I headed today for Huk, Bygdøy with the hope of finding a
Long-tailed Duck to be my #Oslo2024 species number 202 and therefore mean post
redpoll lump that I would still be >=200 species. There was no Lt Duck and
not even any scoter so is clearly still a bit early for these hardy ducks to
have been forced off their mountain breeding grounds. But the Bird Gods were
feeling generous today and a pipit calling from one of the skerries turned out
to be a Rock Pipit 🥳🍾😅
I must admit to having forgotten about this species which
should definitely be on the cards in October but always good to have a
surprise.
With 202 species now there are 12 species reported on
eBird or ArtsObservasjoner that I have not seen. Of these I still have a more
than 50:50 chance only of seeing Capercaillie so if I am to add many more
species then they need to be ones not yet seen in Oslo this year. I still
reckon the following species could show up: Long-tailed Duck, Pine Grosbeak,
Hawk Owl, Mediterranean Gull, Glaucous Gull and Iceland Gull.
You can deduce then that I have given up on both Yb Warbler
and Tengmalm’s Owl but after finding my first Pygmy Owl of the autumn yesterday
in Maridalen I had to have one more unsuccessful attempt for Tengmalm’s in the
evening. But that really has to be the last.
Trips out of Oslo to Nordre Øyeren and Fornebu have not been
particularly productive.
Rock Pipit (skjærpiplerke) my species 202 in Oslo this year and one I had forgotten about. This is not a species I see annually in Oslo but late autumn and early spring are prime times to find one
the result of seeing Rock Pipit. In 2019 I added another 8 species between today and the end of the year although cannot see that happening in 2024
a Shag (toppskarv) alongside a Cormorant (storskarv) and Herring Gulls (gråmåke)
yesterday's Pygmy Owl (spurveugle)
I'm sure you know what you are supposed to find in this picture
this is what you have hopefully found - Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin)
close up of the mantle feathers
Great Grey Shrike (varsler) in Maridalen today. Lack of a wing bar and an all black bill should make this an adult male and definitely a different bird to the one from 3 weeks ago
this bird was at Nordre Øyeren yesterday and is a 1st winter
Nordre Øyeren had little in the way of water birds so I photographed passerines instead. Here a Goldcrest (fuglekonge)
and a Lesser Redpoll (brunsisik) which as of today's date is counted as a species in eBird but will disappear in the big redpoll lump before the end of the year
Marsh Tit (lovmeis) - a species that remains a rarity in Oslo despite occuring just over the county line and one I am missing in Oslo this year but which has been reported
After a couple of nights with heavy frost (the scraping off
car type) there has been an almost total clear out of birds from Maridalen.
Gone are the large flocks of Brambling and Greylag Geese and there are precious
few other birds either. Even though the rowan trees are still full of berries
there is now nothing feeding on them so if Pine Grosbeaks and Waxwings (I have
yet to see one this autumn) come then there will be lots for them to eat.
After 6 attempts I think I have given up on Tengmalm’s Owl
in Oslo. There is nothing to suggest it is a rodent year in these parts and I
have yet to uncover a Pygmy Owl this autumn either.
Evening trips with the thermal have revealed the first
Woodcock of the autumn on the stubble fields alongside Common Snipe.
a sure sign that things are quiet on the bird front is when I decide to take photos of common birds coz they look nice..
juvenile Water Rail (vannrikse) at Fornebu. This is the first time I have managed to get a photo of one of the products of this year's breeding
a long driving lesson with Jr on Sunday took us out east where there were still lots of Greylag Geese. Here at Kragtorpvika, Hemnessjøen
and a Hen Harrier (myrhauk) at Hellesjøvannet
Aspen (osp) is the favourite tree of Black Woodpeckers and Beavers and also looks fantastic in autumn
It really did rain a lot yesterday but just before 11pm the
cloud cover broke and seeing that there was a very strong forecast for Northern
Lights we headed into Maridalen. We arrived just in the nick of time and got to
see the most amazing display of colours (although no real “dancing” lights)
that I have ever seen. Unfortunately this really intense display was over just
a few minutes after we arrived and after that we had to be content with a lot
of green in the sky. Earlier in the day my social media feeds had a number of
posts about how to best photograph the northern lights so I knew what I needed
to do. I had changed the bazooka lens for an 18-55mm and had the tripod with me
for long exposures. My initial attempts to capture the display just resulted in
black shots and it took an embarrassingly long time for me to realise I had not
taken the lens cap off and this cost me capturing the best shots with my camera
although I did get some with the phone and on review the iphone 11 shots are
far better than from my Canon.
I am generally not happy with the pictures I am taking at
the moment and it all follows a very wet outing a couple of weeks ago. In
addition to my lens fogging up internally the touch screen stopped working on
the camera. I was unable to fix it and after a few days decided to try a
factory reset of the camera. Amazingly enough this worked but it also meant
that all the other changes I have made to the camera were lost and I don’t
think I have quite manged to set them all again yet.
That said though I think I did get some good shots of the night
sky and the wonders of a solar storm.
