Mountain Marsh Runners aka Broad-billed Sandpipers
have started passing through South East Norway the last couple of days. There
are only a handful of sites with annual records of this scarce species and one
of them is Årnestangen. So, I set off on the long walk with high hopes this
morning. My hopes gradually became lower and lower on the walk out when there
was no sign of any migration whatsoever. Arriving at the end of the peninsula
there was a particular dearth of birds and I had to work very hard to find any
waders at all with just a single Dunlin and Ringed Plover being migrants. This
is all part of the game but at this time of year one always hopes for a bit
more.
On the walk back I did hear a brief snatch of “song”
from my first Corncrake of the year plus seeing my first Swift which is a late
first record. Whilst Beast walking I had a singing Icterine Warbler near the
house which will deserve some more attention.
The lack of birds today is highlighted by the face
that I will show pictures of butterflies instead. Three different Painted
Ladies was a big surprise although there seems to have been an arrival
recently. I always thought of this butterfly as a late summer migrant.
a female Orange Tip (aurorasommerfugl). From above it can be confused with the other whites but the pattern of the underside of the lower wing is distinctive
the first Painted Lady (tistelsommerfugl) I saw. This individual was very tatty and the upperparts which I didn't manage to get a picture of were pale and bleached
the second Painted Lady
which looked to be nice and fresh
and the third one
which was also quite fresh
and a Green-veined White (rapssommerfugl)
it's been a long time since I've seen a Stoat (røyskatt). This one had something in its mouth but I didn't manage to see what it had taken
Today didn’t feel like a special day but with 8 new
species for the year it clearly was good! Anders and I headed to Nordre Øyeren and visited
Svellet, Merkja, Tuentangen and Snekkervika. It never felt like there
was any avian activity with the high pressure still ruining things but there
were birds here and there and my year ticks were: Greenshank, Common Sandpiper,
Jack Snipe, Little Ringed Plover, Whinchat, Redstart, Willow Warbler and
Swallow. We also had 10 species of wader which is a sign of things to come. In
addition to the 4 mentioned above we had Golden Plover, Curlew, Oystercatcher,
Snipe, Lapwing and Green Sandpiper. Svellet is looking very promising but needs
some rain and a slight increase in water levels as it is very dry at the moment
and there were only 11 Curlew. The whole of Snekkervika was dry to beyond the
end of Årnetangen and with heat haze it was hopeless to see what was out there.
Raptors disappointed as we had hoped for some harriers and we only saw upto 6
different Kestrels, 4 Buzzards, 2 Sparrowhawk and an Osprey.
There were 400 Teal on Merkja but a pair of Pintail
was the only interest among them although we did find a male Garganey at
Tuentangen alongside just 10 Teal.
Luckily there were not too many photos to go through
today (it’s much quicker that way..)
male Garganey (knekkand)
male Whinchat (buskskvett)
male Redstart (rødstjert)
Queen of Spain Fritillary (sølvkåpe). This is my first early spring record of a species that is rapidly increasing in Norway and used to be more of a summer migrant
Yesterday I went to check
out Nordre Øyeren. Very high water levels have caused the whole of Årnestangen
to be under water although apparently we are still 1.3m below levels reached in
1995. The water has of course ruined nesting for any ground species that had
already laid eggs but will recede quite quickly so hopefully many species will
start again. All the fields which had held rodents on which Long-eared Owls,
Kestrels and harriers fed are under water as well and I wonder what this means
for the rodents and in turn the predators. Time will tell.
Although all the usual
areas for waders are under water, fields have also flooded and these now hold
some waders although not the huge numbers that would have been on Svellet.
In Maridalen I believe I
have found the nest hole of the Three-toed Peckers but will need to confirm
this over the coming days.
Today I was guiding Anne
Kari from Oslo and we had a goal of seeing raptors. With 3 Marsh Harriers, 5
Common Buzzards, 2 Ospreys, a Peregrine and a Honey Buzzard I think we did quite
well. We also had many warblers with Reed, Sedge, Icterine, Garden, Willow,
Whitethroat and Blackcap and also waders. At one stage we could see Wood Sand,
Dunlin, LRP, Oystercatcher and Lapwing in the same scope view and with 9 Temminck’s
Stint nearby!
It was very hot today with
temperatures reaching 26C and the sun being burning hot. I was therefore
expecting to see my first Honey Buzzard of the year and expect that if one were
to stare skywards in the next few days that there will be quite a few to see as
they return to their nesting sites.
There were a number of
Lapwings to see today which was a shame as they acted like they were failed
breeders probably as a result of famers only just having ploughed their fields
as a result of the late spring.
Two Swifts today in Maridalen were my first for the year as were the Honey Buzzard and Dunlin so there are not too many common summer migrants left to come.
Garganey (knekkand) yesterday in flood waters
and a male Shoveler (skjeand) on a flooded field
a flooded Årnestangen
a Crane (trane) panting in the heat today
first Honey Buzzard (vepsevåk) of the year. A issing tail feather seems to me to be a common feature of this species
I was not expecting to find a Dunlin here
there are 5 species of wader in this photo: a Little Ringed Plover (dverglo), 2 Wood Sandpipers (grønnstilk), an Oystercatcher (tjeld), a Lapwing (vipe) and the Dunlin
5 of the 9 Temminck's Stints which were very hard to find amongst the equally sized clumps of mud
3 of them a bit closer
male Marsh Harrier (sivhauk). We saw this bird bring food to his mate who flew up off the nest in the reedbed and we also saw him escort another male out of the area
Peregrine (vandrefalk) being angrily (and carefully) chased by a breeding Lapwing (vipe)
mating Green-veined Whites (rapssommerfugl). They actually flew which seems quite a feet given they are facing different directions
Since my last post I have had a days guiding around Oslo with
Paul and Maureen from Connecticut. Incredibly Paul and I found out we both went
to the same Cambridge College – what are the chances of that?! The weather was
against us at times but we managed Greenish Warbler which was one of 10 warbler
species including Marsh, Reed, Sedge and Icterine, all three flycatchers,
Wryneck, Dipper, young Oystercatchers and Whooper Swan.
I have also been spending time studying the breeding
behaviour of a very rare breeding bird (to be the subject of a later post) and
in Maridalen have found young Lapwings (finally) and flightless Hawfinch young
on the ground (it is not just owls that have young that leave the nest before
they can fly – finches and buntings do the same). I had good views of an adult
Black-throated Diver today and can hope that they have renested after the first
nest must have gone under when water levels rose in May.
National news and only an hour from home is of a singing Sora
Rail. It has apparently been around for a couple of weeks and heard by many
mature, experienced birders who filed it away under unknown strange sound but
luckily two young brothers (part of Norway’s Young Birders group) were wise enough
to record the bird and put it out on Facebook where they asked for help. Us Norwegian
birders were unfortunately clueless but by posting it on a Swedish group the
answer soon became clear – a Sora Rail!! It had been heard singing during the
day today and I have heard very good recordings – I really don’t think it will
be any better to drive down there and hear it above the sound of carloads of chatting
twitchers?
I've heard of Punk Birders but this is the closest I've come to a Punk Bird - a juvenile Hawfinch (kjernebiter)
Adult Black-throated Diver (storlom) although purple throated may be more correct
