The last week

The last week hasn’t just been about big owls and rare waders. I have continued visiting Svellet and Nordre Øyeren but despite continued low water levels there have been surprisingly few waders with now zero Wood Sandpipers!!! Water levels are now rising about 10cm a day so the mud at the edges probably just has no food in it. Also with spring having come early and no rain to force birds down many birds are probably also flying directly to their breeding sites. The first Temminck’s Stint and Dunlins have turned up though and Redshank have become the commonest wader.

Yesterday, I had my first visit of the year to the islands and a 2nd summer Little Gull on Gressholmen was a real highlight and gave much better views than the birds in Svellet last week.

when I first saw this gull with an extensive black hood, red legs, a pink wash on the breast and black in the wing tips I thought I had found an adult Bonaparte's Gull. A check in the scope though showed it was "just" a 2nd summer Little Gull.

and comparison the views that I managed at Svellet last week where I must admit to being quite chuffed that I actually got a photo which shows both an adult and a 1st summer. This video gives an idea of the viewing conditions at Svellet:

A Redshank (rødstilk) at Gressholmen was the only migrant wader and for me this has been an awful spring for waders in Oslo with me still not having seen Greenshank or Whimbrel. Water levels are finally falling at Maridalsvannet revealing some muddy edges but I fear it is too little too late

Thrush Nightingale (nattergal) on Gressholmen in exactly the same place as they bred last year so presumably the same male

there were quite a few young birds to be seen on the islands including the first Black-headed Gulls (hettemåke) with three young visible top left

this must be one of the larger BhG colonies left in the Oslo area

at Østensjøvannet which used to hold many hundreds if not thousands of pairs of nesting Black-headed Gulls I could only find 7 occupied nests today with five in this tree. The especially maintained islands that they used to use are now empty

this colour ringed BhG at Østensjøvannet received its bling at Bowness-on-Windermere in the UK in December 2019 and has subsequently been resighted there every winter and in Oslo in the summers

Eiders (ærfugl) have had young very early this year. Normally the adult males would have moved off but here they were displaying to the females

A Dunlin (myrsnipe) and Redshank (rødstilk) at Årnestangen in the same place where I found the dowitcher

and my first Temminck's Stint of the year also at Årnestangen

it is not easy being a breeding Ringed Plover (sandlo) in the Oslo area. This bird at Fornebu had chosen a fenced off area away from human disturbance and has hopefully been succesful. This picture was taken just a few days before the young should have hatched and a visit a week later revealed no birds at all which hopefully means they have led the young somewhere even safter

when on the islands a Ringed Plover flew up in front of me and I saw that it had flown up from a nest which contained 3 eggs

hopefully they will be successfull

in Maridalen there is now a third Lapwing nest. This is one of the pairs that lost their nest to the plough relaying. I still think that the other pair that seemed to lose their nest may actually have young in the long grass although I have yet to see them. A fourth pair is now hanging out at Kirkeby and will hopefully nest there

the Long-tailed Tit (stjertmeis) nest that I found had an adult in it on 8 May and I assumed it was incubating. However subsequent sightings mean she was most likely brooding..

as on 13 May the young were being fed by both parents at the opening to the nest. This must be very early

water levels at Svellet are rising by 10cm every day and the party is ending

this is how it looked on Tuesday 13 May when I last visited and as can be seen on the graph water levels have risen more than 20cm since then which probably means most of the mud is now under water

and the view to the south

Great Grey Guiding

So, this weekend was my first guiding to the Great Grey Owls that I found at easter. In Feb 2020 I had guided Darrel and a couple of mates for the taiga trio. We had failed to see Great Grey Owl that time and since then Darrel has asked me at least once a year whether there are any GGs to be seen 😊. He has had to be patient but finally this year I could inform him that GGs were a go go.

Darrel, Mike and Richard flew over with Ryan Air on Saturday and I picked them up from the airport around 1pm. We headed north straight away and the day was a bit of a roller coaster but ended on a definite high. Both Ural Owl and Tengmalm’s Owl failed to show at nests where I was confident we would see them but a singing Ortolan Bunting was a real bonus and will perhaps be the last territorial bird in Norway with the species not having been expected to return to its historical breeding sites this year.

