Springs blooms briefly then winter returns

The weather has really changed over the last few days. Spring really blossomed on Thursday with southerly winds and such warmth from the sun that temperatures reached 8C and I saw my first Adder in Maridalen. By Saturday though we were having blizzards with 20cm of snow and temperatures this morning were down to -9C in Maridalen.

Birds have seemed to realise that spring isn’t here properly yet and there have been no significant arrivals of birds. I had hoped that Thursday would bring some raptors on the southerly winds but will have to wait a while longer. On Thursday the car was at the garage so as I usually do in these car free circumstances I took the ferry out to Gressholmen. This gave me my first Lesser Black-backed Gull and Grey Wagtail of the year plus my first Ringed Plover and Shelduck for the year in Oslo. With a Reed Bunting at Hengsenga today I am now on 98 species for the year in Oslo and will surely reach 100 at my earliest ever date.

In Maridalen Lapwings were absent from 9-14 March with the overnight frosts making the ground too hard to find food. A single bird did return on the 15^th but the snow quickly saw it on its way again. The snow covered fields have also meant that the flocks of Yellowhammers, Skylarks and Snow Buntings have had to temporarily find new snow-free pastures and Maridalen has been a pretty bird free zone except for a few Whooper Swans and my first Starling of the year there.

my first Adder (hoggorm) of the year in the usual place in Maridalen and quite possibly the same individual I have seen here in previous years. According to those to who know this is an old (7+ years) male

this male Ringed Plover (sandlo) was energetically display flighting over Gressholmen

my first Oslo Shelduck (gravand) of the year

 

the great Hengsenga flood on Wednesday with a thin layer of ice

Maridalen on Sunday morning - the same fields that had only a few days ago held flocks of Skylarks (sanglerke) and Snow Buntings (snøspurv)

Gressholmen

The car has been in the garage for a couple of days and I used the chance to bird Oslo by public transport including on the boat out to Gressholmen. Despite damp, grey weather there was lots of life on Gressholmen with displaying Shelduck, Red-breasted Mergansers, Oystercatchers and Black-headed Gulls making lots of noise. 11 Ringed Plover was a very high count and may well be the entire local breeding population. The coastal breeding birds return early where as the birds that breed in the mountains or tundra do not pass through mid May. Chaffinches were also back and singing and it was pure heaven to hear them 😊. I was hoping for some more unusual migrants such as Rock Pipit or Snow Bunting but it was very quiet on the passerine front except for my first Grey Wagtail of the year.

With the car back I paid a visit to Fornebu today and could add Snow Bunting to my year list and in Maridalen I finally added Black Woodpecker plus had my first Mistle Thrush and Buzzard there.

The Oslo area is still very much in the grips of winter whereas places to the south but also inland to the north east have far less snow cover. We are forecast to have temperatures below zero again next week so there will not be any big arrivals of migrants for a bit.

here the male Shelduck (gravand) seem to be making the moves

but here it is a female chasing off another female

this video has displaying Shelduck and Red-breasted Mergansers (siland)

And this video has a sound I had not heard for over half a year

3 of the 11 Ringed Plovers (sandlo)

the Little Grebe (dvergdykker) at Frognerkilen now in near full summer plumage. Look how small it is compared to the (not very large) Goldeneyes (kvinand)

this gull caught my eye and had a definite Caspi vibe to it. It was ringed in Oslo on 26 July 2020 as a 2cy Herring Gull but the ringer also wondered whether it was a hybrid. Since being ringed it has been reported from exactly the same place year round

my first Maridalen Buzzard (musvåk) of 2023

Summer holiday - cabin life

Summer in the arctic is no cold affair! Temperatures are in the twenties and may reach 30 degrees tomorrow! I hoped this would result in loads of butterflies but instead I have seen hardly any but it may still be early in the season (we are usually here later in July).

I have spent far too many hours searching for the pratincole close to the cabin but got very excited when my phone plinged yesterday afternoon to say it had been found at Klungsett (my favourite birding place up here and where I previously found the Asian White-winged Scoter). I was there an hour later but was yet again too late on the scene and the bird had vanished. The flocks of diving duck were also far too distant so I couldn’t salvage the day with a rare duck either.

The in vain searching for the prat has turned up quite astonishing numbers of breeding waders though. I have always known the area is good but this year seems exceptional (although being here earlier than normal may also play a role). 6 pairs of Lapwings have young and along with a flock of 18 non/failed breeders this is perhaps the best site in Nordland county for the species. I have also seen 2 broods of Curlew and angry adults in at least 6 other areas plus loads of alarm calling Redshank. Unfortunately the farmers have just started to cut the hay fields where many of these birds are and after witnessing how a young Curlew just lat flat on the ground in response to its parent alarm calling my presence I fear that many young Curlew and Redshank will meet a nasty end. Ringed Plover, Snipe, Common Sandpiper, Oystercatcher and Woodcock also breed in the area, Whimbrel not too far away and a female Ruff was also intriguing although was I suspect a failed breeder from somewhere else.

Moose have also been seen in exceptional numbers and I had 13 one morning with most being males including a group of 6 plus a female with a small calf.

Pied Flycatcher (svarthvit fluesnapper) are nesting in a box at the cabib

Pair of Shelduck (gravand)

Moose

Lapwings (vipe)

Curlew (storspove)

Female Ruff (brushane)

Spotted Redshank (sotsnipe), Greenshank (gluttsnipe) and Redshank (rødstilk)

A fly orchid (flueblom)

Baby Lapwing - this one could fly whereas others were much smaller

Redshank

Curlew (storspove)

Baby Shelduck (gravand)

Guiding again

Yesterday afternoon I had my first guiding session for a while and took Norwegian photographer, Eirik on the gold plated Maridalen tour. Eirik had mentioned Wryneck, Three-toed Woodpecker and Black-throated Diver as species we wanted to get photos of and these were all duly chalked up😊

It was about far more than just chasing species though and we had a fun and successful afternoon. We discovered the nest site of the Three-toeds which again was below head height and will allow lots of exciting observations in the coming weeks. We had a Sparrowhawk giving one of the adult Tawny Owls grief, we watched a Goldcrest collecting food and then saw its amazingly well hidden and tiny nest. We saw a young Hawfinch that could barely fly, a pair of Long-tailed Tits collecting food and singing Blackcaps, Wrens, Willow Warblers, Redwings and many more species entertained us.

I don’t normally take too many photos when I am guiding but this time I just had to – over 300 in fact!

Today, I took a long overdue trip out to Gressholmen which is the best place in Oslo for waders. I had a hope to find Broad-billed Sand but had to make do with 6 Ringed Plovers. There were very few Common Terns to see and two islets that had breeding colonies last year were empty. Hopefully it is just a case of them breeding somewhere else this year.

the female Three-toed Woodpecker at the nest 

does she look familiar?

Goldcrest (fuglekonge) collecting food

Goldeneye (kvinand) brood

very young Hawfinch (kjernebiter)

Long-tailed Tit (stjertmeis)

Sparrowhawk (spurvehauk) that was mobbing...

...this Tawny Owl (kattugle)

and some pictures from today

Shelducks (gravand)

my first Wall Brown (sørringvinge) of the year 

and my first orchid: Early purple orchid (Vårmarihand)

Wood Warbler (bøksanger)

already quite large Black-headed Gulls (hettemåke)

and there were many baby Eiders (ærfugl)

this Hawfinch (kjernebiter) obviously had a nest nearby