Svellet feeling cosmic even if all else is dire

Cold nights, a cold northerly wind and blue skies continue to sing a lullaby to both birders and birds and dire is a word that frequently goes through my mind but we are now getting to the time of the spring when no matter what the weather there will be new birds coming although southerly winds and rain would still be much preferred.

 

Svellet is now getting ready to be very mighty. Water levels are perfect (3.77m today) and are rising very slowly, the light in the early morning is good (meaning there is a chance of identifying what is out there) and new waders are coming. Whilst the number of Curlew is now falling with under 50 today the number of Greenshank is rising with the first 2 on the 24^th, 7 on the 26^th, 14 on the 27^th and 25 today, the 28^th – the increase is nearly exponential! No Wood Sands yet but a single Whimbrel and two Bar-tailed Godwits including a brick red male were a sign of things to come. If things stay like this then I think the next two weeks could be cosmic!

A pleasant surprise was finding Kingfisher at a breeding site. This winter has been so long and cold that I think that many birds will have perished and even though we may have far fewer pairs this year than last I think the species is now established and won’t come and go as it used to do.

Svellet 28th April. Water levels are currently perfect but it won't need to rise very much before those mudflat between me and the water disappear.

Bar-tailed Godwits (lappspove) are, despite what the local rarities committee thinks, a proper scarce bird around Oslo and especially in spring. Brick red males are even rarer

3 Greenshank (gluttsnipe) at Maridalsvannet today. An early record here and with water levels currently, and surprisingly given the weather, very high there is no mud so I am not expecting many more waders this spring

male Kingfisher (isfugl) with fish. I saw him twice with a fish which he did not eat himself but flew with it towards the bank that is here hidden by bushes and where I assume there is a nest hole

this female Sparrowhawk (spurvehauk) was in a display flight and calling today in Maridalen. She was displaying above a Goshawk teritory but it did not result in any Goshawks flying up. Note the white undertail feathers which both Sparrowhawks and Goshawks fan out when displaying

my first Whimbrel (småspove) of the year. I had previously reported a bird on 14 April which is an extreme early date. Whilst I was happy with the ID it was distant and I didn't manage to get a photo. I therefore deleted this record after a couple of days as I am a firm believer in that very early (and late) records of migrants should be documented with photos or sound recordings. This applies particularly to species which can easily be confused with a commoner species and include in addition to Whimbrel species such as Tree Pipit, Wood and Common Sandpiper, Honey Buzzard, Hobby, Garden Warbler, Yellow Wagtail and Wryneck (sound records) 

Grey and dull

After a period of wintery weather with ice starting to form on Maridalsvannet and snow on the ground we are now in that most depressing of early winter scenarios where it is warm, wet and as dark as dusk all day long. Combine that with some windy days and there may as well be no birds out there.

With a bit of work it is possible to find a bird or two and even some that are a bit interesting but I often wonder why I bother when it is like this.

In Maridalen it is occasionally quite birdy with lots of tits making themselves known but the next day you feel lucky to stumble upon a single Blue Tit. At least 2 Marsh Tits are still around and I have come across a couple of Long-tailed Tit flocks but all of them had white heads which again supports my feeling that flocks are still on the move. The Pygmy Owl has not been showing itself but Sparrowhawks have suddenly become obvious and one was targeting the Long-tailed Tits. A Three-toed Woodpecker was my first in a while but this is not a woodpecker winter so far.

At Fornebu the Bearded Tits seem to have moved on and the occasional squeal from a Water Rail is about the only life in the reedbeds. Today I found a Jack Snipe in the thermal though and wonder whether it was a bird that has stayed around despite the wintery conditions last week or perhaps it was a newly arrived bird. It was active when I first located it although quickly froze due to my presence and this suggests a newly arrived and hungry bird. It will be interesting to see how long it hangs around.

male Three-toed Woodpecker (tretåspett) in a very murky forest

a young male Sparrowhawk (spurvehauk)

Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin) just after I discovered it when it was still standing up

it quickly lay down and froze though in response to me

and here is the sound of a very noisy Water Rail. I wondered if there were two due to the two very distinct calls that are given but they are never made simultaneously so I assume it is just one very agitated bird. One of the calls is often likened to a squealing pig but sounds also like a screaming kid.

