Some pleasant surprises in Oslo and Maridalen regarding
breeding birds means I am not completely over into the butterfly world just yet.
On the lake there was suddenly a single adult Mute Swan with
5 small young! This is just like last year in that they suddenly appeared but
this year I was better prepared and had discovered the nest on 26 May. After
that discovery of the nest though I had been unable on subsequent attempts to
see any birds on it (although it was very difficult to see) and had only a
record of single adult on 1 June and then a pair flying over the lake (not near
the nest) on 9 June. I therefore assumed that the nesting attempt had failed
and the birds had moved off. To suddenly see an adult with young was therefore
a shock and it was equally surprising that I could not find the other adult
anywhere on the lake. Has the male died or moved off? And if so how did the
female managed to incubate and feed without me ever seeing her? And the pair I
saw on x June – were they visitors? Perhaps the other pair that started nesting
and then gave up? An answer to the first question is that P578 who I saw on
Maridalsvannet on 29 April, and his ring was again read on 24 May, who is the
male of the pair that bred last year and I assume the father of this years young
was seen on 16 June at Fornebu where he and his mate had spent the winter – so
it looks like he has left his mate to fend for herself! Did this happen before
the eggs hatched?
Mute Swan (knoppsvane) - presumably female PC79 who bred here last year - with 5 small young but not with her mate (P578) who has flown down to Fornebu!
The Black-throated Diver pair (one of perhaps two on the
lake) still have a single youngster and have moved quite a way from the nest
with it.
Black-throated Diver (storlom) family
The ever growing cereal crop on the Lapwing field makes seeing
the birds very difficult but yesterday I could see 3 (2 + 1) almost fully grown
young which is a great relief but the fate of the two last nests remains unknown.
a nearly fully grown Lapwing (vipe) young
And finally, I had Red-backed Shrike in the Dale this year
and it seems to be a nesting pair so fingers crossed for their success.
pair of Red-backed Shrikes (tornskate) in Maridalen
and the male on his own
A visit to Østensjøvannet today also revealed lots of young
birds. Best of all were the Black-headed Gulls which have had their first successful
breeding season (at least as a colony) for a few years with many large young on
two islands. Great Crested Grebes, Coot and Mute Swans also had young (the
later no larger than the ones I saw on Maridalsvannet) and surprisingly a
female Goldeneye had 11 quite large young with her. This raises two questions –
are they all hers? Perhaps unlikely. And how have so many survived so long? Normally
the vast majority get eaten either by gulls or pike.
Black-headed Gulls (hettemåke) have had a successful breeding season at Østensjøvannet
and a male Gadwall (snadderand) which once again seems to have chosen Østensjøvannet to moult although this year there were no records earlier in the spring
Not so much to report from the last few days with perhaps my
first male Red-backed Shrike of the year the highlight. This late migrant seems
to be later than normal this year or perhaps we are just going to get fewer
than normal for some reason. Time will tell but Marsh Warblers that have also
been scarce up until now seem to now be arriving in force.
An Arctic Tern at Maridalsvannet was a close second and a
scarcer bird in a local context. Terns have become a regular feature of
Maridalsvannet in recent years with both Arctic and Common exploiting good
hatches of insects. I have been waiting for them to appear this year after the
insects have started hatching and Black-headed Gulls, and a single brief Little
Gull, have been exploiting them for a week. It was therefore satisfying to see
an Arctic on Friday once a rain storm had eased enough for me to look over the lake.
The invasion of Painted Lady butterflies that has made the
national press in the UK is hitting Norway as well and even though numbers are
currently below those in the UK it is now turning up in all habitats, including
my garden, and has already breached the Arctic Circle.
