Back in business

The last 5 days we have been downhill skiing at Trysil. Birding wise it was dire and in stark contrast to last year when Hawk Owls were a regular sight both from the chair lifts and whilst skiing. On the drive back today I had a quick stop at the floodlands at Starene where there were not so many birds as I had hoped but I did hear a Lapland Bunting.

In the evening we went beast walking in Maridalen. Things have changed so much in the course of a week! With temperatures at 17C all snow has melted although the lake is still frozen. The farmer was also ploughing the favoured stubble fields at Kirkeby so my chance of a Lapland Bunting here this year is probably over. There were a lot of Common Gulls on the field though so Med Gull must be a chance again this spring. My first Wheatear of the year was an expected find. The weather forecast is still for continued high pressure with hardly any clouds let alone rain so birding will continue to be hard work even though we are entering the best period.

Ring Ousel (ringtrost) in Maridalen

Wheatear (steinskvett)

Small Tortoiseshells (neslesommerfugl)

Maridalen - I like :-)

After yesterday’s bemoaning if the lack of Honey Buzzards it will come as no surprise that the first species of note I saw was indeed a Honey. It flew very low over the road in front of me and although I had my bins on my lap they were hardly necessary. My camera though was in my bag on the back seat and by the time I had got it out the Honey had flown (behind some trees). I tried in vain but didn't manage to refind it.

But my honey was just the start of things: Red-backed Shrike, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Cuckoo and best of all Kingfisher! I discovered the Kingfisher when I heard its call whilst eating my lunch. It was a devil to see let alone photograph but called every now and again. This could well be one of the youngsters from Sandvika where at least two broods have fledged but could also have come from as far as Sweden.

There was a fine supporting cast of Whooper Swan, Nutcracker, Long-tailed Tit and Crossbill - shame I wasn't guiding....

I spent a lot of time sky gazing and had at least 4 Common Buzzards, 2 Sparrowhawks and also a Goshawk which becomes my tenth and a half raptor this week :-)

juv a 2cy Common Buzzard (musvåk)

the same juv Cuckoo (gjøk) that I saw yesterday

the Kingfisher (isfugl) - my first in Maridalen

male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (dvergspett)

juvenile Red-backed Shrike (tornskate)

Wheatear (steinskvett)

same Wheatear - a very sandy coloured bird

The Whooper Swans (sangsvane) - the other five youngsters were hidden in the vegetation

Two juv Buzzards

Grey Wagtail (vintererle)

Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell butterflies

Silver Washed Fritillary

Small Tortoiseshell

Guiding and lots of new species

I was guiding again this morning and today's destination was the one and only Maridalen where we used the morning to get to know the birds of the Dale better. The hot weather continued and with it there are few concentrations of birds but rain is forcast for Sunday and overcast conditions next week which might cause a big change in the  bird scene.

Today though did not disappoint. We had good views of a number of species including Pied Flycatcher, Long-tailed Tit, Wryneck, Teal, Red-throated Diver, House Martin, Willow Warbler, Tree Pipit and  Skylark. An Oystercatcher on the lake was a real patch rarity and there were also Greenshank, Green Sand and Snipe. A very enjoyable morning.

After guiding I headed off for a quick walk around Fornebu and had a lot more species than I expected. A Brent Goose that has been around a couple of days was easy to find with the local Barnacle Geese but I didn't expect to see (or hear) Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Whimbrel and Common Redstart. The Redstart was a male and in exactly the same spot as the female Black Redstart I had a couple of weeks ago - clearly a good start point!

My only raptor of the day was an unusual Common Buzzard over Fornebu and I was very disappointed it wasn't something rarer.

Here are some pictures from today in no particular order. Most are from Fornebu where I had the camera out whereas when guiding in Maridalen photography was not a priority.

male Blackcap (munk) 

Barnacle Geese (hvitkinngås) with a Brent Goose (ringgås) in the background

The Brent Goose 

the white edges to one of the coverts show this to be a 2cy bird and is most likely the same bird seen around Oslo earlier in the spring 

the days only raptor - this Common Buzzard (musvåk) was escorted away from Fornebu by the local crows 

Lesser Whitethroat (møller) 

first Pied Fly (svarthvit 'snapper) of the year

a pair of Red-throated Divers (smålom) were making a lot of noise as they flew over Maridalen

Small Tortoiseshell (neslesommerfugl) and bee

Song Thrush (måltrost)

Toad (padde)

a pair of Wheatears (steinskvett) having an argument  

Wryneck (vendehals)

Adding up

Temperatures dropped to zero overnight - I find the 20C drop in temperature just as amazing as it being (+)20C in March in Norway. It ended up being warm again today but there are still remarkably few birds and the large passage of Pink-footed Geese and a few raptors that I hoped for today did not materialise.
Pink-footed Geese had continued migrating through the night and I heard a flock as I went to bed but this wasn't the start of the mass exodus from Denmark that I expected although I did note a few small flocks today.

I visited Årnestangen where rarest bird was a heard only Rock Pipit but it was exciting to see that the mighty Svellet was now ice free and already had 220 Black-headed Gulls and 300 Crows feeding on it. A few Lapwing were the only waders but hundreds of Curlew will turn up soon.

The main interest in Maridalen was non-avian with 3 adders including a black one basking in the sin, a couple of lizards and a small tortoiseshell butterfly.

The Black Adder!  This black individual is, I am told, a male 

tongue out shots just wouldn't be in focus 

except for this one but then there's that twig....

here the black male has joined a female (again so I am told)

the female

and this third individual was a lot smaller and apparantly born (hatched) last year

a lizard (brown means female?)

a Small Tortoiseshell (neslesommerfugl) catching some rays

there was the odd bird to see today including this Crane (trane)

and a few flocks of northward bound Pink-footed Geese (kortnebbgås)