Due to the almost viral success of my Reunion posts I am sure that you, dear reader, are overjoyed to see that you have yet another one to read….
This one concerns a species that looked like it would become an annual if still rare guest in Oslo before suddenly vanishing from the record books. From 2011 there were almost annual records of Mediterranean Gull including three observations in Maridalen and there was even a breeding attempt a Fornebu in 2022 but after a bird in the autumn of 2023 there has been a complete stop in records, that is until yesterday (my bird at Nordre Øyeren earlier in the autumn doesn't count as Oslo).
Yesterday' bird (it has not been reported so far today) was at Middelalderparken where the fresh water lake and lawns are very attractive for gulls to wash in and rest on. It gets too little attention though from birders though probably because we have lost our greatest larophile (Sindre Molværsmyr who found Norway's first Pallas's Gull nearby in 2014 has moved away from Oslo) and since his departure the number of interesting gull sightings especially those of the Large White-headed variety has fallen off a cliff. There are a couple of ringers who occasionally find an interesting gull or two but seem to be uninterested in disseminating the news to mere mortal birders. I do think though that there has been a real reduction in the frequency of rare and scarce gulls in Oslo - white wingers definitely are much less frequent not just in Oslo but in Norway generally. The one birder who does still look for gulls on a fairly regular basis, including trips to the tip at Alnabru, is Stig Johan Kalvatn so it was fitting that he found yesterday's bird on his lunch break. After he put out the message it was an easy bus ride for me with the bus leaving 3 minutes walk from one stop and being 3 minutes walk from another - maybe I should be looking for gulls myself...?
There were not huge numbers of gulls in the park yesterday possibly because the lake has, for a long time, been drained for maintenance and mostly resembled a muddy puddle but there was an interesting array of Lesser Black-backed Gulls of all age classes and appearance.
1st cy Med Gull (svartehavsmåke) when I first set eyes on it.
with Common (fiskemåke) and a Black-headed Gull (hettemåke)
three species in one photo. If the BhG had also been a 1cy then it would have been a very educational shot
the gull in the middle and another couple of admirers watching it
A young Black-headed Gull (hettemåke) that I think did a quite good Slender-billed Gull (smalnebbmåke) which seems to be in quite an advanced and abraded plumage for early October
a fairly pale young Herring Gull (gråmåke). Species is easy enough (unless it is a Great Black-backed Gull in which case I will get my coat..) but what age is it? A 2nd cy due to the rounded primaries? With the uncertainty I have over these birds it is no wonder I normally stear well clear of them...
and a much darker bird that I have to admit to being unsure as to its identity. I had assumed 1cy Lesser Black-backed (sildemåke) when I took the photo but looking at the details on the tertials and great covert feathers I am unsure and it may be a dark 1st year Herring Gull (gråmåke). A photo in flight would have nailed the ID
a 2cy Lesser Black-backed Gull (sildemåke)
and another 2cy LBbG
and what I believe must be a 3cy LB-b Gull but I wonder why it still has such pink legs. This bird is exceptionally long winged which is a feature associated with ssp fuscus. It were to be a fuscus (which is recorded extremely rarely in southern Norway) then it would have to be 2cy but I am now really getting out of my depth so will stop talking about gulls..
the first Great Grey Shrike (varsler) of the autumn was in Maridalen
Well that’s it for this year - Værøy 2026 and my chance for a major rarity or two is over. I am writing this at Bodø airport as I wait for my flight to Oslo having had a final morning’s birding on the island and then the ferry ride back to Bodø via Moskenes.
The morning gave me three Yellow-browed Warblers which was my highest count of the trip and felt like a good way to say au revoir to the island. The ferry ride started less vomit inducing than I had feared but that was because the first leg to Moskenes was with a tail wind. When we headed to Bodø it was a different kettle of fish and was a roller coaster at times and the spray and wet windows meant I could see very little with a handful of Fulmars being the best.
So, how would I rate this year’s trip which is my 10th (annually 2012 to 2019, 2023 and 2026)? Weather (wind direction) wise it was not conducive to rare birds arriving but I was able to be out every day with winds not being a problem (despite forecasts saying otherwise) and no rain until the last hour of the last day. Not surprisingly then the birds did let us down. No national rarities or lifers for me and my only new Værøy (and Nordland county) species was the Hoopoe. Little Bunting, Common Rosefinch and Barred Warbler were good enough birds but nothing to really get the pulse racing. The fact that I didn’t see Yellow-browed Warbler every day and that three was my max day count sort of sums up the mediocrity of this year’s trip. BUT I wouldn’t be anywhere else🤩.
A video from today of a young White-tailed Eagle (havørn) featuring first the call of a Chiffchaff (gransanger) and then a Yellow-browed Warbler (gulbrynsanger) followed by footage of all three of today’s YbW.
The place we call Svingen due to it being by a swing in the road. Kjell can be seen in the waist high vegetation trying to locate a skulky warbler he had previously found there that was probably a Blyth’s Reed Warbler (busksanger). This area has previously held Savi’s and Lanceolated Warblers but is an incredibly infuriating place to bird as you normally just get a two second flight view of a bird and I prefer to leave it to Kjell as he finds it enjoyable
A lone Barnacle Goose (hvitkinngås) was flying around calling clearly feeling lonely and lost
Værøy Bird Obervatory aka Kjell’s holiday home is in the middle with the red roof
My last full day was again a day where the weather forecast was thankfully wrong and the 11m/s winds that were being forecast were replaced with often windless conditions.
