I only managed to squeeze in a short trip to Maridalen today
but it revealed that there had been an arrival of new birds. On the stubble
field there were 19 Twite, 31 Meadow Pipits, 4 Tree Sparrows, 20 Yellowhammer
and 10 Reed Bunting. I also thought I heard amongst the buntings both Lapland
and a Little/Rustic Bunting but never heard the calls again or saw these
species so will have to let them go.
Highlight though was a Jack Snipe. There are not many marshy
areas left in Maridalen as the farmers try to become more “efficient” and drain
any wet areas of their fields. The old “Snipe Marsh” has been well and truly
drained but another wet area has survived despite the farmer’s best attempts
and I regularly check this area for snipe. I have had up to 11 Common Snipe, a
single record of Great Snipe and Jack Snipe there three times before. The
previous Jack Snipe have all been in April including this memorable bird but I
have never previously had an autumn record when the species is generally much
more common.
When I have checked the field this autumn I had 11 Common
Snipe on 29 Sept and 2 on 10 October. On 11 October there were no snipe to see
but I did notice a lot of droppings, footprints and beak marks that I was not
entirely convinced were from Common Snipe. It was therefore no great surprise
when a Jack Snipe flew up today. Compared to Common Snipe, Jack Snipe flies up
in such a feeble way that it is amazing to think that this individual has
probably come from Finland and may well continue all the way to the UK to
winter.
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| never easy to photograph a Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin) in flight |
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| one picture that was nearly sharp but exposure completely wrong |
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| Twite (bergirisk) |
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| Autumnal colours and some Goosander (laksand) |
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| a closer picture of a 1cy Goosander |
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