I frequently am accused of being overly optimistic in my
bird forecasts and expectations but I see that my predictions in my last post
for Svellet were actually very pessimistic. The wader fest is far from over as
the water levels have stopped climbing (at least for now) and there clearly is
enough food available as wader numbers which fell on Wednesday rose sharply yesterday
(when I did not visit) and were still high today. Viewing conditions are far from
great which is par for the course there but today I was able to pick out a Temminck’s
Stint although another one on nearby Merkja was much easier to view (as were
two yesterday evening which I twitched at Fornebu).
Yesterday gave me a non-wader mass bird event and a quite
unique one at that. Very large numbers of Willow Warblers have been seen
crossing the fjord from Nesodden and they have been then concentrating at Østensjøvannet.
It would appear that frost nights to the north (temperatures were under zero on
Tuesday evening as we drove home form owling) are stopping the nocturnal
migration of the Willow Warblers and they seem to be stopping their northward
journey in the Oslo area and then continuing northwards during the day and moving
whilst also searching for food. There is not an overabundance of insects yet in
Oslo but Østensjøvannet clearly has good numbers. There were over 1000 Willow
Warblers as I walked around the lake and every tree and bush was dripping with
them. They were also feeding in long grass, on the short grass of playing fields,
on a newly ploughed field, on the paths and many were sallying after insects in
the manner of a flycatcher from any available perch including fence wires. It
truly was an amazing experience both visually and orally as birds were also
singing everywhere. There were not many other species that had clearly arrived
with the WWs except for Blackcaps which were more common that normal but not in
exceptional numbers. That there were lots of insects to eat though was shown by
House Sparrows that were flycatching and Bramblings taking insects alongside
the WWs in bushes.
This video gives some idea of how it was but does not pay
the experience the justice it deserves:
Svellet 8th May as viewed from the eastern shore
and viewed from the west - still lots of mud and shallow water which clearly has more food than I expected after the water levels rose so quickly
A really heart warming sight at Østensjøvannet are the Black-headed Gulls (hettemåke) that are nesting again. There are three small colonies (including this one) and scattered single nests around the lake and the total number of nests may not be much more than 50 but this is in stark contrast to last years dire situation but also the 2000 odd pairs that used to breed here. Fingers crossed that there are lots of fledged young in a month or two. There is also a good colony at Sognsvann - it would appear that the two most visited lakes for recreational use are attractive to both humans and gulls - but I have yet to notice any nesting on the fjord so I fear that overall things are not good for the species
yesterday and today I could not see a single young Lapwing (vipe) in Maridalen but there is a new nest although as this field was only ploughed on Sunday I am not sure whether she is incubating or just in the egg laying phase
and the Mute Swans (knoppsvane) are now finished with nest building and are on the nest although I do not know whether any eggs have been layed yet
Regular readers of this blog will be aware of my exceptional
ability to fail to take exceptionally good videos. I am not talking
about my videos being shaky and out of focus as that at least means I took the
video, no I’m talking about all the videos I fail to take because of
my continued inability to press the record button.
Yesterday evening saw yet another monumental f**k up and
quite possibly the all-time best video that I never took when
I had a Great Grey Owl at about 15m range with a large vole in its bill. The
vole was still alive and its feet twitching when the owl delivered the killer
bite to the head, ate the head and then swallowed the body all whilst looking
at me. The light was good, it was in sharp focus and I was holding the
superzoom steady but had I pressed record? I thought I had, I even thought I
had checked the red circle was showing in the top right corner of the view
finder. But no, of course, I hadn’t and I am still kicking myself.
We are talking about a video (that wasn’t) so incredibly
good that David Attenborough would have paid me for the honour of narrating it.
This video which was taken immediately after has me
expressing my utter contempt for myself whilst the owl looks on….
Great Grey Owl (lappugle) just after it swallowed a big vole but you'll just have to take my word for that as I FAILED to film it
This happening arose as Jack accompanied me on a trip to
deepest Hedmark to try to get to the bottom of the GGO situation anno 2026. We
checked 4 platforms and 2 old Buzzard nests without finding any incubating GGs.
At the platform that I have visited twice before in April the pair were present
and the female was very aggressive with bill clicking beginning when we were
50m away and had yet to see her. She also adopted a threat posture and looked
like she might fly at us at any moment. Her bill clicking also brought the male
in who sat a bit less open but also clicked at us. This aggression from GGO
when they do not have young to protect is most unusual (perhaps unprecedented) as
is the fact that the pair clearly remains in breeding modus but have not yet
laid eggs and it is surely too late now.
the female in threat posture
the male
the males
the pair with the female on the left
The hunting bird we saw was an encouraging sign but the fact
it ate the vole rather than flying off with it to feed a mate leaves me not
knowing whether or not it was a breeding bird. I do know of an occupied nest
but have yet to visit that site as it has been important that I find my own
birds but I may have to give up on that hope for this year.
