Choices choices

Today saw my first trip of 2014 with Rune and the choice lay between Hamar in Hedmark where a White-billed (gullnebblom) and a Great Northern Diver (islom) were found side-by-side yesterday and Østfold where Kingfisher (isfugl) and Iceland Gull (grønlandsmåke) were on offer in Halden. We chose Østfold because the supporting cast would most likely be much more varied than the trip to Hedmark where we could hope to see very little else other than a good chance of Hawk Owl (haukugle) if we took the scenic route home through Oppland.

We chose Østfold which may or not have been the right decision. Here is a link to what we could have seen in Hedmark – a probably unique inland sight and hopefully one I can enjoy next week.

Our trip to Østfold was a success though. The Kingfisher didn’t show probably because the mild weather gives it plenty of choice as to where it will fish. The Iceland Gull showed well though although Rune had to display an unusual degree of patience. When we arrived in at around 10am there were hardly any gulls along the river although we knew that over 100 Herring Gulls (gråmåke) were being seen at the same time as their northern cousin. Suddenly though just after 11am large numbers of gulls appeared from the north (no idea where from) and began congregating on rooftops. We threw out bread and after 5 minutes the ghostly white Iceland Gull appeared. It showed well although my photographic attempts of it in flight were up to my usual standard: either it was in focus but only part of the bird in frame or the whole bird was in frame but it was blurred. The magic of digital photography though is that you can take hundreds of photos and a couple will be OK.

Roadside birds seen during the day were two Great Grey Shrikes (varsler) which was a surprise given how scarce they are this winter and three Buzzards (musvåk) which are a sure sign of the mild winter. A stop at Kurefjorden revealed a flat water surface which made picking out birds easy. Amongst 36 Great Crested Grebes (toppdykker) were four Slavonian (horndykker) and a few Velvet (sjøorre) and Common Scoter (svartand) were floating about. On the islands at the mouth of the fjord we had a rare blank on raptors and a recent lack of reports of Rough-legged Buzzards (fjellvåk) in the area suggests that they have eaten up all the rodents!

In Fredrikstad, Sorgenfrigropa revealed a minimum of seven Bearded Tits (skjeggmeis) and the rubbish tip at Øra was full of Herring Gulls with at least 500 feasting on the garbage. Gulls and Øra are not exactly a favourite combination for me but I did spend quite a bit of time grilling them but could find no other species amongst them other than Great Black-backs (svartbak).

Icleand Gull (grønlandsmåke). Even though I didn't get the whole bird in the picture I think this is quite nice

one of many photos missing most of the bird

or blurred

could have been better

actually works quite well!

a beaver in the middle of the day swimming in the river in downtown Halden was most unexpected

male Bearded Tit

ringed female Beaded Tit

Kingfisher

Having gone over three days without the hard stuff or the soft stuff I could have been forgiven for thinking that I was on my way to being cured of my addiction but that would just have been fooling myself. On the pretence of looking, again, for the Halden Kingfisher (isfugl) I ventured into deepest Østfold again today. This time the Kingfisher gave itself up straight away. I had agreed to meet Per Buertange in Halden at the Kingfishers favourite place. Per arrived 10 minutes before me and the gentleman that he is didn’t leave his car before I arrived in case the bird was there and he scared it off. This allowed me to get out of my car, raise my bins and literally the first thing I saw was the Kingfisher sitting on a branch on the opposite bank. We were able to watch it for 5 minutes or so before it silently disappeared without us noticing. This is only my second Kingfisher in Norway and as always they are fantastic birds to watch. The photos were nothing special as today was another of those December days when it never gets light and I couldn’t manage any photos at less than ISO 6400.

only my second Kingfisher (isfugl) in Norway and only the 5th reported this year. The all black bill shows this to be a male

With the Kingfisher safely under my belt my mind drifted and I realised I needed to get a dose. I set off on incredibly slippery roads (after weeks of freezing temperatures we have had two days with temperatures of +2C and rain which has turned less trafficked roads into ice rinks) but even though I put my life on the line I couldn’t find what my body craved today. Two Great Grey Shrikes (varlser) were small compensation. 

