Rook

When guiding a couple of weeks ago I stumbled upon a surburban Rook. This less than annual species in Oslo has attracted a bit of attention since then and has been added to a few Norway/Oslo/year lists since then. Despite its propensity to sit in tall trees and call a lot I have failed to see it again despite regularly driving through the area which is where Jr Jr’s school is. Today though I had to pick her up and made sure I got there a bit early so I could scan for it and this time I relocated it right by her school!

It was raining a lot (and is forecast to do so for a number of days) and I was not inclined to get out of the car but was able to get a few shots from within the car. I always feel very uncomfortable using the camera by a school but no one called the police on me😉

I had been unsure as to the age of the bird previously but its darkish (although not black) bill surely makes it a 1st winter.

The coming rain will cause lots of melting and floods so fields around Oslo will soon be suitable for migrants although predominantly northerly winds from Sunday onwards will unlikely lead to a big rush.

Rook (kornkråke)

with a Hooded Crow (kråke)

Regular Oslo birding this week

Birding in Oslo isn’t just Sibes and owls and there are more normal birds to look at and enjoy. A large arrival of Waxwings is brewing although so far most birds I have seen have been flocks hurrying over. There seems to be lots of berries around though so once the birds settle down then I am sure there will be lots of urban birds to enjoy.

Maridalen has been rather quiet with a Great Grey Shrike appearing in many different parts of the valley signalling that food is difficult to find. On the lake there have been quiet a few wind blown Guillemots and amongst them I picked out a Razorbill which is only the third record in the Dale. Nocturnal trips have revealed a few Woodcock although numbers are declining with birds presumably continuing their southbound migration.

I have been out looking for owls twice more but with disappointing results. A trip with Jr and the Beast gave two Tawny Owls but a trip with Jack drew a complete blank which lends some weight to the saying that “a Jack a day keeps the birds away” 😉

Østensjøvannet is normally a productive place in October and there are lots of birds this year but it is a very different make up to the last few years when there has been a lot of water weed which has attracted three figure flocks of Coot, Mute Swan and Wigeon. This year there seems to have been a complete die back of the water weed and the lake is nearly free of the above species with for example only single figures of Coot! Fish eating species however are in higher numbers especially Herons and Cormorants. The commonest birds though are geese which are feeding on a stubble feed and in total there are close to 1000 Barnacle, Greylag and Canada Geese although surprisingly enough nothing scarce amongst them.

Fornebu is very quiet with visits this week revealing nothing of note with colder temperatures and overnight frosts having pushed warblers and pipits onwards.

A trip to Årnestangen was also disappointing although 9 Taiga Bean Geese with Greylags was as always a nice encounter and a small flock of Twite was my first of the autumn.

this young Goshawk (hønsehauk) was a delight at Østensjøvannet today and was respectfully escorted out of the area by the local Hooded Crows. Its large size indicates it is a female

a Jackdaw (kaie) also got in on the act

when the geese at Østensjøvannet take to the wing it is an impressive sight and sound

The only Mute Swans (knoppsvane) are breeding birds that haven't left yet. The young in this family are still far from full grown and seem to have developed slowly due to the shortage of food. In addition there are 3 orphaned young (the dad was found dead and mum just disappeared) which are also not yet able to fly and a single adult that had apparantly crashed with overhead wires

a redhead Smew (lappfiskand) - one of two at Østensjøvannet

Twite (bergisisk) at Årnestangen

a Razorbill (alke) on Maridalsvannet

and the valley's Great Grey Shrike (varsler) hovering as it looks for food

a Tawny Owl (kattugle) perched on a wire in the Dale. 

and a Woodcock (rugde)

last week I sea gazed at Krokstrand. There wasn't much to see (what did I really expect) except for a flock of 95 Kittikwakes (krykje) that suddenly appeared heading north at height

Værøy 2023 Day 3

Day 3 was also a bit of a disappointment despite decent weather and lots of time in the field. There were precious few signs of new arrivals today although finally seeing Arctic Redpoll which have been around for a while was good. A (the?) Hawk Owl which soared around over a hill top like a Sparrowhawk was a new experience for me and I heard but didn’t see a Yellow-browed Warbler. Three Swallows were new and I failed to see a Barred Warbler which was probably a bird that has been here dor a while.

Bird of the day though was yesterdays Richard’s Pipit which was present in exactly the same area today and despite lots of identical habitat all over the island showed no intentions of moving away from a very a small area. This meant it was quite easy to get close to the bird and really enjoy a species that normally behaves very differently. I have taken far too many pictures of the Dick and these are the ones that I quickly chose but there may well be better ones so don’t be surprised if there comes an iadditional Dick Pip Pic post next week.

Richard’s Pipit (tartarpiplerke) as you would maybe hope to see one

Spot it?

Arctic Redpoll (polarsisik)

3 Arctics

High flying Hawk Owl

This Hooded Crow and its mate followed me around for a while

Værøy 2023 Day 1

 So my first full day on Værøy has come to an end and I am a happy man 😊. At 13:28 I heard Yellow-browed Warbler and then at 13:31 I saw one (of eventually 3) so my Værøy trip is already a success and anything else is pure bonus. One of these bonuses turned up before the YbW with a Hawk Owl on a roof top being mobbed by two Hooded Crows - regular readers of this blog will understand that this sighting alone is enough to give me the shakes.

Other than these species the big event has been an unprecedented influx of Rough-legged Buzzards with over 40 being seen yesterday before I arrived. I have had to make do with around 10 birds but given that I have only seen two single birds here before then this was quite something.

Jack Snipe have also been incredibly numerous and I have seen 10 of over 20 recorded on the island.

I eventually took the helicopter out yesterday rather than the ferry because it has been VERY windy and I  figured a short but expensive helicopter trip would beat a free but 3 hour long bumpy boat trip.

The wind has made birding very difficult today but tomorrow it is forecast to be much less wind so we have high hopes.

Yellow-browed Warbler (gulbrynsanger)

Hawkie getting fed up with Hoodie

White-tailed Eagle (havørn) are numerous

Snow Bunting (snøspurv)

Golden Eagle (kongeørn)

Rough-legged Buzzard (fjellvåk) with a rat which is the only rodent on Værøy

Arctic Tern (rødnebbterne)

Garden Warbler (hagesanger). I had 5 species of Warbler with Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Blackcap in addition to the two whose photos grace this post

A Dipper (fossekal) my first on Værøy and only the second record here - as rare as White’s Thrush!

Real, wild Barnacle Geese (hvitkinngås) on their way from Svalbard to the UK

All the Rough-legged Buzzard that I looked closely at were 1cy. They must have had a good breeding season and the strong easterly winds have brought them out here