We ruined our finger nails scratching on trunks under every
woodpecker hole we saw with only a Great Spotted pecker ever flying out but at
a nestbox we did finally find breeding Tengmalm’s although it was Jack who
scratched so I still do not know if I have a technique that works.
Other birds seen were a couple of Capers but again females,
Black Grouse, Wryneck and Woodcock but it was a cold day with temperatures
falling below zero as soon as it got dark and that probably caused less
activity than we could have hoped for.
we had two roadside sightings of Moose
Back in Oslo this morning I was faced with the realisation
that springs undoubted highlight - the wader migration at Svellet - is pretty
much over. Water levels rose another 20cm yesterday to 4.03m and whilst there is still
mud and shallow water there are clearly few remaining areas where there is food
in the mud and wader numbers were nearly halved from yesterday and many were
just roosting rather than feeding. It is a travesty that such an
internationally important staging post for shorebirds cannot be managed better
but that pretty much sums up «conservation» in the world’s richest and «best»
country.
Svellet 6th May. There is still (dry) mud but water levels have risen a lot
In Maridalen it looks like the 3rd Lapwing nest has now hatched with there being four young near it and no bird still incubating and yesterday’s brood of three is actually four but I never saw these two broods simultaneously so there remains a very small chance that one single brood of four 1-2 day old young was able to cross a ditch.
a brood of day old Lapwing (vipe)
rarity of the day was this all black corvid on the Lapwing field. I concluded with it being a 2cy Rook (kornkråke) rather than a Carrion Crow (svartkråke) but it ain't always straightforward especially at distance in heat haze. Interestingly the Lapwings which always tried to chase away any intruding Hooded Crows left this bird alone
Wader numbers continue to increase at Svellet but today the water levels also rose by a whole 18cm. If this continues then things will soon change from mighty to morbid. The first calidris, a Dunlin, has now turned up and we can only cross as many fingers and toes as possible and hope we have at least another week of fun.
In other news there seemed to be a small fall of Redstarts, Whinchats and Wheatears today which allowed me to come up with the hilarious line “it’s starting to get chatty”… I’ll get my coat.
Svellet today 5th May
and the scenes yesterday:
At nearby Merkja a pair (one of two present) showed well today
And in Maridalen it was a red letter day with the first Lapwing young noted. Two broods were seen with a minimum of 3 and 1 young and another birds was still on the nest having been saved by the farmer when he ploughed a couple of days ago. There were 10 adults in total with another two females just wandering around on their own so there is still a chance for further, late, breeding.
We’ve finally had a positive (for birders) change in the
weather but it really hasn’t been enough to make the difference we all hope
for. Yesterday evening there were a few local showers (but they were a lot less
than had initially been forecast) and today was cloudy (but the winds were
northerly). It is important to remain optimistic though and remember that you
have to be in it to win it.
Svellet continues to receive daily visits and today tringas
were in triple digits for the first time (220 Wood Sandpipers and 110 Greenshank) although if that was due the change in
weather or just the passing of time is open for discussion. The water level
is now almost too low and the mud flats risk getting bone dry such that when
water levels do rise that they will be covering lifeless mud and therefore be
of little use for waders. Ideally we will see daily increases of a couple of
centimetres over the next two weeks but what we risk is little change until suddenly
around the middle of the month levels are risen by 25cm a day.
Twelve Ruff today included only 4 males but they were
lekking a little bit and one of them was a very striking white bird which I
would have loved to see at a place where photos were possible.. Yesterday also
saw the first Little Gull and Yellow Wagtails of the year so we can now look
forward to Black Tern and Citrine Wagtail (as I said it is important to be
optimistic).
Maridalen has not hit the same highs offered by the Pochard
which was a one day wonder but a little twitch was required today to see a
Shore Lark. Only the fourth ever record and in exactly the same spot as the previous
three records which have occurred in the time period 26 April to 4 May it is
clear when and where to look if you want to find one in Oslo which does make it
a little galling that I had indeed looked at the exact same field only 2 hours
prior with the said species in mind and had failed to spot it.
Shore Lark (fjelllerke) in the Dale. Only the fourth record following those in 2013,2016 and 2021. There are surprisingly few records of migrating birds in southern Norway but when they are on a field like this (and there are MANY of them) then they are not easy to find.
an slightly aberrant female White Wagtail (linerle). There is an excess of black on the throat and breast and grey instead of white cheeks but I cannot make it into another rarer subspecies. It looked to be paired up and in breeding modus
1st May was it turns out not as bad as I thought.