Birdy

The weather is now far more autumnal than wintery with temperatures up to 8C in the day and no overnight frosts. On Sunday snow gave way to rain and it’s all quite gloomy and grey.

Fieldfares are around in enormous numbers with up to 2000 stripping rowan trees and also feeding again on the fields. Amongst them have been at least 20 Redwing, 2 Starling and an exceptionally late Mistle Thrush. The Mistle Thrush is actually the latest ever recorded in Oslo as was a Meadow Pipit today which really show how mild it is at the moment. There are also very good numbers of Goldfinch (>250), Brambling (>110) and Yellowhammer (>120) so it is all very birdy.

A trip to Huk in fresh southerly winds yesterday revealed no sea birds but three Long-tailed Ducks were without doubt in Oslo waters 😊

Pine Grosbeaks continue to entertain and I have had up to 47 in a day in. Hawkie continues to entertain the masses although in the poor weather we are having now it is in fact to possible to have him all to myself. I witnessed him fly into an overhead cable yesterday as he powered down from a tree top towards something on the ground about 30m away. He seemed unharmed but it goes to show how focused he was on a possible prey item that the unnatural obstacle that the wire is did not register with him.

Oslo's latest ever Meadow Pipit (heipiplerke)

and Oslo's latest ever Mistle Thrush (duetrost)

Goldfinches (stillits) are still around in exceptional numbers

and there are still lots of Redwing (rødvingetrost)

and Brambling (bjørkefink)

and thousands of Fieldfare (gråtrost) which strip rowan trees of their berries in just minutes

photographic evidence that I have seen Long-tailed Duck (havelle) in Oslo waters

there is very little to see on Maridalsvannet at the moment except for a handfull of Goldeneye (kvinand) and this Common Scoter (Svartand)

a shaky video of a Cormorant (storskarv) swallowing a Perch (abbor) on Maridalsvannet

filming Hawkie

here reacting to a Sparrowhawk (spurvehauk) that landed closeby

and this is how he reacts to a Goshawk (hønsehauk) flying by

on Saturday morning when it was still crisp and wintery

Magpies (skjære) giving him a hard time

a video of Pine Grosbeaks taken on my phone at a couple of metres range today

this male was a noticeably more scarlet rather than claret colour red

same bird

Late summer bopping

The weather has continued to be conducive to raptor watching in Maridalen and I hoped to be able to pin down, at least roughly, where the Honey Buzzard has a nest but despite seeing and hearing him I have come no closer. However, I have found photos of the same bird showing quite how large a range he covers in his search for food. He must even at times fly very close to the nest I follow showing how different pairs share the same feeding territories. Given how widely he travels though then I find it strange that I have not knowingly seen “my” male anywhere but at/over the nest.

By looking at my pictures and other posted online I have found out that the recent male is the same as the one I saw skydancing on 26May and which has been seen by Stig over Tonsenhagen (SE of Maridalen) on 17August and yesterday and was also seen on Friday south of Sognsvann which was the same day I had two sightings in Maridalen. This bird can be individually identified by its almost perfect plumage with no missing feathers but some very specific damage to the primary tips of the left wing allow it to be recognised with certainty.

the male in Maridalen on Friday. I have circled the specific feather damage that can also be seen on the photos I have linked to plus in my photo from the last few days on this blog

the lines at the top show how I saw the bird on Friday, the red cross is where is was seen the same day and the blue cross where Stig has also seen him. In the bottom left is the scale for 1km so he moves a long way

on Friday he returned calling and I heard him from over 1km

my first juvenile also on Friday. He appeared from the same area where the male had flown to but continued flying south on his own so was I believe a migrant

this Hobby (lefrkefalk) showed well

another Hobby trying to catch something

juvenile Sparrowhawk (spurvehauk)

an Osprey (fiskeørn) at Fornebu on Friday

and one of three in Maridalen the same day. This a juvenile I believe

and an adult yesterday which flew a long way north with this fish so clearly has young on the nest still

a migrating Kestrel (tårnfalk)

Yellow Wagtail (gulerle)

my first Whooper Swan (sangsvane) in Maridalen for a while

Water Rail (vannrikse) and Moorhen (sivhøne) at Fornebu

the Water Rail trying to hide

this Moorhen has been alone since it was very small but has raised itself well