Winter looks like it is now here to stay and Maridalsvannet
froze over suddenly last night. I cannot remember such a sudden freeze event
here with it normally happening gradually over a few days
The conditions today were perfect for searching ice free
streams for goodies and I turned up a Jack Snipe which I managed to film by
setting up the camera and operating it rom my phone whilst out of view of the
bird. It took over 8 minutes for the bird to unfreeze and after some bobbing it
then ran off out of view all of which I managed to capture.
In mid Norway, the first Azure Tit for the country was found
a couple of days ago and on looking at the pictures of what is undoubtedly a
Cosmic Mind-f*cker of a bird (to borrow one of the phrases from the brilliant Bill
Oddie’s Little Black Bird Book which is now 45 years old!!)
I started feeling
quite twitchy and might I say it, slightly aroused. I started making plans to
go and see it – either an 8 hour drive or a flight to Trondheim and then a 2-3
hour trip either in a hire car or by a combination of bus and ferry. If someone
else I knew had been going the next morning then I think I would most likely have
gone but as a couple of days have passed I have become a bit more sensible and
in time honoured fashion think I will wait until I find one in Maridalen……
a completely frozen Maridalsvannet with just the usual small area of open water where the river enters at Hammeren and where there was a Cormorant and Grey Heron. The whole lake froze overnight whereas it usually happens more gradually
a high key (over exposed) Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin)
and properly exposed
these droppings in the stream made me sure I had a snipe to find and the bird was not far away
a spectacular sunrise at Huk, Bygdøy this morning. There were good numbers of gulls, although nothing rare, and whilst some were eating starfish many were picking food from the surface of the sea (not sure what)
Yesterday, I walked into town along Akerselva. As I was
meeting Mrs OB for dinner and a date at the Opera I took no optics with me. I
didn’t miss them with me being able to identify everything I saw either on call
or because they were close enough for the naked eye and even managed to film
two of the most exciting species on my phone.
One of the main birding events around Oslo is the gatherings of migrating waders and waterfowl in Nordre Øyeren especially at Årnestangen and Svellet. I have not given this much attention so far this autumn and have missed the best bits which are normally at the end of July when thunderstorms can bring down a vast selection of adult waders. Now in late August the species variety is significantly less and almost all birds are young birds. On Wednesday I joined up with Jules Bell for a trip to Årnestangen and Svellet and yesterday I visited Svellet and Merkja. The most numerous wader was Ruff with around 250 birds in total and more unusual birds were Black-tailed Godwit, Curlew Sand and Little and Temminck’s Stints.
In Maridalen I have continued looking for raptors and especially Honey Buzzards but despite what I would describe as perfect condition there has been very little to see although the HBs will get their own post later. A young Peregrine has been a regular sight though terrorizing a group of Feral Pigeons that frequent one of the farms and amongst the few Common Buzzards is a particularly pale bird.
Svellet has been Made Great Again and alongside lots of Ruff (brushane) are a couple of Black-tailed Godwits (svarthalespove)
on the neighbouring Merkja two male Gadwall (snadderand) in eclipse
Goosander (laksand) in Maridalen. A female (middle) has managed to raise 8 young which is incredibly gowing considering that the many Goldeneye (kvinand) broods typically and quite quickly decline to one or two, or none
here male (who has had nothing to do with the family before now), a 1cy and mum
a 1cy Peregrine (vandrefalk) has been regular in Maridalen and likes to have a go at a small flock of Feral Pigeons (bydue) that hang around one of the farms
this pale Common Buzzard (musvåk) has also been a regular sighting
I have seen evidence of a Nutcracker in the garden with discarded leaves and nuts from our Hazel Trees on the lawn and today I saw the culprit from the kitchen window:
We have now had two nights without frost and along with
southerly winds I have been expecting a flood of migrants. Of course, that has
not been the case and viz mig has been a particular disappointment with just a
few flocks of Pink-footed Geese, 2 Cranes and a Kestrel. I had a real hope for
a few raptors but it is clearly still too early still (and I have this “surprise”
every year at this time….).
Despite the lack of viz mig there has been an arrival of new
birds. Dunnocks and Redwings are suddenly back and singing from woodland, White
and Grey Wagtail are suddenly wagging away and there are considerably more Lapwing, Mistle
Thrushes, Chaffinches, Bramblings and a large Twite flock in Maridalen.
Surprisingly though there are no Robins back yet but that must happen soon.
The Hawk Owl has been showing very well as it exploits a
rich source of Bank Voles (klatremus) and I was very happy to be able to film
it dismembering and then eating one.
A trip to Østensjøvannet was very birdy with lots of noisy
gulls and various wildfowl with a pair of Smew being the absolute highlight.
The video I have long wanted to capture showing the beheading, entrails removing and swallowing of a vole
Hawkie on a wire
and on its way down for what ended up being an unsuccessful vole hunt
this video has a few sequences with it giving its call that I also heard frequently when it first turned up in November
male Smew (lappfiskand)
pair
and with a Grey Heron (gråhegre)
3 male Teal (krikkand)
and a close of up another bird
the Heron was not at all popular with the Black-headed Gulls (hettemåke)
Goosander (laksand) are also back
3 species of returning gulls on the ice and 2 male Goosander
Grey Wagtail (vintererle) is back in the Dale
as is Dunnock (jernspurv)
and Redwing (rødvingetrost)
and a large flock of Twite (bergirisk) is having a stop off on its migration
and the first White Wagtail (linerle) of the year
not in Maridalen and not a good picture but I cannot remember capturing Parrot (furukorsnebb) and Common Crossbill (grankorsnebb) together before
Canada and Greylag Geese in Maridalen suddenly became very alert when this fox appeared
It looks like an invasion of Two-barred Crosbills is
brewing. After my sighting on Monday of a bird with Common Crossbills in a
spruce forest I was rather surprised to find a lone bird today in birch trees
by Nordre Øyeren wetland. It was calling a lot and I managed to record it both
the trumpet call and more generic crossbill call. This bird was also a juvenile
but hopefully some adult males will arrive soon.
I left Oslo to go to Øyeren as I hoped for some raptors
specifically harriers but a single Marsh was the only one. Common Buzzards were
numerous though and the local White-tailed Eagle family showed well. A single
Great White Egret was a now to be expected bird but less than 10 years ago
would have been quite the mega.
a streaky juvenile Two-barred Crossbill (båndkorsnebb)
I got fairly close but unfortunately it was high above me
this Little Grebe (dvergdykker) is my first ever at Nordre Øyeren and seems to be a surprisingly rare species there
Great White Egret (egretthegre) AND White-tailed Eagle (havørn)
with such a large bill this must be the adult female eagle