In the afternoon a Great White Egret was reported from Fornebu. A good species
but not one to make me rush out of the door. However, in the evening I had to drop Jr Jr off at a party which my
phone informed me was only a further 7 minutes drive from said Egret. I had little
belief that it would still be present given it was a Bank Holiday and Fornebu
has become more park that nature reserve but when I turned up I immediately saw
it. Nice and a Fornebu tick for yours truly 😊
It was an immature due to its yellow bill and was colour
ringed although this I only discovered from my photos and cannot make out any
code. I am also unsure of the colour of the ring so cannot find what scheme it
is from – it looks black but the only scheme listed on cr-birding.org states it
rings on the right leg whereas this is on the left.
The Egret can only count as Good as I was twitching but
there was a hint of Greatness from two other birds. Three Bar-tailed Godwits
had also been reported and I could see two waders sleeping in the bay. I
naturally assumed these to be Barwits and paid them no further attention until
I was about to go home by which time the evening sun had sunk so much that all
birds in the bay were in shade. Their bills were under their wings but never-the-less
something didn’t look right for Barwit and I was quite sure they were Blackwits.
And indeed they were! They were very brick red and small and were clearly Icelandic
birds and I wondered if there had been a mistake with the earlier reports but
the two bird theory does apply here. Blackwits are not annual in Oslo and
Akershus in spring and most previous birds look to be limosa but in the autumn
when the species is far commoner it is definitely islandica that dominates.
Godwits of the Black rather than Bar-tailed variety
the Great (White) Egret was actively fishing and seemed to find a lot of prey
here the rings are visible. A metal ring on the right leg and a dark colour ring on the left leg but what colour is it?
The lack of daily updates is of course because things didn’t
continue as hoped…
Despite being at the start of prime time Oslo birding there
is still only a trickle of new birds. Greenshank numbers fell again yesterday
at Svellet to a dire 15 although the first (3) Wood Sandpipers hinted,
hopefully, at things to come. Today though was a tad better, as of course it
should be as it is 1st May and what should by rights be THE best day
of the year if only because it is a national holiday and every self-respecting
birder has no excuse but to be out finding something. Well either most birders
lack self-respect or there was nothing to find..
But, back to Svellet and today. Jack and I had agreed to
have our now annual early doors visit to Huk, Bygdøy to record the awesome
spring migration that we proved can occur on our 9th May visit in
2024. 1st May is too early though and we know it but we have to give
it a go…. Fog put a real dampner on things although we could see perhaps 500m.
There was however nothing happening either to be seen or perhaps most
importantly given the condition to hear with just two Meadow Pipits
flying in giving any impression of active migration although a Reed Bunting
clearly felt the same as us and was heading south to escape these DIRE
conditions. Five Purple Sandpipers were still “wintering” on the rocks although
are now in breeding plumage and we did hear a migrant wader when a Little
Ringed Plover flew unseen past us.
Huk this morning where a bloody big cruise boat is just visible in the fog
We gave it an hour and then headed to Svellet where even
though we arrived before 8am there was already heat haze to contend with. There
were however waders with now 43 Greenshank and 24 Wood Sandpiper and 6 male
Ruff and 2 Golden Plover provided some variety. Curlew numbers however had
fallen to just 13 so total wader numbers did not reach three figures let alone
the four figures I am hoping for. Rain tomorrow afternoon may make, and I
really pray for, a difference. Water levels are still falling slightly – today down
3.62m - so we can’t ask for much more on that score.
one of the trickle of new birds - my first Whinchat (buskskvett) of the year arrived in Maridalen on the last day of April
a Wryneck (vendehals) in the Dale
a trip to Hellesjøvannet yesterday gave precious little on the exciting bird front but this Brown Hare (sørhare) was only my second sighting of this recent colonist whose numbers took off around 2015 and it is steadily hopping north from Sweden. It was introduced to southern Sweden in the early 1800 so is considered an invasive introduced species in Norway and is an undesirable as it out competes the native Mountain Hares.
Birding’s a funny old game. You spend your whole day with
the word dire going through your mind and then first one bird and then another,
neither of which is even that rare, suddenly makes it a good, indeed great,
day.
I am trying to check Svellet daily so as to document its
greatness but today (water level has fallen by 3cm to 3.74m) saw a reduction in
Greenshank numbers, it may have only been two fewer birds but there goes my
exponential growth hopes. The two were replaced by a single Redshank and single
Ruff so there is a quantity over quality argument. Tomorrow though….
The greatness came in Maridalen but I did have to work darn
hard for it. Dry fields are now being ploughed but that doesn’t mean any new
birds – not even any Wheatears yet. With a lack of migrants I found myself in
the forests where a pair of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers was nice but it reminded
me that otherwise it has been a very poor ‘pecker spring in the Dale. I have
only heard Black drumming one, have not found 3 toes and even Great Spots don’t
seem to be numerous – I only had one today! I thought I would give a final try
for 3 toe though and after drawing a blank at one of the usual breeding sites I
tried the other and FINALLY I would one. It was a single female and she wasn’t
drumming and gave no real indication of breeding but further visits will
hopefully reveal a pair although I am not too confident.
