Curlew Sand in Oslo!

Intermittent rain showers yesterday evening and in the night, low cloud this morning and low tide at 0930 meant there was only one thing to do this morning - work on my hopeless, one-sided infatuation with the islands and my quest for Oslo waders.

I fell back into old habits and showed Fru. Gressholmen my affection first. But when will I let it sink in that she doesn’t have any feelings for me. There was a really good amount of mud showing and I actually let out a cry of yes when I saw it but what was on the mud? 4 Black-headed Gulls😂. I did see single Greenshank, Common Sandpiper and Oystercatcher whilst on the island but all were on the rocky shores which you find everywhere in the fjord whereas Gressholmen is supposed to be wader site #1 because of the muddy tidal bay…

Well would Fru. Galteskjær forgive my infidelity and show off her delights for some brief voyeurism? As the ferry sped past on the way to Nakkholmen I saw two small waders but both turned out to be Common Sandpipers. Had I burnt my bridges with her just when I seemed to be getting somewhere? The ferry continues to Lindøya and then gives another even briefer chance of voyeurism as it heads to Hovedøya. I scanned and scanned and a wader dropped in from the north, landed for a second and then flew west. Up with camera and shoot and pray. And what do you know my first ever Oslo Curlew Sandpiper and #oslo2024 species 194. A camera is vital for «birding» Galteskjær as the binocular views are so brief that it is necessary to review pictures to be sure of what you see (e.g Little Stint would have been impossible to ID without relatively decent pics). This appears to be only the 9th ever Curlew Sand reported in Oslo so is a true Oslo rarity.

I have previously said Fru. Galteskjær has given me two new species for Oslo (Little Stint and Turnstone) but I was forgetting she also gave me my first Shag and Great Skua in Oslo and Gressholmen my first Red-necked Grebe). Anyways, the Curlew Sand is the fifth that Galty has shown me (3 to Gressy) and my #Osloever species #252.

This is my 11th visit to the islands in the last month so I have put in the effort but today’s sighting shows just how important luck is.

Curlew Sandpiper (tundrasnipe). the pictures won't be winning any prizes but the wing bar and distinctive white rump are visible and rule out any other species. The bill also looks suitably long and perhaps downcurved

 

these picture are even worse but show the colours better and suit a juv Curlew Sandpiper

the view of exposed mud at Gressholmen that prompted me to exclaim "yes". To be followed a few minutes later by a depression when I could not find a single wader

the two Common Sandpipers on Galteskjær

Med Gull

The weather last 4 days has been unusual. It has been warm with a southerly wind (but often no wind at all) and lots of mist and low cloud. This has had its effect on the birds as well with hardly any to be seen or heard. We spent the weekend at the cabin at Hulvik by the fjord south of Oslo and the few times I could see over the fjord there was hardly even a gull to see.

On Friday and Monday though I did see a good gull on the sea though. On Friday I found a Mediterranean Gull offshore at Fornebu and yesterday again at Gressholmen. This is the same bird first found on 27 August at Bygdøy and then seen a couple times quite a way south in Asker. There is quite a lot of life in the fjord at the moment with clearly a lot of fish of some kind encouraging gulls and Cormorants to feeding frenzies. There has also been a record influx of Shags and I have seen up to three different individuals.

Adult Med Gull (svartehavsmåke) with Black-headed Gull (hettemåke), Herring Gull (gråmåke) and Eider (ærfugl). Gressholmen yesterday

It is in active wing moult 

and when I found it on Friday at Fornebu.

the wing moult matches the bird at Gressholmen

the black o the underwing coverts and along the edge of one of the primaries makes me wonder if this is younger adult

a late young Common Tern (makrellterne). One of 6 I saw as well as an Arctic Tern (rødnebbterne)

four of the six

the Curlew Sandpiper (tundrasnipe) at Fornebu showed much better on Friday and its legs were back as they should be so must have been covered in mud previously

Dunlin (myrsnipe)

Ringed Plover (sandlo)

3 Common Seals (steinkobbe)

Shag (toppskarv)

and another

we did get some sun at the weekend and I found this Brown Hairstreak (slåpetornstjertvinge)

with the mist it was suddenly possible to look at the sun

and here it was almost like looking at a blood moon

a Queen of Spain Fritillary (sølvkåpe)

and a Wall (sørringvinge)

A couple of Fornebu ticks

Late August and early September are normally good for waders around Oslo but with Årnestangen still under water there has not been much suitable habitat for them. Storøykilen at Fornebu though has been unusually productive for waders and this last week I have added two species to my Fornebu list in the form of Little Stint and Curlew Sandpiper which are both expected birds at Årnestangen in a regular autumn but are extremely scarce elsewhere. Otherwise I have been monitoring my “scare, late breeders” and the young of one of them are now fledged and seemingly left the area whereas the others are still in the nest but will hopefully successfully fledge in less than a week.

Little Stint (dvergsnipe) looking absolutely tiny beside a Teal (krikkand)

Curlew Sandpiper (tundrasnipe) and Dunlin (myrsnipe). The Curlew Sand had unusually pale legs and I was scratching my head at first wondering whether it was a hybrid of some kind

the Curlew Sand in the middle with 2 Dunlins

Curlew Sand in flight showing the diagnostic white rump

Stock Dove (skogdue) and Tree Pipit (trepiplerke)

White Wagtail (linerle) and Blackcap (munk)

Cranes (trane) heading south over Maridalen

the forest has been generally quiet but I did manage to find "my" male Hazel Grouse (jerpe)

Curlew Sandpipers

Nordre Øyeren is a fantastic place for waders in both autumn and spring but views are normally at long range and often with heat haze and back lit meaning a visit can often be quite frustrating with a number of possibles having to be put to the back of your mind (I’ve worked very hard with two possible Pec Sands this autumn before having to just realise I was never going to be able to confirm anything). In the “good old” days it was possible to walk out over the mudlfats and chase the waders around but thankfully in a very rare example of nature conservation in Norway the mudlfats are now legally off limits so the birds get to rest and feed without human disturbance.

Yesterday though I had the rare experience of being able to get close to some waders without breaking any laws (at least I believe so) and saw 4 Curlew Sandpipers amongst 140 Dunlins. Rather annoyingly there were no Pec Sand candidates among them and surprisingly no stints or Bb Sands. I had 5 Great White Egrets at long range and then a single bird flying overhead but a hoped for raptor bonanza failed to materialise.

In Maridalen an adult and juv Black-throated Diver suddenly popped up on the lake. They have not bred there but will most likely have bred close by on a lake where water levels (somewhat surprisingly) did not fluctuate too much.

Curlew Sandpipers (tundrasnipe) and Dunlins (myrsnipe), all are juveniles

4 Dunlin and 3 Curlew Sands

and 4 Curlew Sands in this picture

Dunlins

Great White Egret (egretthegre)

5 of them

juvenile and adult Black-throated Diver (storlom) that surprisingly appeared on Maridalsvannet