Otherwise breeding birds are hanging on. In Maridalen there
are at least 3 Lapwing youngsters from 2 broods that are now large enough to
resemble their paretns and the two replacement nests are still being incubated
and should hatch any day soon. At Fornebu the Ringed Plovers seem faithful to
their corner of a building site hemmed in by a road but they have attentive
parents that still brood them when it rains or they perceive danger.
male Red-backed Shrike (tornskate) - here you see how it gets its name
and his mate
female Ringed Plover (sandlo) protecting 2 young during a rain shower. I am viewing from a car and despite being close to them they act naturally and react more to people walking along the road than any cars or lorries that pass close by. The young can also be seen in the video:
2 young Lapwing (vipe) in Maridalen. There was hopefully one or maybe two others from this brood in the long grass
this single surviving youngster from its brood is now looking quite adult like and will hopefully fledge making its parents hard work a success
I think we may be up for a very good autumn around Nordre
Øyeren. As I wrote yesterday there are lots of ducks and geese using Svellet –
the ducks (mostly Teal) are feeding there whilst the geese come into rest but
are feeding on nearby harvest fields. Yesterday I discovered one of the fields
that the geese (primarily Barnacles) are using and here there were also many raptors
and Cranes. I assume there is lots of spilt corn which the geese and Cranes
like but also rodents because the raptors (3 juvenile Marsh Harriers and at
least 9 Common Buzzards) seemed to have no problem finding food. The harriers
were quartering the field but the Buzzards were mostly just walking around and
pouncing on prey. At least one juvenile Peregrine and 2 Hobbies were also in
the area and it was particularly birdy. Amongst the geese was an interesting
Canada Goose that I first noticed flying in when it was noticeably darker and
slightly smaller than its compatriots but once on the field it was more difficult
to find and the raptors, and my search for something rare, took my attention
and I never formed an opinion on the goose. I was hoping to find a harrier
other than a Marsh but failed although I am sure that with regular coverage
something else will turn up. I also expect that Rough-legged Buzzards will soon
discover the field as they migrate through the area.
There are rather surprisingly still some unharvested fields
as well and one of these clearly also had a lot of rodents as another two Marsh
Harriers were constantly hunting over it. Both these birds were second calendar
birds – a male and a female.
If the stubble fields remain as stubble (i.e they don’t get
ploughed this autumn) then they could continue to attract both geese and
raptors until November or December depending on the weather. The passage of
proper wild geese has yet to start and if Pink-feet discover these fields then
there could be many thousands of geese still to come.
Numbers of waders using Svellet have fallen dramatically but
a Black-tailed Godwit was briefly present as was the Little Gull and terns so
there is still non-waterfowl potential. A Great White Egret was also present nearby but only visible very distantly.
2cy male Marsh Harrier (sivhauk) with a Hooded Crown (kråke). The dark secondary feathers are remaining juvenile feathers whilst the grey feathers are adult feathers
2 1cy/juvenile Marsh Harriers in the birdy field having a rest from their quartering
2cy female Marsh Harrier. Two generations of secondaries are clearly visible
the 2cy male quartering the unharvest field
many hundreds of Barnacle (hvitkinngjess) and some Greylags (grågjess) on their way from the field where they had been feeding to Svellet for a rest
this Common Buzzard (musvåk) was hovering over the unharvested field whereas those using the stubble field were mostly just walking around
the interesting Canada Goose. It has a dark breast and darker flanks compared to the normal feral Canadas and is also slightly smaller. It is possible that it is a wild bird but there are also feral birds of other subspecies and strange hybrids knocking around in Holland so it is impossible to know especially with only these grainy photos
Despite my best intentions I have spent quite some time
this week with Honey Buzzards with a few checks on the regular nest but
also trying to triangulate on a nest that I believe must exist in Maridalen. I
am now within a just a few hundred metres of it and with luck will locate it
tomorrow…
Other than that there is an increase in migrants in
Maridalen with a few pipits, wagtails, Whinchats and Wheatears on the stubble fields
and the organic vegetable patch still hosting Red-backed Shrikes and best of
all a couple of Bluethroats.