So that was one bird but how about the other? The light and
some wind had made looking for waterfowl on the lake difficult but as I was
driving out I gave it one last go and saw a group of 7 ducks a long way out. I
had to use the scope but immediately saw that I had hit patch gold – a male Pochard
with Tufties!!! This has been looooong overdue in the Dale and comes after
Ring-necked Duck and a hybrid Pochard x Tufted Ducks. Now Pochard isn’t a common
bird in Oslo although sightings are more of less annual at Østensjøvannet where
birds can hang around and have probably bred before. Maridalsvannet is by no
means a good location for the species but neither is it for Tufties but on
migration birds will always stop off for a day before continuing their nocturnal
migrations. That it would turn up with a flock of Tufties has always been how I
assumed I would find one and it seemed to be interested in a female Tuftie so
there may be more hybrids in the works
Pochard is probably the most obvious species we were missing
in Maridalen and the valley list is now 228 species as reported onArtsobservasjoner and making it the premier location in Oslo. My Dale list is now
212 and I bloody chuffed with that!
If things continue like this then there may be daily updates
to the blog!
GREAT. no prizes for the picture but I reckon you can see there is a male Pochard (taffeland) and some Tufties (toppand)
GOOD. Finally a Three-toed Woodpecker (tretåspett) at one of the normal breeding sites in Maridalen but I only found this female so I am uncertain as to whether there is breeding
a Lapwing (vipe) nest which the farmer has marked. He will be ploughing soon and there was also another nest which I am confident he will find. I counted 7 birds today with these two and their presumed mates nearby, another male who may also have an unseen nesting female and a pair who by their behaviour had me thinking they have failed in their first breeding attempt but are thinking of another go.
in addition to the pair who I filmed mating (see below) but have yet to build a nest there have also been two lone Mute Swans (knoppsvane) on the lake. This one allowed me to read its ring and P578 is the male of last years breeding pair that earlier in the spring was being territorial at Fornebu but now seems to have given up both on breeding and his mate PC79 although more likely something has happened to her (nothing is reported on either of them since 7 April)
apart from a few Meadow Pipits (heipiplerke) these two Ring Ouzels were the only passerine migrants I noted in Maridalen
Cold nights, a cold northerly wind and blue skies continue
to sing a lullaby to both birders and birds and dire is a word that frequently goes
through my mind but we are now getting to the time of the spring when no matter
what the weather there will be new birds coming although southerly winds and
rain would still be much preferred.
Svellet is now getting ready to be very mighty. Water levels
are perfect (3.77m today) and are rising very slowly, the light in the early
morning is good (meaning there is a chance of identifying what is out there)
and new waders are coming. Whilst the number of Curlew is now falling with
under 50 today the number of Greenshank is rising with the first 2 on the 24th,
7 on the 26th, 14 on the 27th and 25 today, the 28th
– the increase is nearly exponential! No Wood Sands yet but a single Whimbrel
and two Bar-tailed Godwits including a brick red male were a sign of things to come. If things stay like this
then I think the next two weeks could be cosmic!
A pleasant surprise was finding Kingfisher at a breeding
site. This winter has been so long and cold that I think that many birds will
have perished and even though we may have far fewer pairs this year than last I
think the species is now established and won’t come and go as it used to do.
Svellet 28th April. Water levels are currently perfect but it won't need to rise very much before those mudflat between me and the water disappear.
Bar-tailed Godwits (lappspove) are, despite what the local rarities committee thinks, a proper scarce bird around Oslo and especially in spring. Brick red males are even rarer
3 Greenshank (gluttsnipe) at Maridalsvannet today. An early record here and with water levels currently, and surprisingly given the weather, very high there is no mud so I am not expecting many more waders this spring
male Kingfisher (isfugl) with fish. I saw him twice with a fish which he did not eat himself but flew with it towards the bank that is here hidden by bushes and where I assume there is a nest hole
this female Sparrowhawk (spurvehauk) was in a display flight and calling today in Maridalen. She was displaying above a Goshawk teritory but it did not result in any Goshawks flying up. Note the white undertail feathers which both Sparrowhawks and Goshawks fan out when displaying
my first Whimbrel (småspove) of the year. I had previously reported a bird on 14 April which is an extreme early date. Whilst I was happy with the ID it was distant and I didn't manage to get a photo. I therefore deleted this record after a couple of days as I am a firm believer in that very early (and late) records of migrants should be documented with photos or sound recordings. This applies particularly to species which can easily be confused with a commoner species and include in addition to Whimbrel species such as Tree Pipit, Wood and Common Sandpiper, Honey Buzzard, Hobby, Garden Warbler, Yellow Wagtail and Wryneck (sound records)
