Wednesday 5 October 2011

A red bird day

After a few days holiday in Denmark with a visit to Legoland the highlight I was keen to get in a bit of birding today. On the ferry journey back last night there was some very choppy seas so I thought there may have been some birds blown up the Oslo fjord although when we docked this morning the sea was very calm around Oslo so the chances were slim.
I went to Fornebu and drove to the Sjøflyhavn where the views are not the best but you can view from the car. Scanning the sea there was virtually nothing to be seen over the sea. A couple of distant Black-headed Gulls were feeding over the water and then what on first glance looked like a 1st winter Common Gull flew past and then away from me. Wasn't the bill too dark though and the mantle too pale? This bird needed a close look! Unfortunately it kept flying away but then at about 400m range it turned and slowly started coming back towards me along the shore line. As it came closer I saw that indeed it was a MEDITERRANEAN GULL - a norwegian tick for me and also my first self found national rarity since I have been living here (although I do have a White's Thrush and Little Egret to my name from my time as a love tourist - whereas I am now a love resident).
I frantically got the camera out of the car and snapped off a couple of record shots before calling Per Gylseth who happened to be only 10 minutes walk away and then sending out a message onto the national bird alert system. I have only been a part of this system for a couple of weeks so this was my first indeed a red letter day (or perhaps more correctly a red bird day as national rarities always show up in red font).

Mediterranean Gull

Although the bird came close I didn't manage to get any mega photos although I suspect that it would come very close if offered bread.

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