My new favourite Maridalen fields were jinxed by my last
post and have been almost empty since! Fog also covered the valley on Wednesday
and until early afternoon on Thursday but today we had sun from the get go and
I had sky high expectations. With a light southerly wind I was expecting Falsterbo
heavy but had to wait a looooong time for my first raptor. In the meantime a
number of small flocks of Pink-footed Geese headed north but I really thought
there should be raptors. We have not had a raptor migration day yet this spring
and by my reckoning there should be thermals full of Common Buzzards and
Sparrowhawks waiting to head north. Well, my reckoning doesn’t seem to count
for much.
There were NO Sparrowhawks, and none of the four Common
Buzzards that eventually passed in front of my field glasses looked to be
actively migrating. One of them, a very pale bird, looked to be the same as I
have seen in previous years. There was one raptor highlight though that then brought
a little rush. I picked up a young Golden Eagle heading very slowly west over
the north of the valley whilst I was stood at Nes. I drove up to the north and
did not find it but did pick up a Kestrel and a White-tailed Eagle heading
north so there was some quality if no quantity. Along with Goshawk I had five
species of raptor today and am already up to to nine for the year in Oslo.
The first Adders are also out showing themselves and my
first butterfly, a Small Tortoiseshell was on the wing today so spring is
springing!
a young Golden Eagle (kongeørn) at far too long range but you can see what it is
One of 4 Common Buzzards (musvåk) none of which was actively migrating. This very pale bird looks to be the same that has been in the valley in previous years
Goshawk (hønsehauk)
Goldcrests (fuglekonge) look to have really suffered due to the cold spell so it was nice to find this bird which was also singing
Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers (dvergspett) are making themselves known singing and drumming and I have seen a pair together. Here the male
and here the female who was reacting to the male in the next door tree
Pink-footed Geese (kortnebbgås) - one of a number of small flocks heading north today
I have a new hotspot in Maridalen. The best fields for
migrants have always been at Nes and Kirkeby but this year, so far, it is the
fields at Nedre Vaggestein and adjoining Sørbråten. These fields have been often
held Cranes and last autumn Whooper Swans but I have not noted too much more
there although the grass field at Sørbråten has always been a good place for
thrushes and Starlings and the first White Wagtails of the year. So far this
spring though it is the muddy stubble fields at Nedre Vaggestein (NV) that have
attracted the birds. This is where I previously published pictures of Whooper
Swans and the Rock Pipit but it all started to take off yesterday - 23 Whooper
Swans, a pair of Teal, a Lapwing (it would be great if they breed here), 30 Skylarks
and best of all 25 Snow Buntings were a good haul.
Today though on a visit with Jack it felt exceptional.
The swans and geese were gone and Snow Buntings represented by only 2 of their
kind but Skylarks were now up to over 60 (and we had over 100 in the valley as
a whole), over 100 Chaffinches, 20 Linnets, 4 Twite, 21 Mistle Thrush, 50
Starling, 20 Yellowhammer, 2 Reed Buntings plus Blackbirds, Fieldfares, Brambling,
Greenfinch and Goldfinch all on the fields. And best of all a Woodlark heard
singing. Only my second in Oslo and Jack’s first we were also able to get a
couple of other birders on to it but it only sang distantly and we never
managed to see it. This is a species which I am sure will become more regular
on spring passage as its Norwegian population increases and with a lot of
forestry work creating suitable breeding habitat I also expect it to breed in
the not too distant future. The weather today was unpleasant with low cloud and
temperature of only 2C so it was a surprise the bird sang at all. Tomorrow is
forecast to be fog which may mean it hangs around and sun forecast for Thursday
may mean it sings again. Fingers crossed for that and also for
continuing increases in the number and variety of birds on these fields.
I have always been a bit wary of birding here as had been
told a tale that suggested the farmer was very suspicious of, and
confrontational to, birders near his farm. I met the farmer yesterday though and
he was very pleasant but most interestingly also very interested in making his
land better for nature. He has planted different crops to give seeds, he manages
his forest selectively and is not bothered about draining every wet corner of
his fields which very unfortunately seems to be a bit of a thing amongst other
farmers in the Dale. His work is definitely having a positive effect so well
done him!
This video from yesterday shows the farm, the fields,
Whooper Swans, Teal and the Snow Buntings.
.
