Meagre pickings in the forest

It was time to move the body after the Christmas excesses and with no wind, blue skies and temperatures at a relatively warm -5C it was a good day for a walk in the forest. As regular readers of this blog will know walks in the forest can occasionally give some good birds but it is best not to get your hopes up too high. I chose to walk up to Mellomkollen which at 537m is one of the highest points close to Oslo. I started at 180m so had a good walk although I did turn around just below the top. At the beginning I was walking in tracks made by skiers and a few dog walkers in snow that had fallen on Monday night but after not too long I was walking where no human had been since the snow fell although it would be wrong to describe it as virgin snow because there were tracks in it. It was clear that a number of animals used the path and I identified roe deer, hare and saw some tracks from rodents and there were also 2 sets of tracks (and urine marking) from medium sized predators which I think was both fox and pine marten. With the area clearly not having had visits from human or dogs for at least 3 days I did allow my hopes of finding grouse to be raised but ultimately (and despite using every trick at my disposal) I failed to find any grouse. The day was saved though with a female Three-toed Woodpecker which showed at close range (which is usual with this species once you have managed to find one) and she even drummed a bit. The commonest bird in the forest was Goldcrest and two Wrens deep in the forest were a surprise and a sign that the winter has not been too cold yet. I only had a single tit which was a Coal Tit and the only finches were a fly over Redpoll and calling Bullfinch so not much to report after 3 hours walking. The species list was completed with a calling Black Woodpecker, a Treecreeper and a Dipper on a small stream that has yet to freeze over.

female Three-toed Woodpecker (tretåspett)

Forest gems

Searching for birds in the forests around Oslo in the winter months is a very hit and miss affair but this morning was crisp, wind free and sunny which in my experience greatly increases the chances of finding birds primarily because it is much easier to hear them. I had a hope of finding three of Oslo’s more special resident birds: Pygmy Owl, Three-toed Woodpecker and Hazel Grouse, and there is also the very slim possibility of rarer birds such as Pine Grosbeak at this time of the year. From my own experience finding just one of these species is a good so finding two today was a real result. The forest was quite alive with birds primarily due to the high numbers of Common Crossbills that are around including a number of singing birds which is a sign that they will soon start breeding (crossbills breed when food is most available rather than at specific times of the year). I also had quite a few tits including a flock of 10 Long-tails and heard a Black Woodpecker. The two star birds though were first a female Three-toed Woodpecker that was suddenly feeding silently low down on a tree trunk in front of me but which rather infuriatingly and also atypically for the species proved to be shy and flew off far too quickly. The second result was a Hazel Grouse. This species has been extremely difficult to find this year so I was very happy when I located a single bird. I played a game of cat and mouse with it and did at one time come quite close as it perched high in a tree but it refused to look at me so the pictures are more suitable for a mystery photo competition.

The Great Grey Shrike was also still present in Maridalen and I saw it plunging down into long grass presumably after a mouse although it flew up empty beaked and then half a minute later it chased after a Blue Tit without me seeing the result of this chase. Although resembling a miniature raptor they catch their prey using their bill rather than their claws.

A trip to Fornebu was of course also on the cards with the weather being so good and the chance of good photo light. My success with the Kingfisher yesterday had resulted in an increase in CO2 emissions today with probably double figures of birders / photographers having taken the trip to Storøykilen at lunchtime today. Unfortunately though it looks like no one connected today. The Bearded Tits though were to be found although they took a lot of patience. As seems to be typical with the species their calls whilst feeding low down in the reeds are generally only audible at 10 metre range and it is only when the flock moves to another area that they call more loudly and allow themselves to be located. I was lucky enough to hear the birds calling on one of those occasions when they were moving and succeeded in locating four birds which eventually showed very well and allowed themselves to be gloated over by another couple of lucky birders. We had the birds down to 5 metres range although there was a wire fence between us and the birds and the sun was behind the birds but slightly fuzzy back lit photos do have a certain charm….