I had of course saved the target bird for last and we were really in for a treat as we spent over 2 hours with the GGs. The female was on the nest and although we never saw any young I think from the way she was sitting that there may well have been a newly hatched youngster or two under her but she was also clearly incubating eggs. For a long time the female did nothing but look around often with her tail cocked but she did give her “I’m hungry” call a few times not that we could see the male. Then after a while she gave her excited chittering call and the male glided silently in with a vole that she took from him immediately. Our focus then turned to the male who perched openly and glared at us for a while before having a nap.

We then left them to see if we could find any hunting owls and succeeded with a roadside Great Grey right by a couple of Moose 😊

It was a long day and we were back in Oslo at midnight and I was glad to be able to get out of the car after a lot of driving.

The next morning was time for Maridalen’s finest and we caught up with Hazel Grouse, Three-toed Woodpecker, Wryneck and Black Woodpecker although not all were particularly photogenic.

Other interesting species we had over the two days were Crested Tit, Woodcock, Crane, Tree Pipit, Pied Flycatcher and Wood Warbler.

 

As usual when guiding I do not put much focus into my own pictures which was quite easy as the auto focus is broken on the bazooka but I did of course take some photos as well as quite a bit of video which is much better

the female Great Grey Owl (lappugle) on the nest

the male after delivering food to his mate

singing male Ortolan Bunting (hortulan)

a female Three-toed Woodpecker (tretåspett) in Maridalen

this hole had held a family of Tengmalm's Owl (perleugle) a week or so ago but there was no sign of life when we were there. The Camberwell Beauty (sørgekåpe) butterfly was scant replacement

Long-billed Dowitcher!

Svellet and Årnestangen always receive my attention in the beginning of May but this year they are getting more than ever before. This is because water levels are so perfect at Svellet, whereas water levels are high in Maridalen and without rain there is not likely to be much exciting turning up there and thirdly there is a competition this year to find the most scarce or rares in Oslo and Akershus with an original Øivind Egeland painting as the prize – no greater incentive exists to leave Oslo and search for birds 😊

 

Svellet almost seems to be over the top at least in terms of quantity with numbers of Wood Sandpipers and Greenshank noticeably down and on Friday morning when I arrived there were just a few Oystercatcher and a single Greenshank to be seen. I must have just missed a raptor that scared everything off as over the next half an hour small groups reappeared but only 174 birds in total which is only 10% of what one can hope for at this time of the year. Still no calidris but when they start turning up next week then we can start talking quality over quantity. Quantity was not far away though…

I walked the long 3km walk out to the end of Årnestangen with little to show for my efforts but there were often the sound of waders in the air so there was clearly some birds around although I rarely saw them (one aspect of age and its effects on eyesight is that I now struggle to focus on distant birds flying over me). I did see a few Redshank roosting on exposed mud but not much else. I only spent around 20 minutes on the platform right at the end where all the exposed mud is so dry that there is nothing there even on the wet edges. Getting back to the old viewing tower I could see that there were some waders now on mud about 500m out. In the scope I saw a small flock of Ruff and something a bit smaller that was red. Nice I thought, my first Knot of the year. Continuing to look at the birds which were sleeping the red one briefly lifted its head and the bill was too long for a Knot. I immediately thought dowitcher but then it hid its head again and for the next hour I grappled with its identity. Because of the distance and heat haze and the fact it was mostly asleep I began to have doubts and spent a long time convincing myself that it wasn’t a Bar-tailed Godwit. Even though its small size was obvious it wasn’t until I saw it flap its wings and could see the pattern on the back and wings that I felt confident enough to share the news. At this stage it was just a dowitcher sp although in Norway Long-billed is by far and away the most likely one. A bit later a Crane scared the flock up and amongst the silent Ruff I heard a single syllable call which would seem to match Long-billed and rule out Short-billed..

Documenting the bird was not easy due to distance, heat haze, a camera lens that is constantly going on strike but perhaps most importantly a tripod that really is no good and needs to be replaced with something that actually keeps the camera steady or doesn’t decide to just fall over and damage the telescope… Also the tower where I stood to get a better elevated view and less heat haze is so old and rickety that it would shake every time I took a breath. Luckily though I did have my glasses with me though so could see the camera screen when I was filming. Over 90% of my pictures and film were deleted and I flet sea sick looking at the shaky videos and you can decide yourself what adjectives can be used to describe my attempts at digital documentation.