The Snow Buntings were particularly nice to see. They were not a species I saw in the early years of my visits to Maridalen but are now a species I expect to see annually but they can come through in a very narrow time period early in the spring so you have to be lucky and be out on the right days. They are now my 4th S in Maridalen this spring with the first Starling a few days ago in addition to the previously reported Skylark and Stock Dove
Snow Buntings (snøspurv) in a muddy field
these were particularly white birds for a bird that is always particularly white and had me wondering about subspecies
Mallard (stokkand) and Teal (krikkand) with Whooper Swans (sangsvane))
Yesterday was the first day with some passerine migrants
flocking, if in small numbers, on the fields in Maridalen with 10 Mistle
Thrushes, 6 Fieldfare, 10 Skylarks, 20 odd Chaffinch and the first Brambling
all together. And this is just the start of things to come! The first Lapwings
are also back with two reported on Saturday and then I had 5 birds yesterday
and they were even displaying giving their evocative calls whilst Skylarks sang
overhead – things cannot sound more springy than that!
Maridalen’s best bird of the year, and one which may be,
although I hope won’t be, hard to beat, came on Friday when a Red Kite flew in
front of the car. It was flying low and into a strong head wind but
unfortunately never stopped and heard south over the lake and I was able to
watch it for over 10 minutes. When it got to the southern end of the lake it
then started soaring and was in sight for so long that I decided to drive down
there but of course couldn’t find after the 5 minutes it took to get there.
This is now my fourth sighting of the species in Maridalen and the second best
views I have managed. I often proclaim that a day will be a great day for
raptors and talk about Falsterbo Lite but very rarely do my predictions come
true. On Friday I would definitely have proclaimed that the day was absolutely
awful for raptors and we wouldn’t see any - bar maybe a local Goshawk – just shows
how much I know!
Saturday had me guiding Paul and Ann from Connecticut and a
very enjoyable day it was but for a bird guide it was a nightmare with, despite
my utmost efforts, none of the three target species revealing themselves. I had
communicated that it would not be easy to find them given the time of the year
but that all three didn’t play ball was a major disappointment. We did see a lot of other birds though...
when I first spotted the Red Kite (rødglente) from the car it was close and flying at tree top height clearly looking for food but it kept flying south into the strong wind and never came closer
it looks as though it had recently eaten as the crop seems full
flying over the lake with appartment buildings under Grefsenkollen as the background
and here flying over Storøya
this years must count as an average date. Given how low cold it was in Jan and Feb then I had expected a late arrival this year but the thaw has come suddenly and without nighttime frosts the snow has melted quickly and most importantly for Lapwings the ground has thawed
once you find the eye then you also just about make out there is a Long-eared Owl (hornugle) in this picture
the video of the Long-eared Owl may be pants but I did manage to take a quite nice video of a Badger at the same place:
Mistle Thrush (duetrost)
there has been a steady passage of Whooper Swans (sangsvane) heading north
Temperatures on the red side of zero if only by a small handful
of degrees, no night time frosts and rain mean that spring is creeping along.
There might still be lots of snow and ice but there are also now snow free
areas even in Maridalen and a few birds are arriving. This morning’s dog walk
revealed a singing Chaffinch which brought an uncontrolled smile to my face –
maybe this world, and the bits that we humans don’t control is not so bad after
all 😊
I have now seen two of the S’s in Maridalen with yesterday a
number of Skylarks heading south (and a couple singing) after I think having
met a wall of fog to the north and two Stock Doves doing the same. Mistle
Thrushes, only the Dales’s third ever Rock Pipit, Merlin, Peregrine and
migrating flocks of Whooper Swans have also suddenly announced the arrival of
spring. As I write this there are strong southerly winds and more rain so I
would not be surprised if a number of new birds arrive today. Maybe Maridalen
will also get in on the Stonechat act? There is now a pair at Fornebu and with
so many birds turning up surely we will find them breeding soon.
only Maridalen's third ever Rock Pipit (skjærpiplerke). Both other records were also in March and there is clearly a small overland passage of the species
it was on the exposed mud in the same field as the Whooper Swan (sangsvane) family were also finding food
Stonechat (svartstrupe) pair at Fornebu.
the male
and the female
the Whoopers
and an early Merlin (dvergfalk)
some sights and sounds from Maridalen yesterday:
Yesterday also saw me on a wild, and successful, goose
chase. With no GPS trackers to help I can no longer use my phone to find the
Taiga Beans but that didn’t matter as I tracked them down on two fields
totalling 65 birds in total. I also had a number of early Pink-feet, two
White-fronts and three Tundra Beans alongside Greylags, Canadas and hybrid
between the two so it was actually a very goosy day.