Whilst enjoying these special birds I became aware of a tapping behind me and when I realised the sound was coming from high up in a thin branched tree I hoped it would be a Lesser Spot and indeed it was. A fine male, he had clearly located a grub and was hacking away at a branch. A little later whilst trying to locate the tits which were calling we saw a Great Grey Shrike fly out of the reeds where the tits were – it had clearly been on a Bearded Tit hunt! It wasn’t successful but it reminded me of thispicture of a Pygmy Owl with a Bearded Tit in its talons.

The lighting in the forest today was not so good so the pictures from there are not even so so but the Fornebu pictures have come out very well as has a short video.

male Bearded Tit (skjeggmeis) and autumnal colours



back lit female

 

the first picture un

 In this video note that you can see the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker extracting and eating the bug it was searching for. Also in the very last second of the woodpecker sequence you can hear a ping from a Bearded Tit. Remember to open in YouTube and choose HD quality.

the Fornebu Great Grey Shrike (varsler) that tried its luck with the tits

 

uncropped Hazel Grouse (jerpe)

the only shot where any of the head shows - looks like it was a female

male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (dvergspett) in action

really probing in the branch

with a splinter in its beak

Long-tailed Tit (stjertmeis)

a far from photogenic Three-toed Woodpecker (tretåspett). The black head showing it to be a female

Maridalsvannet at 0847 with the iPhone from the car

Maridalsvannet from a different angle at 1052

Storøykilen, Fornebu. This picture is taken at 1351 but there is still some ice on the (salt) water. Temperatures overnight were only just below zero but with no wind it was enough for ice to form

 

More chaffy chiffs

Another day of sun and fantastic weather with no wind and a heavy frost. I thought a walk in the forest would pay off with sounds travelling but after 2 and a half hours I realised that sounds may travel but only if there is anything making a sound. The forest was dead quiet. I checked four Hazel Grouse (jerpe) sites using sound and got no response although I did scare up one bird.

I also played Pygmy Owl (spurveugle)calls. In areas where there are Pygmy Owls then the passerines respond to the call and come to investigate and mob the owl. Therefore if you get a passerine response then you know that there are owls in the area. Well the passerines confirmed what I already knew but no owls responded or showed themselves. The passerines in question were a few tits and Goldcrests (fuglekonge) but I had no finches and the only woodpecker in the whole walk was a single Black. Definitely not a successful trip.

Maridalsvannet was without a ripple except for those made by a calling party of three Whooper Swans (sangsvane) which looked very majestic.

Heading to Fornebu I discovered that the sheltered waters were already frozen and this gave me a belief that there would be good numbers of ducks on the main fjord. Think again! I did have a few Velvet (sjøorre) and Common Scoter (svartand) but best birds were 2 Little Auks (alkekonge) and 4 Guillemots (lomvi). No divers.

I visited Hengsenga again hoping to refind the Chiffchaffs (gransanger) and record their calls. It was very frosty there but the Chiffhcaffs were still present. I had three birds (possibly four) and all were green seemingly western birds today although I only saw two well as they were feeding low in the grass. They were also quite quiet although I did hear a few “sweeo” calls indicating an eastern (abietinus?) origin. Interestingly one had a call that was (very) similar to tristis. I didn’t see the bird making the sound particularly well as it stayed in the grass nearly continually but it definitely wasn’t the grey/brown bird from yesterday and looked to have  green tones in its plumage on the back/mantle and also on the breast. There were a couple of Chiffchaffs where the calling bird was and I took a picture of the bird that I think was calling but cannot be 100% sure it is the same bird. Never-the-less the bird that was giving the tristis like call was far from what I would expect a classic tristis to look like.

I was able to record the call by taking a video. You will need to turn the sound up a lot to hear it.

I’ve made my first attempt at making a sonogram using the Raven Lite software from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. As the recording was so poor (and I have extracted the sound rather inneficiently by using the record function on my phone) the sonogram is not, I think, good enough to tell us anything conclusive. What it does show is a pretty straightline at a frequency of around 4250Hz. 

What does this mean? Well I’m not really sure and think a better recording is needed. To my ears the sound was not quite as “sad” as a normal tristis but then again my ears are not famed for hearing subtle differences. I try to work more with these birds and my sound recording abilities. It will be very interesting to see how long they survive here. There are a few Wrens aswell in the grass and reeds so presumably there is a good supply of insects but prolonged minus temperatures will surely spell the end of them either by killing them or forcing them to move south.

