This last week the blog has been devoted to posts
from my most excellent trip to the mountains the previous weekend. I have been
out and about in Maridalen though and this post is a summary of a week’s
sightings and experiences. It has been very hot and this of course means that
the dragonfly season has finally started although butterflies are still rather limited
in variety. One mayor butterfly find though was my second ever Green-underside Blue (kløverblåvinge) which is also the first record for Maridalen. This red listed species seems to be having a good year. This time I also managed to identify correctly in the field!!
Birding highlights have been a Honey Buzzard
displaying for quite a long time over the valley plus a pair of Hobbies that
seem settled and call a lot. When I first heard the call I thought it was a
Wryneck until the Hobby appeared and the two species can sound VERY similar.
Should they breed then it will be the first breeding, as far as I am aware, for
not just Maridalen but also Oslo. Icterine Warblers seem to be here in good
numbers but I have yet to see (or hear) Common Rosefinch and of the nocturnal
singers I have only heard a single Marsh Warbler but then again I have only
been on a single nocturnal trip.
I had previously worried for the fate of Maridalen’s
Lapwings as I did not believe that the farmer at Skjerven had saved the nests
as he usually does when ploughing the field. It looks like my worries were unnecessary
though as he marked out a nest when sowing the field and there was clearly one
family and probably two in long grass. A couple of days later I also saw a half grown youngster feeding on the field with a watchful adult nearby.
I have resisted the temptation to drive a 3 hour
round trip to hear Norway’s second ever Little Crake which is singing in Fredrikstad.
What would have been tempting though was to make a quick trip to Værøy where
John Alsvik (one of the group who I visit the island with in the autumn) found 7
(yes SEVEN!) Blue-cheeked Bee-eatears when he visited for a few days at the
beginning of June but strangely enough he had nothing else of note.
a male Honey Buzzard (vepsevåk) doing his skydance over Maridalen.
he was quite a distinctive looking bird so hopefully I will identify him again later in the year
calling, and territorial, Hobby (lerkefalk)
pair
mum Tawny Owl (kattugle)
I have only found this youngster which surprises me
spot the owl(let)
I was beginning to think the Whooper Swans (sangsvane) had failed in their breeding but the young finally hatched. Mum drooped her wings over the nest to shade the young from the sun
male Whitethroat (tornsanger)
I saw the male Eider (ærfugl) again 8 days after Jack found him. He was still feeding like a dabbling duck
marked out and saved Lapwing (vipe) nest
there were clearly young Lapwings in the long grass and this adult repeatedly dive bombed the non breeding Whooper Swan (sangsvane) pair. They clearly had enough of the abuse and flew off
my first fritillary of the hear - a Pearl-bordered (rødflekket perlemorvinge)
a Northern White-faced Darter (østtorvlibelle) - my first dragon of the year
a Norfolk Damselfly (klypevannymfe) - a very scarce species in Oslo but which seems to be established in Maridalen
Brook Lampreys (bekkenioye) - it is well worth reading up about the life cycle of this fish
half grown Lapwing (vipe)
dandelions seeds seem to be an important food source at this tme of the year - here a male Bullfinch (dompap) eating them
Green-underside Blue (kløverblåvinge) - maybe I have just overlooked this species in the past? This was flying with 4 other blues in an area I checked a lot last year but this was the only one that landed. Last year though (and a bit later in June) it was only Mazarine Blues (engblåvinge) I found in the same spot
After making a big deal of Wryneck in my last post I
have been entertained daily by the singing unpaired male and today discovered a
pair in Maridalen who seemed to be nesting (although I didn’t locate the nest).
I have had distant sightings of Honey Buzzards but am no closer on my quest of
finding out where they breed although apparently it is much easier from July
onwards to locate them.
Three-toed Woodpeckers after seeming to be
everywhere are now difficult to find and I can only find a single male. I
assume that the females are on eggs and that once the young hatch they will
become more active again. Three-toed breeds a lot later than both Great Spotted
and Black who both have large young in their nests now.
An unexpected highlight yesterday was noticing some
eel like fish in a tiny stream. They turned out to be Brook Lampreys
(bekkeniøye) which is an extremely under-recorded species in Norway. The ones I
saw were egg laying and they will apparently all die very shortly afterwards.
It is a fascinating species and it is well worth reading about them, for
example here on Wikipedia.
There are quite a few dragon and damselflies out now
and all I have managed to identify are the same as the species I posted last
time which I have now had confirmed as northern damselfly / spydblåvannymfe / coenagrion
hastulatum and northern white-faced darter (ruby whiteface) /
østtorvlibelle / leucorrhinia rubicunda.
This afternoon I had my first guiding session for a
while with a Eirik, a Norwegian photographer who had a few species he wanted photos of. Wryneck,
Three-toed Woodpecker and Black-throated Diver were at the top of the wish list and luckily I know where to find them 😊
this 2cy Peregrine (vandrefalk) was a surprise yesterday
and this 2cy Buzzard (musvåk) was new and caused me a bit of a headache at first
male Common Crossbill (grankorsnebb). The breeding season is finished for this species and there are less noticeable now although this male did show very well
in the breeding season it is normally Lesser Redpolls (brunsisik) that one finds in Maridalen but these looked like Common Redpolls (gråsisik)
a one legged pear
and its mum
Wryneck (vendehals)
egg-layng Brook Lampreys (bekkeniøye)
And here is a video of Three-toed Woodpeckers from a few weeks ago that I had forgotten to post
Today is a religious national holiday in one of the
most secular countries I know. It is that widely celebrated? holiday of Ascencion
Day which always falls on a Thursday, the schools also get closed on the Friday
and everyone has a very long weekend and goes to their “cabin” (these days
often a second home of a higher standard than the main house) either in the
mountains or on the coast…. gotta love living in the world’s richest country.
We are staying in Oslo (the city feels refreshingly empty
when so many others are away) and had a very pleasant trip to Fornebu today. I
had an extremely close encounter with one of two singing Thrush Nightingales
that were both singing at full volume at noon.
This morning I gave sea/migration watching a couple
of hours effort at Hulvik from 05:15 but there just wasn’t enough to make me
stay longer although a full days effort at this time of the year will probably
be rewarded with a Pomarine Skua if nothing else. My 2 hours did give me an Arctic
Skua which was chasing a group of 5 adult Kittiwakes which were heading
purposefully north (to where?) plus a few Red-throated Divers and Common and
Velvet Scoters. The drive home gave me my first Red-backed Shrikes of the year.
Thrush Nightingale (nattergal)
here you can see it tongue
The video is taking handholding the bazooka so you have been warned if you get dizzy 😁
crappy photo but it shows migration in action - Velvet Scoters (sjøorre) migrating to the north
Wood Sandpipers (grønnstilk) are still in suitable breeding habitat in Maridalen
two Pike (gjedde). As far as I can make a black example is very rare
but Black Woodpecker (svartspett) is not that rare
male Gadwall (snadderand) at Østensjøvannet. Both this species and Shoveler may well be breeding (for the first time?) with only males now being seen after there had previously been pairs
male Shoveler (skjeand)
male Red-backed Shrike (tornskate) - my first for 2020
Spotted Flycatchers (gråfluesnapper) are now arriving in good numbers - meaning it must be time to find an RbF
The Tawny Owls (kkattugle) are quite easy to locate due to the scolding Blackbirds (svarttrost)
