas beer or ten. We were hoping to see an Iceland Gull that had been seen and then ringed last weekend but couldn’t find it. A bread eating Eider that clearly thought it was a Mallard and a couple of Wigeon were the best we could come up with.

In Maridalen I have also visited one of my old Hazel Grouse sites and found birds were still present (always good to have more than one site for this species) and at home a flock of over 200 Waxwings has been gorging on apples in the neighbourhood.

the small beach by the Opera is a great area for waterfowl and gulls in this winter

this is the Cormorant (storskarv) that was asleep in the above picture which was clearly not very healthy

this young male Eider (ærfugl) clearly thought it was a bread eating Mallard

it had been ringed at the same place on 21 September and has been there ever since

Mute Swans (knoppsvane)

Two male Wigeon (brunnakke) both of which were also ringed

this young male had been ringed on 22.11 nearby on Akerselva

and this is the male that was ringed in 2016 and has been in Oslo since

Blue Tit (blåmeis)

Coal Tit (svartmeis)

Crested Tit (toppmeis)

Great Tit (kjøttmeis)

Willow Tit (granmeis)

Nutcracker (nøttekråke)

a Groundcreeper (bakkekryper)

Waxwing (sidensvans)

this bird was ringed

Grey-headed Woodpecker (gråspett)

this bird with the red crown feathers seems to be account for all the current sightings in Maridalen and can move a few kilometers in under an hour

Great Grey Shrike (varsler)

and Pygmy Owl (spurveugle)

Urban Hawkie

 More birding lite yesterday with a trip into Maridalen and then a walk with the Beast in the neighbourhood. There were a few birds to see and a moose right by the road was a treat. The day ended on an unexpected high with a very urban Hawk Owl. At 8pm I got a message saying a Hawk Owl was sitting in a tree in a park after having been reported earlier in the day sitting on the pavement (having presumably collided with a car or a window). I had to pick up Jr from volleyball at 8:30pm which would give me 10 minutes on the way. I did not find the owl in those 10 minutes but did meet Knut Wagan and 10 minutes later he reported he had refound it and another 10 minutes later myself and Jr were watching it 😊

Initially perched high up on a spruce it then moved into a tree right by the road before then moving to a tree only 4 or 5 metres high in the in the middle of the road and only metres away from apartments. It was clearly looking for food and maybe there are rats in the area. This might also explain why it was found on the pavement earlier if it had plunged down into the gutter chasing a rat and had been hit by a car. I had taken the superzoom with me and given how dark it was I think it performed remarkably well. Later on in it was seen on top of the apartments, hunting from car roofs and ripping the head off a dead feral pigeon! Unfortunately it was not present again this morning.

this picture is taken with a shutter speed of 6/10 second at 20:45 and has transformed a dark park into a sunlight park!

here I was using the flash at too long range

this is with the flash at just a few metres range. Unfortunately the flash reflects off the snow flakes in the air

daylight picture. The preceeding two pictures are taken in the tree in the middle of the road to the left of the red car

Blue Tit (blåmeis) in Maridalen

male Bullfinch (dompap)

 

Coal Tit (svartmeis)

female Great Spotted Woodpecker (flaggspett)

Jay (nøtteskrike)

Moose (elg)

note that the left eye is an icy blue whilst the right eye is the normal brown colour. Note also the shape of the iris in both eyes

Red Squirrel (ekorn)

Teal (krikkand) in Frognerparken