 

After I put the news out the first birder (or should I say twitcher) turned up on a bike 80 minutes later with the first walkers arriving in a sweat just after. I also met a few more birders hastily on their way out as I walked the now not so long walk back to the car. About an hour later though it was seen to fly north and I have no idea how many were walking out when they got the news. Luckily though it was then refound at, yes you’ve guessed it, the MIGHTY Svellet where many could enjoy it in the evening sunlight but at usual Svellet distances…

 

I don’t have time to write anymore or mention any other species as I am now on my way to airport to pick up some of my fellow Englishmen for some guiding to owling delights.

when I found the bird it was "just" a red wader with some male and female Ruff (brushane)

later some Redshank (rødstilk) joined them and the bird fed a bit but it slept most of the time

Long-billed Dowitcher (langnebbbekkasinsnipe) - now that's what I call a record shot

viewing and filming from the shaky tower on an even shakier tripod

Two videos. The first and shorter one concentrates on the ID features (although the call cannot be heard) and the second is the Director's Cut so you can feel some of my pain

Waiting game

The hot sunny weather continues often with northerly winds and cold nighttime temperatures. This sort of weather means no falls or mass arrivals of birds and numbers and variety at Svellet suggests few birds are arriving or leaving at the moment. Some birds do of course arrive though and a trip out to the tip of Årnestangen on Tuesday resulted in me hearing a Citrine Wagtail. Despite my best efforts I could not find the bird but hopefully it will be last years bird returning and will therefore be refound soon holding territory. There are a few Yellow Wagtails back but none are singing yet and the very dry conditions and cold nights are probably not favourable for them or any other insect eating species.

A Great Snipe that flew up from long grass was also a good bird and a nesting pair of Long-tailed Tits are something to marvel over. I encounter a Kingfisher every visit, normally just hearing him or glimpsing him flying away from me up the river. The only time I have seen the bird well it was a male but I do not know whether it is the same bird I see each time. I assume though that there is breeding nearby of a species that has definitely benefited from a series of warmer, shorter winters.

Svellet continues to hold the same species and same numbers every day with the Little Gulls remaining although there is probably quite a turn over of birds. There are still no calidris waders but they will turn up any day soon and then the real fun starts.

In Maridalen one of the Lapwing nests survived the plough which I suppose is good news but it is of course tragic that despite the farmers good intentions that the other nests did not survive the plough.

this Long-tailed Tit (stjertmeis) with a mouth full of insects led to me a nest. I do not think they have young yet but rather it was food for the mate who was incubating

the nest is a remarkable construction

incubating bird. Note how the tail is sticking up through a hole in the nest. This reminds me of one of my earliest ornithological observations and which led to a letter in British Birds (for a teenager this was big!) when I found a nest building LtTits and one of the birds had woven its own tail into the nest construction and was stuck.

taken with the mobile. The nest is large

male Kingfisher (isfugl)

he is often hidden away in bushes away from the water where he calls occasionally but there is no suitable mud banks for a nest site here so I do not understand why he chooses to be there

a stick marking a Lapwing (vipe) nest but the plough went far too close. The pair were hanging out close to their old nest looking a bit forlorn

this nest survived though

a female was in the grass and both her and her mate chased away gulls that came to close. It is possible that they have young (from the first nest I saw) that hatched before the plough. I first noticed a bird sitting on 8 April and with an incubation period of 28 days it is therefore possible that the young have hatched  - hopefully i will see some soon

my first Garden Warbler (hagesanger) of the year

and my first Thrush Nightingale (nattergal)

Black-throated Diver (storlom) with a crayfish in Maridalen.

Osprey (fiskeørn)

this male Smew (lappfiskand) that is in love with a female Goldeneye (kvinand) was on the oxbow lake at the duck hot spot of Stilla. This is surely the same bird that has summered to north east of Oslo since 2019 and was at Østensjøvannet last spring and turns up at different lakes depending on where his chosen Goldeneye choose to go. Here he is in 2020

yet another singing Wryneck (vendehals) in Maridalen

water levels in Svellet continue to be perfect. Let us hope that we have no big rises in water levels but rather slow increases

Svellet north 7 May

Svellet south 7 May