Today in Maridalen yesterday’s rain had resulted in an
increase in the water level and all the mid that the various snipe had been
using is now under water so that may be the end of that fun. There was also ice
on some puddles so we may soon be getting movements of birds pushed off now frozen
lakes further north. With blues skies it was very quiet in Maridalen and I gave
up quickly and headed for Fornebu. This is not in Oslo so any bird that I see
here doesn’t count for #Oslo2024 but good birds are good birds no matter where
you see them. Yellow-browed Warbler is still foremost in my thoughts but three
Chiffchaffs were the only phylloscs I found and none of them were from
east of the Urals (tristis). Three squealing Water Rails and a couple of
Little Grebes were the highlights and I didn’t think there would be much more
to find but decided to put the scope back in the car and have a walk around the
area. I saw a Red Admiral which may well end up being my last butterfly of the
year and there were still a few dragonflies on the wing. There are a number of
apple and berry trees and remembering that a Barred Warbler was ringed in the
area on Saturday I paused to see if there were any birds eating the berries.
Initially there was nothing to see but then I saw a movement in a rowan tree,
raised my bins and saw a grey bird with a ring on its leg – six days after
being ringed and with no sightings since the Barred Warbler was still present!
It was very difficult to see and even more difficult to photograph but
eventually I did get a couple of photos. I also heard it calling and some very
subdued subsong was also I think from it although there were also four Blackcap
in the area.
Barred Warbler is a real rarity in these parts with no Oslo
records but this is my second at Fornebu after I found one in 2012.
Barred Warbler (hauksanger) with ring
this video records its call
for a long time this was the only photo I had
but then got this which at least counts as a record shot and also shows the baring on the undertail coverts well
it would have been nice if it had showed as this male Blackcap (munk) which was one of four feeding in the same tree
and a female
And Northern Light photos, first with the phone
this shot was taken at home and is the first time we have seen it at home where there is a lot of light pollution
And photos with the camera
and videos from earlier in the week
Jack and Common Snipe Director's Cut
Common Snipe
Teal
Greylag Geese including picking grain off stalks (don't remember seeing this before)
I still haven’t finished going through my videos of snipes
but have at least sorted out of the pictures from the last few days. It has
been very wet and grey but every now and again the rain stops and you can
appreciate how autumnal it is with the trees showing some great colours. Bird
wise there has been little to see other than the snipes with Common now
increasing to 21 at Maridalen. Long-tailed Tits seem to be on the move with
suddenly many flocks seeming to move westwards after I had not really noted any
earlier in the autumn.
An incredible sight in Maridalen yesterday was a flock of at
least 10,000 Bramblings that flew west over the lake in a dense flock that
stretched over 2km!!!!
The Stonechat in Maridalen was last seen on Monday and on
Tuesday a bird was seen at Østensjøvannet. The pictures of it are far too
grainy to be sure but it could well be the same bird. I went looking for it
yesterday but it seemed to have moved on again. Østensjøvannet is not
particularly birdy this autumn (except for geese) but Smew and a male Pintail
were nice and a probable hybrid female aythya duck was a headache.
Maridalen pictures from Monday:
Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin) and its Common cousin (enkeltbekkasin)
Jacky boy
Long-tailed Tit (stjertmeis)
my last sighting of the Stonechat (svartstrupe)
small numbers of Teal (krikkand) are on Maridalsvannet
Tuesday:
spot the Jack Snipe. Instead of my usual photo taken with a mobile at a couple of metres range this is taken with the 600mm at around 50m range
there he is
Common Snipe
more Common Snipe
Wednesday:
Common Snipe with reflection
The one parent Whooper Swan (sangsvane) family seems to have lost one of the young
a very small part of the Brambling (bjørkefink) flock that was 2km long as it flew over!
Today:
what may well be my last Adder (hogorm) of the year
Brambling
one of Maridalen's House Sparrow (gråspurv) family with its far commoner cousin a Tree Sparrow (pilfink)
Pink-footed Geese (kortnebbgås) that have stopped in Maridalen for a feed
Østensjøvannet:
this male Pintail (stjertand) arrived a while ago when still in eclipse plumage but is now nearly in complete breeding plumage (and far earlier than any of other dabbling ducks there). It lacks a proper long tail though
male Wigeon (brunnakke) in different phases of plumage progression
a Cormorant (storskarv)
and a confiding Grey Heron (hegre)
the Smew (lappfiskand) is still present
As duck hybrids of not most peoples cup of tea I have kept it for last.
It is possibly a pure Tufted Duck (toppand) but I reacted initially to its head shape and reddish plumage. The eye colour also looks too red for a pure Tufted. I thought initially there might be Ferruginous Duck (hvitøyeand) in it but it lacks the obvious white arse of that species. I will do some more research but will be pleased to here if anyone has any thoughts.
this and the next picture from Wednesday
and this and the next from today
here it does have some white under the tail even though it is not visible on the swimming bird
and a Tufted Duck with its very yellow eye and this bird also shows a Ferruginous like white arse which is not that uncommon for the species so should definitely be present on a hybrid between the two