The Maridalen swan saga continues. After the Mute
Swan pair was driven off leaving behind a small cygnet (which I have not seen
for a couple of weeks and presume has perished) something serious has now happened with the Whooper Swan
family. On the 18th the pair were at Kirkeby and in Nesbukta there
was a single, lost looking cygnet. I then had no sightings of any swans until
today when the pair were again at Kirkeby but with no sign of the cygnet. Prior
to the 18th they had seemed like a very tight family unit with the
adults leading the two cygnets around and never leaving their side so what happened
on the 18th? Why would the pair abandon one of the young and what
happened to the other? Were they attacked by a fox or dog? Or have the pair
themselves turned on their own young? They are a very aggressive pair with
their frequent attacks on the Mutes and any other Whoopers that dare visit
Maridalen in the breeding season. Have they finally lost it and once their own
young reached a certain size seen them as a threat? They are getting on now and
have bred since 2010 but after rearing at least 40 young between 2010 to 2021 things
have changed and since then they have struggled with 3 fledged young in 2023
their only success in this period.
Water levels at Årnestangen and Svellet have been
very high but started falling again from the weekend and a visit to Svellet
today revealed lots of birds on newly (re)exposed mudbanks with 160 Ruff a very
good count and out of 10 species in total a Black-tailed Godwit was the
highlight.
Bluethroat (blåstrupe) in Maridalen
Red-backed Shrikes (tornskate) are still finding lots to eat in the organic vegetable patch
the Whooper Swan (sangsvane) pair and a single cygnet alone 1.5km away on 18 August. I have seen the adults again today, although not yesterday but have not seen the cygnet
the family on the 15th
one of three Three-toed Woodpeckers (tretåspett) that entertained my whilst I was on Honey Buzzard watch
Back in Oslo and procrastinating away I am using dog
walking duties as a means of checking out on my breeding raptors. Yesterday,
saw me visiting the Honey Buzzard nest and today was a final attempt to find the
Hobby nest.
The Honey Buzzard young still look healthy although
a very obvious difference in the development of the two birds is perhaps more
than just an age difference and could suggest food shortages mean one of them (the
older one) is getting more food. I looked under the nest and saw no discarded
wasp comb which I take as a bad sign. Walking up to the nest area I glimpsed an
adult gliding towards the nest but was unable to see if it was the male or the
female although based on the last two years the female will probably have already
bailed. An hour and a quarter at the nest revealed only the young doing nothing
other than sitting still with no wing stretching or squabbling. On the way back
to the car I saw two dark HB thermalling high over the nest site that quickly
disappeared from view and then the male appeared low over the trees by the nest
and also quickly thermalled out of view. I could not make out if the first two
birds were a male and female but assume they were non/failed breeders moving
over the area or perhaps prospecting for a future nest site.
On the Hobby front it was a case of bad news and
good news. The good news is that I located the nest and could confirm that there
have been young, the bad news is that the confirmation came from the presence
of a dead juvenile on the ground under the nest. The carcass was right by a
path and the nest right over it and it was only seeing the carcass that allowed
me to find the nest. The nest was incredibly will hidden and impossible to see
from anywhere else other than under it. I had no live birds in the area so have
no idea whether any other young have fledged although if they had then I would
have expected to hear them. My last sighting in the nest area was 16 June and I
have visited since then without joy so it was a real surprise that such a large
juvenile was there which would have meant the adults would have been caring for
it and bringing food for the last month. The carcass still looked fairly fresh
although had been eaten at and there were droppings from a mammal on it. My
theories for how it ended on the ground are either being blown out during high
winds or perhaps a Goshawk attacked the nest resulting in one of the young
jumping out and the others being eaten?? My failure to locate any adults (especially
hearing them) on previous visits is also strange and makes me wonder if one of
the adults also perished at some point such that just a single adult was bringing
food but that is pure speculation.
Otherwise, I have had very few other raptors when in
Maridalen although it is the end of the month that is usually the most
productive and there is little in the way of migrants other than a few Whinchat
and Red-backed Shrikes. The two baby Whooper Swans are growing and being well
guarded by their parents but I have not seen the lone baby Mute Swan again.
