OSLO BIRDER: Hawkie washed down with a cold Kingfisher

Wednesday 23 November 2016

Hawkie washed down with a cold Kingfisher

Today was back to sunny(ish) weather and I decided for a trip to the Drøbak area where in previous winters I have had a number of Great Grey Shrikes plus the odd Hawk Owl. I also had hopes that the fjord off Drøbak might hold a few sea duck.

There were fewer Great Grey Shrikes than I have had in previous winters with just two birds that were only 300m apart from each other. I did have a Hawk Owl though J It was sitting on a roadside wire but it flew off just as a fired off the camera. It landed on a nearby barn roof but after I had tried to find somewhere to park the car (no more driving onto soft verges for me!) it had vanished and I couldn’t find it again in a couple of attempts later in the day.

The fjord off Drøbak had a few Common and Velvet Scoter but no Long-tailed Ducks or Scaup which I had hoped for. A Little Auk was a nice surprise though and my first of the autumn and three Red-throated Divers feeding together were a late record. After this I checked some of the lakes and farmland around Ski hoping for more shrikes or owls but they were lacking suggesting it is still poor for rodents in agricultural areas. Two Long-tailed Ducks on Årungen lake were unexpected especially as I had none on the fjord.

A stop at the southern end of Bunnefjorden gave the highlight of the day with a Kingfisher that flew very close past me on a couple of occasions. This has traditionally been the best area for over wintering Kingfishers in the Oslo area (although not annual records) and it looks like a bird will try to winter here again.

Finishing up in Maridalen I added Scaup (a single bird still with the three Tufteds) and the Great Grey Shrike which was favouring the north of the valley again today.