This is the bird I believe was giving the tristis like call and if it wasn't then has the same look. This bird has too many green tones on the back and especially the breast sides to go down as a tristis

no obvious green or yellow under the wings but then again we don't see too much. You can see how frosty it was today

a different bird which gave a "sweeo" call but looked pretty much the same as the bird with the tristis like call. Confused? I am

Whooper Swan take off

majestic

Hazel Grouse

Today was the first really cold day of the winter with the temperature showing -6C when we woke and not rising above zero during the day. With blue skies and no wind I decided to have another go at capturing Hazel Grouse (jerpe) on film. I located birds at both of the lower sites at Mellomkollen where I had them last week and didn’t need to slog upto the top.

At the most reliable site a male responded to playback and flew over my head before then playing cat and mouse with me and calling regularly over the course of the next half an hour but never showing itself even though it was only ca.15 metres from me.

On the way back down after having seen the Dipper (fossekall) again on the small and mostly frozen pond I then had some real luck when I saw two Hazel Grouse feeding high up in alder trees over the path. At last they were showing in the open although the light for photography was appalling as the low sun was behind the birds. I wasn’t able to get into a better position and as I tried to come closer the birds flew into the forest. I did manage some pictures though and resorted to forcing the exposure to +4.3 to get at least some detail of the bird. Well, now that I have such reliable sites for this sought after bird it is just to be patient and plan a bit better.

male Hazel Grouse (jerpe)

female Hazel Grouse - not really that easy to see but the female lacks the black throat of the male

the male eating Alder (or) catkins - a favourite food source

I made another visit to Østensjøvannet hoping that the lake would be mostly frozen such that the male Smew (lappfiskand) that I failed to see the last two days would be easier to find. Unfortunately the lake was 99% frozen and this seems to have caused the Smew to move on – it had definitely moved the Goosanders (laksand) on which I had managed to find previously. There were still a lot of birds though and the Coots were concentrated in a small ice free patch of water in the middle of the lake whilst the ducks and geese were in two areas of ice free water where they are fed. Amongst the Mallards were a male Pintail (stjertand) and female Teal (krikkand) and a few Tufteds (toppand) and Goldeneyes (kvinender).

The Mute Swan numbers had fallen slightly. Whereas on Monday I had 7 pairs plus 3, 2 & 1 youngsters, today there were 6 pairs, 3 & 1 young, a single adult and a dead youngster frozen in the ice. So one adult and one youngster were gone and one youngster dead. The single adult was stood on the ice not far from the dead youngster so it is tempting to assume that was one its parents and that the other parent and sibling have left Østensjøvannet (as all the other swans will soon be forced to do) for the fjord.

male Pintail (stjertand). If this was an adult then it should already be in full plumage with a long tail so this bird is a bird of the year (1 c.y) which is confirmed by the dark eye

the speculum should have a green tinge but presumably the angler that the light has hit it means it isn't visible in this photo

The light today was fantastic for photographing the Mallards and the metallic sheen of the head feathers looks different depending on the angle of the bird

male Mallard (stokkand)

female Mallards aren't so dull really

a bit of an Elvis look about this one

a dead juv Mute Swan (knoppsvane) lying frozen into the ice

 

this pair of Barnacle Geese (hvitkinngås) had a slippery landing on the ice

Dipping in on a Dipper

I walked up Mellomkollen today to see if I could nail down the Hazel Grouse (jerpe) and had great success on that count with birds at three sites. Getting pictures of them though will have to wait for another occasion. One bird did sit out in the open only 15 metres from me but as I went for the camera it whirred off. There was little else except for a few Wllow Tits (granmeis), Goldcrests (fuglekonge), Bullfinches (dompap), a single Black Grouse (orrfugl) and a single Dipper (fossekall) on a small and mostly frozen pond. Although it was quite dark this bird was relatively tame and allowed me some good photo opportunities.

In Maridalen there is still a Whooper Swan (sangsvane) on the lake and a flock of Redpolls (gråsisik) that I disturbed from the roadside in the car had at least one very good candidate for Arctic Redpoll (polarsisik) but I failed to get good enough views to confirm.

Dipper (fossekall)