It is dire at the moment and if things don’t change tomorrow
when the weather forecast looks very good then I think I may just hang up my binoculars
for the spring.
The weather the last two days has been really good to be out
birding but there just hasn’t been anything on the move. It has not helped that
water levels in Nordre Øyeren have risen really fast such that there are no mud
banks left and therefore hardly any waders or dabbling ducks remain. Maridalen is
also equally quiet although four Whimbrel feeding on a field today was a
welcome sight.
In Maridalen employees of the water company were on their
annual boat trip to remove eggs from geese eggs. This is a practice that is
supposed to help reduce organic pollution of the drinking water but is a
completely futile exercise. Today whilst it looked like they removed eggs from
a handful of Greylag and Canada Geese nests there was a flock of 170 Pink-feet
resting on the lake and a similar number of gulls many of whom have probably
come from the recycling plant and are now washing themselves in the drinking
water. Most worrying for me though was that I think they have taken the eggs
from the swan nest. The swans were definitely not on the lake and I later found
a (the) pair of Whoopers feeding on a field away from the lake. Edit: at 1915 the Whoopers were back on the nest..
Highlights have come in the form of Blue-headed Wagtail(s)
and really good views of a stoat at Årnestangen.
a classic male Blue-headed (yellow) Wagtail ssp flava (sørlig gulerle) at Årnestangen. This was in exactly the same spot as last years bird and is, I assume, the same
same bird
a second bird. This one has a much more reduced sub ocular patch but I believe still ticks the boxes for a (near) pure flava although in southern Norway there are probably more intergrades with thunbergi than pure flava
the first bird with his mate
the dark necklace suggests this is a thunbergi. She seems to lack any yellow in her plumage which is odd for any race though
the curious stoat (røyskatt). It is a long time since I have seen one so this was a real pleasure
the dark tip to the tail which seperates it from weasel is very obvious from behind
a male I believe
a Green-veined White (rapssommerfugl)
keeping the drinking water clean (apparantly) by removing geese eggs
at the same time 170 resting Pink-feet are undoubtedly lightening the load
two of four Whimbrel (småspove) on the deck in the Dale
and here is a video of the male Three-toed Woodpecker from 30 April when he was on his own (before my last sighting on 2 May)
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
