When the sun shines now then more and more species celebrate
the longer days and prospect of spring by singing. I have heard various tits,
Greenfinch and Goldfinch singing, Ravens displaying and on Thursday woodpeckers
suddenly started drumming. I heard 3 Great Spotted simultaneously but best of
all was a male Three-toed that showed very well and at times a Great Spotted
could be heard in the background which allowed for a good comparison of their subtly
different drumrolls.
Wednesday was very exciting when I discovered one of the
Pygmy Owls atop a spruce tree. That in itself wasn’t so exciting but was made
it so was that a weasel was running around (and disappearing in holes in the
snow) right under the owl. The owl had clearly seen the weasel and I was
wondering whether it would attempt to take it. Size wize a weasel is large but
is it too large? Or does the owl recognise that it is not a rodent but rather a
ferocious killing machine? Either way the owl whilst intently following the
weasel did not make any attempt on its life and I expect both were attracted to
just that area because there were mice/voles to be found. It is even possible
that the weasel attracts the owl as the weasel may scare mice into the open?
The owl was in the same place for a good half an hour and a
couple of times Hooded Crows and Magpies flew over which caused the owl to
radically change posture and become much thinner and taller and with its tiny “ears”
raised. I am not sure as to whether it was trying to appear large and more
menacing or whether it was trying to become invisible to the corvids.
male Three-toed Woodpecker (tretåspett) drumming
Pygmy Owl (spurveugle) doing its xmas decoration imitation
reacting to a Magpie flying over - notice the "ears"
and hear when a Hooded Crow flew over
this is only the 3rd time I can remember seeing a Weasel (snømus) and all have been in winter when they are white
apart from the much smaller size, the lack of a black tail tip separates Weasel from Stoat (røyskatt). This picture is photoshopped
Today I was guiding Aron from Canada but now living in Oslo. Aron had a list of birds he wanted to see plus a
desire to get to know some of the best birding areas a bit better. As it is
November there is not a lot of variety to see but I was able to point out the
best places for birding in the spring plus of course try to find the best birds
that are currently on offer. I have clearly pleased the Bird Gods – perhaps my
eye injury was some sort of sacrifice to them – because the good birds just
kept on coming and coming. A morning’s birding gave us a flock of Pine Grosbeak
down to 2 metres, a pair of Hazel Grouse feeding on the ground only a few metres
from us for a long period of time and to wrap things up a Pygmy Owl also at
very close range. On top of this we had 5 species of tit including Crested,
Brambling, Dipper and Sparrowhawk amongst others.
Before Covid came to haunt us in the winter of 19/20
I was able to guide a stream visiting birders to my “Taiga Trio” of Pine Grosbeak,
Great Grey Owl and Hawk Owl. Post(ish) Covid maybe I can show a small trickle
of birders a new Taiga threesome of PG, HG & PO.
Pine Grosbeak (konglebit)
Pygmy Owl (spurveugle)
Hazel Grouse (jerpe)
and a few more pictures of them all
the male HG which seemed to be picking up sand
PG
two very different plumaged birds. The back one is an advanced 1st winter male whilst the close bird is also a 1st winter and presumably a female
the 1st w male
1st w male again
and presumed 1st w female (no red feathers coming through)
PO
at one stage the owl became very alert and started moving its tail about
A few pictures from Thursday when a weasel ran over the road and Black and Green Woodpeckers showed themselves
Black Woodpecker (svartspett) in silhouette
Green Woodpecker (grønnspett)
Weasel (snømus) in its white winter coat. This is only the second or third time I can remember seeing one and they really are tiny!
The winter weather continues today although the
precipitation is falling as rain in the city and only higher up as snow.
Maridalen did have some new arrivals to show me today. On the lake a flock of
19 Goosander were feeding very actively in the shallows as a flock and looked
like they were chasing a shoal of small fish. The two Common Scoter were still
present in their preferred spot but have not managed to attract any more of
their kin.
Avian highlight was a Rough-legged Buzzard that flew low
over the valley in a vain attempt to find a snack. This bird could well be one
that is hanging around the Oslo area as there have been a number of records to
the east of Maridalen that could indicate 1 or 2 birds are finding the area to
their liking.
Mammalian highlight came at one of the feeding stations when
a movement on the ground was not a mouse but a stoat, correction weasel (snømus). It was always amazes me
how small this predator is – smaller than a rat but it must be a fearsome
predator if it manages to take rabbits. My attempts at a photo were pretty
hopeless but I did capture the characteristic short tail (the larger weasel has
a long tail).
a Nutcracker (nøttekråke) with Maridalsvannet in the background
a Rough-legged Buzzard (fjellvåk) with snow covered trees