The Taiga Beans were on stubble fields I have not found them
on before although were in the same areas as previous years sightings and were
also close to Whooper Swans and other geese whereas often they are alone. They
were also relatively close to roads allowing themselves to be well watched and
were surprisingly unskittish.
It was also noticeable that they were not together in a
single flock. The first birds were 16 in total and were on a field close to where
the birds regularly were in both spring and autumn last year and were spread out
across a field with 140 Whooper Swans and Greylag, Canada and two White-fronts
as you can see in this video.
After a while when they decided (for no apparent reason)
to fly off and did so in groups of 4,4,5,2 and 1 with the last three groups
eventually joining up and then turning around before flying back over the field
and disappearing to the NE although these birds had returned later in the day
and were again separate on the field as groups of 5,2 and 1. Amongst the group
of 5 I saw bird V7 who has lost its neck collar but still has a colour leg
ring.
V7 left leg probably with its family given how the group of 5 kept to themselves. This bird was ringed in Scotland in Nov 22 and I have seen it every spring since then but interestingly not in the autumns
Taiga Beans keeping separate and probably two family groups
another group of 4
The White-fronted Geese (tundragås). With such limited belly barring I wonder if they are 2nd winter birds
The second group of 49 birds was on a stubble field close to
Udenes Church. The river here is where they roost but I have rarely seen birds
on the fields here. A large flock of Whooper Swans has been here this week and
maybe this attracts birds – it is very likely that I was watching very newly
arrived birds. When I first saw them they were split into distinct flocks of 30
and 19 and there was in addition a small flock of Pink-feet which had a Tundra
Bean amongst them. It was very interesting to see how these three small flocks
were within 20m of each other but operated as distinct units. On a return visit
2 hours later though the geese were all mixed up. I was now able to find another
leg ring Y7 but no collars.
a Taiga
more Taigas
and Y7 ringed on its right leg in Oct 2019 and seen by me every spring since and also in a couple of autumns
This video shows both the ringed birds:
So, 65 Taiga Beans in total with two leg rings but no collars.
Hopefully there are more birds to come and the flocks will join up. It would
make a lot of sense that the birds at Udenes were new in from Denmark that
morning whereas the other 16 have been around a few days (I had 12 on 5.3 then
2 on 8.3 and 4 on 9.3 which may have been the flock of 16?).
The Tundra Bean Goose was educational to watch. When I found
it amongst the Pink-feet it was clearly a Tundra due to being the same size as
the Pink-feet and also the fact it was associating with them rather than the
Taigas. On the return visit when all the geese were mixed together I did find
it again BUT I doubt very much that I would have been brave or foolish enough
to have called it as a Tundra if I had not seen it separately earlier. I have always
been very conservative regarding reports of Tundras within flocks of Taigas and
have dismissed other reports due to the individual variation amongst Taigas but
of course it is possible for birds to get mixed up especially if Pink-feet (the
more likely carrier species for Tundras) are mixed in. I had a pair of Tundras
at another site amongst a large flock of Whoopers where there were also
Pink-feet, Canadas and Greylags but no Taigas. The feature that was perhaps
easiest to pick out the Tundra was that its head was paler than the heads of
the Taigas which were noticeably darker than their necks. Whether this is a
consistent (and previously described) feature is not something I am aware of.
These videos allows good comparison of the Tundra and Taigas:
Pink-footed Goose (kortnebbgås) and Tundra Bean - note how they are the same size
the Tundra with Taiga in the background
spot the Tundra?
these pictures could have been sharper but give an educational comparison of the two
this is probably the best with the smaller size of the Tundra apparant as well as the paler head. Bill structure is of little use but we see the shorter neck
and here with a Pink-foot
the bird on the right could very easily be mistaken for a Tundra due to short neck and stubby bill but note the darker head and I am sure it is "just" a female Taiga
and two Tundra on another field which I did not see side-by-side with other geese but look to be larger birds than the other one. Notice the pale head which is concolourous with the neck especially on the left hand
and Cranes (trane) are back although only no large flocks yet