one of two Great Grey Shrikes (varsler) I saw today but for once no Hawk Owls

Treatment required

An addict becomes good at hiding his dependency from those around him. Today Rune thought that we were going to Halden to look for a Kingfisher (isfugl). A Kingfisher has been seen there and yes, it is only the 5^th one seen in Norway this year (after the run of cold winters killed off the small Norwegian population), and yes it would be a year tick and yes it is a nice bird, but that was not the real reason for the trip. I needed my fix and thought there might be some good stuff to be had in Østfold.

As it turned out I nearly over-dosed and will be booking myself in for some intensive anti-addiction therapy as even I can now admit I have a problem (and that’s the first step, right?)

I kept up the pretence that we were looking for Kingfisher for 2 hours even though it was bitterly cold (-15C), we were close to a smelly sewage treatment plant and could see Norway’s only nuclear reactor – boy is Halden an attractive town! For our troubles we did see a rare winter Moorhen (sivhøne), Dipper (fossekal), Long-tailed Tits (stjertmeis) and a few duck including a Teal (krikkand).

I didn’t need to reveal my need for a hit to Rune as I knew he would want to move on before me. I deftly suggested that the scenic trip through forests close to the Swedish border would be a good route home. I mentioned possible Capercaille (storfugl) and Golden Eagle (kongørn) but that was just a smoke screen. As we drove from Halden towards Ørje we drove through frost covered farmland with scattered woodland. A Great Grey Shrike (varsler) was nice but my habit is for much harder stuff now and I was getting desperate. 

With my level of dependency you develop a  highly tuned radar for possible dealers and I spotted one hanging around, as usual, close to the road. I was still in control of my craving though so I casually mentioned to Rune that there may been a dealer but it was probably just a Crow (kråke). He had to reverse the car so we could see it and yes it was my dealer. I was still acting nonchalantly though despite my stomach already aching in expectation of what was coming. I let Rune go ahead of me and get his fill whilst I quietly savoured my first hit of the day. Enjoying my high we then continued past Ørje and towards Rømskogen. I was in another world and it was Rune who spotted the next dealer (I am worried that he too is becoming addicted). Now there was no holding us back as we both filled our boots. Giddy with the high we continued driving. By now I was good for nearly nothing but Rune spotted something in a field – a fox. After enjoying this we were about to drive on something attracted my attention. Another dealer! This one shamelessly sitting out in the open in a garden! This was too much, I tried to resist but I couldn’t stop myself and had my third hit of the day. With such undiluted, high quality stuff this is a dangerous amount and I nearly overdosed! As I sit here now I realise how lucky I was not to go over the edge and realise that I have an addiction. There you go, I said it: “I AM ADDICTED TO HAWK OWLS”.

To try to show to everyone that I am serious about treating my addiction I will only show two pictures of each owl although would have loved to show more!

Three Hawk Owls (haukugle) in a day in Østfold must be unique experience and in addition all were new birds. All were in farmland, by roads and in the vicinity of houses. The first one was 150 metres from the road and caught a mouse in front of our eyes so gave me my first successful hunt. It flew fairly directly from the tree top towards the prey without hovering although did use its tail as sort of brake to control its descent before dropping in the grass. It caught the mouse in long grass so we didn’t witness the actual capture and of course the autofocus couldn’t keep up with the action but we did see if flying off with a rodents tail dangling out of its talons.

Hawk Owl (haukugle) #1

a mouse tail hangs from the talons

The second one was sitting right by the road and gave the best views in great light.

Hawk Owl #2 - and the best picture I managed today

The third bird was sat 10metres from the road on top of a small tree in a garden! There were 40 Greenfinches resting in trees but I suspect that the owl was after mice attracted to the bird food that was attracting the Greenfinches.

Hawk Owl #3

They frequently tilt their heads and look very quizical

And some other sightings:

Moorhen (sivhøne) 1st winter

roe deer (rådyr)