Winter has regained its grip on the land and nighttime
temperatures in Maridalen are falling to -13C and it remains negative in the
day despite blue skies and sunshine. Many of the resident birds are very active
singing and displaying but any hope of early migrants has been put on hold.
In the forest I spent some quality time with the male Hazel
Grouse that we viewed last Tuesday when guiding but now I have been able to
watch him in sunlight. He appears to be unpaired but has a good territory that
has held Hazel Grouse in at least the two decades I have visited the area.
Hawfinches have returned to breeding areas in Maridalen and
are banging out their squeaky “song” and I was able to see some quite well at a
feeding station.
male Hazel Grouse (jerpe)
it doesn't seem right to see such a large bird clambering around on such thin branches
female Hawfinch (kjernebiter)
and a more colourful male
the male with a Greenfinch (grønnfink) that seems tiny in comparison
Crested Tit (toppmeis)
female Greenfinch
and male
female Siskin (grønnsisik)
and male
male Brambling (bjørkefink) - unusually many have wintered in and around Oslo
Bullfinch (dompap) and Bramblings
female Blackbird (svarttrost) - I don't remember so many wintering in Maridalen before
Jays (nøtteskrike) are starting to "sing" and can sound like Goshawk, Buzzard and Tawny Owl
I was guiding yesterday and despite fog we had a good day. I
took Tony who was visiting Oslo from Manchester to Maridalen and we trudged
through snow and peered through the fog and were rewarded with Hawk Owl,
Three-toed Woodpecker, Hazel Grouse, Dipper, Crossbill and Crested Tit amongst
others.
I had been very anxious that the forecast fog was going to
be so thick that we wouldn’t see beyond the tips of our noses but although it
wasn’t that bad it did mean that for example scanning distant tree tops for
anything interesting was out of the question. The Hawk Owl was located by
walking around its recently favoured areas (we walked 9km in total during the
day) and it was Tony’s very keen eyes that spotted it perched lowish down in a
tree. We watched it for a good while and it changed perch twice and whilst
clearly looking and listening for rodents it once again did not make an attempt
to catch anything. It was in an area where Moose have been feeding and there
was some bare ground exposed and I believe this may make hunting easier for the
owl.
The ‘pecker that misses a toe and the Hazel Grouse were
found in expected sites but we had precious little else in the forest with for
example not a single tit of any species except at feeders.
Hawkie
after preening there appeared a hole which shows just how thick its feathers are but also hints at a real lack of body fat as a result of little food
male Hazel Grouse (jerpe) in a foggy forest
he moved to a birch and was eating catkins high up above our heads as can be seen in the video
male Three-toed Woodpecker (tretåspett). He can be heard drumming in the video
The 40 odd centimetres of snow in Maridalen have certainly
made it beautiful but birding wise it is now pretty bleak. There are very few
birds to see at the moment even common ones and we are in that mid winter
period when birding becomes a bit of a depressing hobby.
The Hawk Owl is still in Maridalen but the deep snow has
caused him to search for food in the forest where I believe it is bank voles
(klatremus) that are his target as these have more of a tendency to run on top
of the snow. This makes finding him far more hit and miss but with a bit of
work and luck he is still possible to find most days. Pine Grosbeaks though are
now only to be found through luck with rowan berries pretty much finished off
and the birds either having moved on (I had a flock of six flying south over
Østensjøvannet) or else they are eating spruce buds in the huge forests
surrounding Oslo.
The Snow caused a real influx of birds into my garden with
upto 45 House Sparrows and 9 Blackbirds feeding on or under the feeders. A
couple of hours of empty feeders though one afternoon was enough for 30 of the
Sparrows to move on though to search for a more reliable food source and they
are yet to return.
with there being so much snow I have had to content myself with watching the Hawk Owl from afar, if I manage to find him
although when they choose a electricity pylon as a lookout then they are a bit easier to find
the bird suddenly flew from the pylon and into the forest where I think it is doing most of its hunting now
Pine Grosbeaks (konglebit) may have gone awol but Bullfinches are still finding rowan seeds to feed on
Crested Tit (toppmeis)
Crossbills (grankorsnebb) are now the commonest bird in the forest and much song and courtship feeding suggests nesting is just around the corner
a male Three-toed Woodpecker (tretåspett) at a usual spot
