Some medium sized raptors at last

The last two days have started with low cloud and then ended up being gloriously sunny and the birdlife really changes with the weather. I have visited Østensjøvannet both days following the ducky bonanza on Tuesday but the variety of ducks has declined inversely with the amount of ice cover. On Tuesday there was 75% ice, yesterday 50% and today none. Yesterday I found a new, female, Pochard who was choosing to keep the company of displaying Tufted Ducks instead of the male who was only 100m away. Today I had really high expectations as last night had seen clear skies and southerly winds until 2am when it started raining and I felt certain there would be big arrival of waterfowl. Well, all this weather had done was to cause a big clear out and there was nothing of interest and very few birds generally on the lake.

Yesterday I spent a long period staring skyward in Maridalen and finally saw those larger raptors I was longing for with first Rough-legged Buzzard, Oslo #129, and then Osprey, Oslo #130. Today in a short visit in the morning #131 came in the form of Black-throated Diver and I am now a bit unsure as to whether I will see any new species for a few days.

Today I gave up on Maridalen quickly as it was too foggy and decided to head for Nordre Øyeren. Here there was no fog but disappointingly few birds. Water levels are unusually high for the time of year but there was still a good amount exposed at Svellet. 24 Oystercatchers and 2 Curlew were the only waders though. Snekkervika also had mud and shallow water but only moderate amounts of dabbling duck.

I then decided to head south east and do Aurskog-Høland again with the hope that raptors would finally show. They did show but there wasn’t the variety I hoped for. 16 Marsh Harriers was undoubtedly a record count for me with seven showing simultaneously as one spot but where were the Hen or Pallid Harriers or Red Kites?

A single adult Bewick’s Swan was not one of the birds I had seen previously and I thought I had found a new bird but I now see that it has been seen on and off at the same time as the pair were being seen regularly.

There is still lots of flood water at Kjelle but maybe too much as it was almost birdless. Hopefully though there will be very good conditions there later in the month.

adult male Rough-legged Buzzard (fjellvåk). These dark birds can be tricky to tell apart from Common Buzzards

male Marsh Harrier (sivhauk)

adult Peregrine (vandrefalk) stooping

male Kestrel (tårnfalk) hovering

female Pochard (taffeland) at Østensjøvannet

the male

the female again who seemed to like the male Tufteds (toppand)

yesterday in Maridalen there were three species of corvids together when 2 Rooks (kornkråke) dropped in and briefly perched with Hooded Crow (kråke) and Jackdaw (kaie)

this Rook was at Østensjøvannet today in what must already be a record year for the species in Oslo

adult Bewick's Swan (dvergsvane)

these Curlew (storspove) flying over Østensjøvannet this morning had me thinking there would be lots to find at Nordre Øyeren, but there wasn't.

an unusually photogenic male Teal (krikkand)

female

my first frog and spawn of 2024

Rain but no birds

Yesterday saw my best ever encounter with Hazel Grouse. I have probably written that a number of times now and even though I never think it can get better it does! I had the male singing at head height less than 5 metres from me 😊 and at times he was clearly only 2 metres away as I could not focus the camera! I have an enormous number of photos and videos to go through so will have to come back to them later, but not too much later.

Otherwise, the day was rather disappointing. With southerly winds and rain in the afternoon I had a hope that a number of birds would arrive but that wasn’t the case. Tomorrow though could be very good. 8 Wigeon on the lake were the first of the year and there had clearly been an arrival of Willow Warblers but raptors were completely absent and there were no new waders (in addition to Lapwing I just had a couple each of Green and Common Sandpiper).

Unfortunately the farmer at Skjerven has ploughed the Lapwing field without seeming to have found and protected the Lapwings nests. This is the first time I can remember him not doing so and a few years of this could be the end for the species in the Dale. The ploughed field did provide an abundance of worms though which the Lapwings and many gulls were feasting on.

Black-throated Divers (storlom)

Brambling (bjørkefink)

there is still a hige flock of Chaffinches (bokfink) in Maridalen - in total close to 1000 birds

male Chaffinch

frog (buttsnutefrosk)

Green Sandpiper (skogsnipe)

Lapwing (vipe) with worm

Lapwing portrait

Osprey (fiskeørn) with a european whitefish (sik)

Garganey

Garganey has always been my favourite dabbling duck. It is a beautifully plumaged bird although in a subtle way; it is scarce which always increases ones interest in a bird and I was always fascinated by the fact that in Britain, at least, it was the only duck that was a summer visitor whereas most of the other ducks I saw were primarily winter visitors.

When one was found on a small pond on a golf course on Friday evening I hoped it would stay until the next day and when I heard it was still present I hatched a plan to visit it in the evening when I thought it would be nice warm light. The only problem with this plan was that such a bird risked being swamped by photographers and pushed off. Surprisingly though there seemed to be little interest in it – maybe its beauty is so subtle that it is only a birder’s bird. When I arrived though I was unable to find it and after checking all the ponds on the golf course which held Teal, Goldeneye, Moorhen and Coot I decided to check the large pond again. No joy but then it flew in with 4 Teal and seemed to have come from a small stream (which I hadn’t checked) where some dog walkers were.

After that we had over half an hour of fantastic views when it fed at close range. It was frequently chased by the local male Coot which led to it flying short distances and giving me the chance to practice my flight photography – a skill I have yet to master. The results are promising though… 😊

Earlier in the day a walk in Maridalen revealed a flyover adult White-tailed Eagle – will this species one day breed in Oslo?

I am writing this on Sunday morning whilst the others sleep having chosen to go through yesterday’s photos rather than visit the Dale. If I had visited the Dale I may well have seen Red Kite which was seen to the east and flying in the direction of the Dale. Maybe the lesson there is take fewer pictures and bird more - or to put it more bluntly be more birder and less togger 😂

male Garganey (knekkand) - one of my better flight photographs

the cause of it flying was this territorial male Coot (sothøne)

golf course

with a female Goldeneye (kvinand)

I became a bit obsessed with taking photos with the reflection of the red pole..

my first frog of the year

I'm not sure what long legged bird this Sparrowhawk (spurvehauk) has caught

and first Camberwell Beauty (sørgekåpe) of the year

adult White-tailed Eagle (havørn) over Maridalen. Presumably a non breeded but a bird that is looking to find a suitable territory. Seems to be ringed