It is full on guiding at the moment and I was out
yesterday and today and will be guiding again tomorrow. If only every week was
this busy!
Yesterday afternoon I guided Robin and Geoff from
California and we spent the whole time in Maridalen. Despite being sunny it was
quite windy and noticeably chilly but bird activity was high. This morning I
guided Stephen from Maryland around Fornebu. It rained the whole time but bird activity was surprisingly high and both sessions were undoubted successes.
Maridalen delivered my closest ever views of
Icterine Warbler, plus Rosefinch, Black Woodpecker, Osprey, Goshawk, Hobby,
Hawfinch, Spotted and Pied Flycatchers, Bullfinch, Sand Martin and much more.
Fornebu tried hard to be just as good and amongst around 50 species we had amazing views of singing Thrush
Nightingale, plus singing Cuckoo (very unusual here), Pheasant, Little Ringed
and Ringed Plovers, Eider Ducks, Redshank and various warblers.
I have never before seen an Icterine Warbler (gulsanger) this well. Normally they are high up in a tree with leaves of the same colour and leave you with a sore neck and some poor views.
I would normally have been very happy with this picture
and delighted with this one :-)
it has whiskers and a nostril!
when it was singing it really puffed itself up revealing the dark bases to the feathersand even skin. Notice also the noticeable divide on the chest which I assume is a sign it has large muscles either side of the ribs
back lit photos are apparantly artistic :-)
this Osprey (fiskeørn) flew over and the white underwing coverts show it to be a male. Presumably from a pair breeding further in the forest where the female is on the nest
back lit Common Rosefinch (rosenfink) doesn't work so well
but fully lit works just fine
this Sand Martin (sandsvale) in Maridalen was where they have attempted to breed between the rocks supporting a bridge. Hopefully there will be successful breeding this year
Swallows breed under the same bridge and this bird was perched under us
A handheld video of the Thrush Nightingale taken with the bazooka but with image stabilisation in the editing on the PC isn't too shaky and the sound is to be enjoyed!
Thrush Nightingale singing in the rain
lighting heavily adjusted
Thrush Nightingales have become establised at Fornebu in the last three years with upto three singing males. They arrived very late this year with the first record on 21 May compared to 6 May in 2018. Such a difference in arrival dates is quite surprising but the late (main) arrival was mirrored at other sites.
this male Pheasant (fasan) at Fornebu is part of a tiny population (just 1 pair?) in the area that has persisted for decades but it is unknown whether birds are still being released
Today was a beautiful day with no wind, blue skies and
temperatures around zero. A walk around Maridalen revealed a lot of activity
from Common Crossbills with many singing and a female also acting in a way that
suggested she had a nest close by. Great Spotted Woodpeckers were very obvious
and I heard a single Green Woodpecker but I heard no other pecker species which
I had hoped but it is still very early in the season (peak activity is not until
end March/beginning of April).
The Great Grey Shrike was the best bird and some
feathers/fur stuck to the end of its bill showed it had recently had breakfast.
At Fornebu I put out food for the Water Rail but only
managed to attract a Jay and Blue and Great Tits so there were no pictures to
improve on yesterday’s terrible attempt. Beardies were calling very close to
the path but once again I failed to see any. Wrens have been noticeable by
their absence during my last few visits and have probably been negatively
affected by the cold.
I found tracks in the snow in both Storøykilen
and Koksa which resembled Water Rail but looked too large and would appear to
be from Pheasant.
Looking up towards Mellomkollen from Maridalen
the 2cy Great Grey Shrike forgot to clean his face after breakfast
male Common Crossbill (grankorsnebb)
Pheasant tracks. Compare to Water Rail tracks here
this picture is from Storøykilen yesterday when the sea water was incredibly high and had completely flooded the reedbed on the seaward side
