We have now had a few nights of frost and with very little
wind and daytime temperatures also staying cold I visited Østensjøvannet expecting
it to be mostly covered in ice. In fact the lake was ice free with just some
ice on the edges although the wrongly named Wader Pond (just Pond would
suffice) was frozen. I was a bit surprised that the first bird I saw was a
Scaup as the bird I found on 3 Nov has not been reported since the 8th.
This bird looked to be a 1cy male (a grey feather on the back and hint of green
on the head) whereas the previous bird whilst being a 1cy had nothing in its
plumage to suggest it was a male but upon looking at pictures I believe it is
the same bird but that just come further in its post juvenile moult over the
course of a week.
I had been hoping for ice as I hoped this would have
concentrated what ever birds were left (and also any new arrivals) but that should
come some time next week as temperatures are still forecast to get colder. This
will hopefully also push out some snipe which I was unable to find today.
Yesterday I enjoyed close views of Red-throated Diver and a
feeding Eider at Fornebu. The diver was showing unusually well and was in the
same area on Sunday. Rather than being ill I think it is exploiting a food source.
The Eider had caught a crab and I was able to watch it remove the legs by
holding one leg at a time and shaking the crab until the leg was detached and
the body fell into the water. This was done with each leg until there was just the
body left which was swallowed after some careful manoeuvring to allow it to
slide down. It impressive to think of the stomach acids it must have that will
allow it process the crab.
the female Eider (ærfugl) preparing a crab for lunch
the video shows it removing the remaining legs and then eventually swallowing the body
a confiding 1st winter juvenile/1st winter Red-throated Diver (smålom)
a Razorbill (alke) getting ready to dive
and the RtD with a Guillemot (lomvi) when the diver looks surprisingly small
a young Scaup (bergand). The dark green colours coming through on the head plus a grey feather on the mantle show it to be a male
And a video of the Treecreeper in Maridalen that likes searching for food on/in spruce cones
and a comparison of the Maridalen Marsh Tit (løvmeis) and a Willow Tit (granmeis) in sunlight. Notice how the Marsh Tit seems to have a very pale wing panel... a feature that is commonly said to mean Willow
A single Marsh Tit has now proven to be very settled in
Maridalen. It hangs very closely with two Willow Tits on a couple of horse
fields where they feed primarily on the floor and find food in or close to
piles of manure. What they are eating though I am unsure – it could either be seeds
or insects (perhaps eggs). There is only a single Marsh Tit and I have now changed
my previous observation from a pair to just one as I was only focused on
identify and documenting one of the birds and just assumed that the bird it was
with was also a Marsh Tit but seeing how close company this bird keeps with
Willow Tits that assumption was only making an ass out of you and me. I also
wonder whether the initial observation of two birds can stand as two as it was initially
reported as an unsure record with a photo of just a single bird.
Anyways, this bird seems settled for the winter and there is
clearly an abundance of natural food although once winter sets in then I expect
it will move to feeders. It calls surprisingly little, or at least gives the characteristic
“pitchoo” call very sparingly whereas the Willow Tits are churring away all the
time. This makes initially discovering it difficult but once the Willows are
found then the Marsh Tit should not be far away.
Apart from this little bit of excitement Maridalen feels
quite dead. There are no flocks of finches on the fields and the lake only has
a handful of expected species (Goldeneye, Goosander and Cormorant). With it
being so mild there are still quite a few Fieldfares finding worms to eat on
grass fields but I am clutching at straws.
The Maridalen Marsh Tit (løvmeis) anno 2025
finding some food in the horse muck
I'm not sure if it has taken a seed or an insect egg
here the Marsh Tit is feeding with a Willow Tit (granmeis) which is at the back. Note the much white and large cheek of the Willow
this had the makings of a very good comparison of the 2 species but ended up being blurry. The Marsh is closest
here the Marsh is at the back. Note also the large white wing panel of the Willow which is muck less obvious on the Marsh
Willow
the Marsh
Marsh on manure
Willow to the left and Marsh to the right
Marsh flanked by the two Willows. In this shot the Marsh seems to have an obvious white wing panel
Willow
Willow
Willow
2 of 5 Twite (bergirisk) that stopped briefly whilst I was watching the tits
this Treecreeper (trekryper) was searching for food on spruce cones which is a behaviour I cannot remember seeing before
These 5 Bullfinches were part of an all male flock of 6 birds - again something I cannot remember seeing before
I have mentioned the roosting Treecreepers we have been seeing on our evening outings with the thermal imager and here is the promised post. When driving around Maridalen in the dark Jr has normally sat in the passenger seat and used the thermal imager to spot Moose, Roe Deer or Foxes and in the late autumn Woodcocks. Recently though Jr has done the driving and I have got to use the thermal. I haven’t spotted many large animals but I have spotted roosting birds. First out were Magpies which are of a similar size to Woodcock so perhaps no surprise that they would be visible but to find Treecreepers was not what I expected. Firstly, what are the chances they would be roosting close to, and visible from, the road and secondly, how can such a small creature shine so bright and be picked up when driving past?
The first bird found was 20 metres from the road and the second 10 metres but both really lit up in the sensor. They have proven to be site faithful and are seen every night we try for them. I assumed they were holding onto the tree trunk with there sharp claws but visiting the sites in the daytime when the birds are not there shows they are using small cavities so their bodies are supported in the cavity and it just their tails sticking out.
Bird 1:
the view in the thermal imager from the road at about 20m
The roosting Treecreeper - picture taken with the superzoom and flash
picture of the tree taken in the day with a curios Nuthatch (spettmeis). The roost site is a small hole in what is clearly a rotten birch. Note also the droppings immediately under the hole
Bird 2:
the view in the thermal imager from the road at about 10m
the roosting bird taken with the bazooka and flash
I have previously expressed my worries that this would not
be a good spring for singing owls and my only serious attempt to hear them
earlier in February resulted in zero owls. I have seen a few reports coming in
though so last night I teemed up with Jack to hit Akerhus’s Owl Road and if two
lifers for Jacky Boy is any way to judge success then we were successful.
Conditions were nigh on perfect with no wind, a stary sky
and temperatures a few degrees below zero. We were not the only ones to have
noted this weather forecast and we met other birders on a similar mission. When
you go on these owling trips you stop the car frequently and listen for a few
minutes at a time so it is obvious that you can easily miss birds as they do
not sing continuously for the whole night. We stopped at some sites three times
and only heard owls once but our perseverance was rewarded. We finished by hearing
2 singing Tawny Owls, 6 Tengmalm’s and best of all a Great Grey. Jack also
heard a distant Pygmy which my older ears failed to register. The owls were
concentrated in a relatively small area with most of our stops revealing
nothing so it is likely that rodent concentrations are quite localised. As a sign
of how concentrated the owls were we heard 2 Tengmalm’s from the same spot, a
Tengmalm’s and a Tawny from another and another Tengmalm’s and the GG from a
third. The GG was quite distant with it having to have been a minimum of 500m
away but the song carried well although was too low to record. It sang already
at 1930 but was subsequently quiet until after 2200 when it sang almost
continually.
One of the Tengmalm’s sang close to the road and allowed
itself to be observed and even photographed although I didn’t optimise my
camera settings.
18:58 by which time we had heard Tawny Owl and Jack had heard a Pygmy
Tengmalm's Owl (perleugle)
the male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (dvergspett) in Maridalen is singing and drumming more often but is still to find a mate
Long-tailed Tit (stjertmeis)
Treecreepers (trekryper) are singing now and are easy to find