Unfortunately there was still a lack of new and exciting birds with one very obvious exception. Yesterday evening Kjell and Stein had driven to the north of the island whilst I stayed in the south. When they were leaving as it was getting dark a Hoopoe had flown up in front of the car only to vanish. I drove out at sunrise this morning and the bird was by the road in exactly the same spot! I was able to drive back and collect the other two and we saw it well at a distance before it suddenly walked off the edge of the road and just vanished which is quite good going for such an obvious species as a Hoopoe.
A good couple of hours later as we were trying to get views of a skulky warbler the Hoopoe flew over us but again just disappeared after looking to land 100m away. We never found out what the warbler was and only ever saw it in flight for a couple of seconds but Blyth’s Reed would be the most likely candidate.
Otherwise the Wood produced a Redstart although I would have preferred something similar with blue in the name. The Rosefinch was still present but I finished the day without a Yellow-browed Warbler which is good going on Værøy!
I leave at 1330 tomorrow and will take the ferry to Bodø before flying back to Oslo. I chose the ferry as it gives the chance of seabirds such as shearwaters and petrels. The forecast is for strong winds though which can make for a very uncomfortable crossing so I may be spending most of time bent over the toilet… I will hopefully get some birding in before I leave as long as the winds are, again, less than forecast.
Hoopoe (hærfugl)
Today’s sunrise at 07:33
The ferry I will be taking tomorrow
Looking to the south
On the left is the Wood (skogen) and to the right the area where bird ringing is carried out
Day 4 was weather wise pretty much perfect for being in the field and far better than the forecast. Often there was no wind at all and you could hear the noise of a warbler’s bill snapping at an insect. There were only a few indications of new arrivals and it was not a big day by any stretch of the imagination but it was a good day to be out and about and 16,000 steps were pounded.
Experience of the day was a pod of Killer Whales powering through the sea off the north of the island early morning.
Bird of the day was a Common Rosefinch (only my third on Værøy and a species that is close to but not annual out here).
Learning of the day was that I cannot tell Olive-backed and Tree Pipits apart on call. These two species were traditionally considered inseparable on call but in the last 10-20 years it has been accepted that with experience you can tell apart. Based on my experiences and observations on Værøy I also thought I could but today that confidence came crashing down. I heard a pipit calling in flight and immediately identified it as an OBP. I had my phone ready to play the call and straightaway the pipit appeared above me calling and the call was as far as I was concerned the same as I was playing. It landed on the fish drying racks just a few metres away and I immediately set about taking pictures. Head on it did indeed look like an OBP with a black spot on the cheek but as it turned sideways on to me I thought the wing bars looked far too white and I wasn’t seeing any green tones. Then when it turned away and I saw the well streaked back I realised without doubt it was a Tree Pipit. This whole experience made me immediately realise my OBP record from yesterday had to be pulled and also had me wondering how I could have got it so wrong.
OBP in late autumn outnumbers TP on Værøy by around 10 to 1 and therefore identifying a bird as OBP based on call and then confirming it by seeing it is statistically very likely to happen. Had I (we) just been playing the numbers? I don’t know the answer to that but a Tree Pipit in October is rarer than an Olive-backed so I should perhaps be happy with my observation.
Other quality birds were a single YbW, Jack Snipe, Bullfinch, a tristis Chiffchaff, proper Barnacles Geese from Svalbard (rather than the feral birds around Oslo) and a Short-eared Owl and quantity was provided with hundreds of Redwings and Redpolls.
The view at 0715 - it all looked very promising
Sunrise at 07:29
Migrating Barnacle Geese (hvitkinngås)
Looking north at 08:08 with the island of Mosken and behind it the Lofoten island chain
Killer Whale
Not an Olive-backed (sibirpip) but a Tree Pipit (trepiplerke)
Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin)
Common Rosefinch (rosenfink)
The wood (skogen) suffered in a storm a few years ago and all the trees in the middle have now disappeared leaving just a ring of trees. The Rosefinch was in the too of the tall Rowans to the right
Very Grosbeak like
A Common Snipe (enkeltbekkasin) doing an impression of a Jack by freezing at close range
Today was the day that was expected, based on the weather forecast, to be THE day. However, as is often the case, the Bird Gods had other ideas. It was a very nice to be out and the steps were put in (although only 16,000 today) and the wind was from the east but it was a case of more birds leaving than arriving with for example the Little Bunting and Turtle Dove not to be seen.
I did have a fly over Olive-backed Pipit (no photo) and took photos and video of both Yellow-browed and Barred Warbler but these are pretty much the bare minimum of what you expect here on Oct 1st.
Yellow-browed Warbler video:
Barred Warbler video taken from the balcony of Værøy Bird Observatory aka Kjell’s house.
Yellow-browed Warbler (gulbrynsanger). After hearing a bird in the same area yesterday I got to see one today and the photos are at least better than I managed in Maridalen
Barred Warbler (hauksanger)
Værøy makes Oslo Birder feel welcome
Two late Swallows (låvesvale) with the military installation known simply as “Nato” in the background