The two Honey Buzzard (vepsevåk) young on the nest. The head of the closest bird is still covered in white downy feathers whereas the other, older, bird has lost most of them
very poor pictures of the two HB that thermalled high over the nest.
the male from the breeding birds that appeared out of the forest by the nest
the unfortunate proof that Hobbies (lerkefalk) have indeed bred in Maridalen this year
the carcass of a juvenile Hobby
fresh droppings of a mammal that I assume had been feeding on the carcass
here, I have turned over the carcass
the nest was very difficult to find but through the binoculars I could see lots of white feathers around the nest
one of four 1st year Red-backed Shrike (tornskate) that as is most recent years are finding lots to eat in a cooperative organic vegetable patch
a juvenile (male?) House Sparrow (gråspurv) was with the Tree Sparrows (pilfink) at Kirkeby and indicates repeated breeding of this once mythical species (for me at least) in Maridalen
Summer holidays have begun and per tradition our first week is at a cabin south of Oslo near Hulvik. Butterflies are in short supply so far except for Queen of Spain Fritillaries (sølvkåpe) which are by far the most numerous species and in numbers I have never seen before.
Evening drives with Jr have become another tradition and our first one gave a good haul with 4 Moose including a mother and tiny calf, 3 Roe Deer, 2 Badgers and 3 unidentified small bats. I started with animals as that is Jr’s priority but on the bird front we had 2 Corncrake, 2 Quail, 5 Nightjar, 3 Tawny Owls, 2 Long-eared Owls, 3 Marsh Warblers and quite a few Woodcocks.
The best experience came as we were nearly back at the cabin when we found a pair of Nightjar seemingly nesting. It was as dark as it gets by then but I will spend more time with them and hopefully with the use of the thermal imager get an insight into their secretive lives.
Red-backed Shrikes are scare this year with just 2 males seen one of which was singing so unpaired but the other probably had a female on the nest.
This is the only picture I took of a Nightjar (nattravn) with the superzoom at 00:10. I should probably have taken some more but was concentrating on video
Before I bore most of you with a butterfly post it is about
time with another catch up of local Oslo birding.
Hobbies are back in Maridalen and have clearly chosen a new
but yet to be discovered nest. I have seen a single Honey Buzzard over
Maridalen and the nest of the last two years has had green branches added to it
although no birds are on the nest yet.
The last Lapwing nest in Maridalen is now empty and I think
that the young have hatched due to the behaviour of the parents but the crop is
now too high to see. One evening whilst the nest was still occupied a fox with Lapwing
young on its mind walked through the field. I have a long video of the event
and the adults were very effective at attacking the fox and also calling their
young away.
The four Little Ringed Plover eggs have hatched and the
parents are doing a great job keeping them alive. They deserve a separate post
though as there is a lot to see with them.
Nocturnal singers are slowly increasing with at least 4
Marsh Warblers in Maridalen and a Nightjar in an unexpected location that
showed very well.
Arctic Terns remain on the lake including the 3cy bird with
the missing tail feather and it is fun watching them on every visit to the
lake.
A video of the Nightjar (nattravn) to start with
adult Lapwings (vipe)trying to chase off a fox whose back is just visible amongst the buttercups
j
this young Lapwing is nearly fully grown and was flapping its wings
my only Oslo Honey Buzzard (vepsevåk) so far this year
this pair with the male on the left were in Østfold
the Honey Buzzard nest from the last two years with fresh spruce branches added
Arctic Tern (rødnebbterne) with a mayfly in its sights
and about to be caught
Hobby (lerkefalk)
spot the Red-backed Shrike (tornskate). There has still not been any major arrival and I have not located any breeding pairs yes
A Blue Tit (blåmeis) nest jut above ground level
when a Chiffchaff (gransanger) flew up from by my feet I knew there must be a nest nearby and here it was
