A new year awaits

The first 4 days of 2026 have been uneventful on the bird front. We were away in Blighty for New Year and returned to snow and temperatures approaching -10C but despite this, or perhaps because of this, there is precious little to see. 

Maridalsvannet remains stubbornly ice free except for the bay at Nes with strong winds preventing the ice from spreading.

Our days in England were sans bins and camera but a Firecrest in the garden allowed itself to recorded for prosperity on my phone and a Red Kites were no problem to identify with the naked eye – both species I would get very excited about in Oslo. Small groups of Redwings and Song Thrushes were quite possibly birds that had bred in the Oslo area and were now spending the winter in barmy Blighty.

Firecrest (rødtoppfuglekonge) - perhaps my best ever bird photo with my phone

Maridalsvannet on 2 January 2026

our flight to England on 28 December was uncomfortably early in the morning but did allow us to witness sunrise somewhere over the North Sea

best bird so far of 2026 in Oslo was this Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin) although a later attempt to show Jack Jack was unsuccessful

Sussex Kingfishers

Trips back to my childhood home in Haywards Heath, Sussex are always interesting from a birding perspective both in terms of comparing birds and birding to Norway but also in the differences in birdlife that I now notice compared to how it was 20+ years ago.
Starting with the later it is the population explosion of Buzzards (musvåk) that is most noticeable: from being a species that I can only remember seeing once from the house as a child it is now not unusual to see as many as five at a time when you gaze skyward from the garden. A trip into Central London also revealed two species whose numbers and distribution have greatly increased. At the London Eye we had two Peregrine Falcons (vandrefalk) which looked like they were nesting on a nearby building (provision of nest boxes has helped London have a population of, I believe, 20+ pairs). In St. James Park we had mating Ring-necked Parakeets and I heard this species commonly in other parks - I do not remember the species in Central London at all 2 decades ago. I'm sure there are also species which are absent now compared to my childhood but it was the commoner species that grabbed my attention.

I had not taken either binoculars of anything greater than a 55mm lens on my camera so was unprepared when my father suggested taking us to the Kingfisher hide at a nearby nature reserve. This is a species that Jr has always wanted to see so three of us went there hoping for at least a glimpse of this beautiful bird. The reserve is a great example of how human interference can both IMPROVE the lot for nature and give us humans a far more rewarding experience. This way of doing things is of course prevalent in the UK but most unfortunately is still quite alien in Norway where most nature conservation happens at the hands of the State where the general prevailing philosophy is to give an area nominal protection but then do nothing else and especially nothing to proactively "improve" an area, better to do nothing and let an area "naturally" decline. What the reserve had specifically done was to artificially create a sandbank that nesting Kingfishers (isfugl) could use and then erect a hide 20m away from which us humans could watch and enjoy. They even require you to have a permit and have paid for a day ticket or be a member of the Trust to gain access. A very alien (and indeed illegal?) concept in Norway but none the less a successful one. People’s interest in nature is increased through the wonderful experience they have and money is raised for non-state funded nature conversation - quite simple really.

The Kingfishers were not showing when we arrived but we didn't have to wait too long (although for Jr it was an eternity). First one bird arrived calling and then suddenly a pair. They spent a while taking it in turns to go into one of the holes in the bank and then when the female seemed satisfied she sat in a bush calling and after a while the male got the message and sweet, sweet music was made as you will see in this video. The video is shot with a 55mm lens. At the start you see 55mm in HD and then I have used in the inbuilt crop function in the camera to zoom in but at lower quality.

Junior took still pictures using the zoom on her point and shoot were much better than I could manage.

Bean Geese back

A check of the WWT Bean Goose satellite tracking website shows that the first marked bird made the journey from Denmark to Akershus yesterday seemingly flying in a direct straight line and arriving in the evening.
Hopefully some birders can get out to the staging sight at Horgen and Udenes Kirke to count the birds and see if they can read any neck rings.

I am still in the UK and had the pleasure of the rooftop breeding pair of Peregrines in Brighton yesterday - it would be great if the Oslo wintering birds stayed on to breed like this pair.

In Haywards Heath, my childhood home, I have also just seen a pair of Peregrines hunting over the houses - something that would not have been imagineable in my childhood.

Sussex

Currently back in Sussex, England. Spring hasn't arrived here yet with overnight frosts and daytime temperatures under 5C but there is still a lot more life here than at home. Dunnocks and Starlings singing in the garden have yet to make it Oslo, likewise Buzzard which were circling over the house. A couple of Long-tailed Tits also reminded me how much more of a garden bird they are in the UK compared to Norway.

Back around Oslo a couple of the long staying Hawk Owls have turned up again after weeks of absence (or could it just be birds passsing through that have recognised the attractiveness of the areas?). Either way the chances of birds summering and breeding close to Oslo must be high. There are still very few signs of migration with only a handful of migrants being recorded but a few records of Red Kites is a good sign - it would be great to have one in Maridalen again.

Sussex

Oslo Birder has temporarily relocated to England and despite this being a strictly non birding visit I have already seen some new birds for the year.

Song Thrushes are in the garden, a Blackcap in a nearby tree, Dunnocks are singing, Buzzards seem to be everywhere (as I’ve commented before, when I was growing up a Buzzard at home would have made my month yet now they are ubiquitous) and best of all a Red Kite. I know that they are now seen in this part of Sussex (Haywards Heath) but this was my first one, circling over my old 6^th Form College seemingly looking for food. The increase in Red Kite numbers in England following releases of young birds over the last couple of decades must be one of the most impressive acts of nature conservation.

The local mad Blue Tit has been amusing us with his antics and I managed to take this picture. What is it that causes Blue Tits to be so easily fooled by their own reflections?

Blue Tit coming in for the kill