Guiding yesterday drew a complete blank on all three members of Oslo’s Taiga Trio (despite nearly 10 hours and checking multiple sites) and I herewith declare the season over and call time on what has been a memorable ride. Piney and Hawkie have moved on to their more northerly breeding grounds (just when we have finally had a big fall of snow and got a wintery feeling in Oslo) whereas GG are probably still in the area but lack of food has made them far more erratic and luck now overrides hard work and knowledge when it comes to finding one.

I was able to relax today though and enjoy non owl related birding. Anders and I decided to twitch a 1^st winter White-billed Diver that has been frequenting a river close to Oslo the last few days. We took a while to find it but eventually enjoyed really good scope views of it although could only wish we were positioned on the other side of the river which would have given us point blank views. Initially the bird was actively fishing and was swimming upstream despite a strong current. It dived frequently and was down for long periods – I timed one of its dives and it was a whopping 1min 8sec which is just as long as I manage to do the plank! We saw it catch one small flat fish after which it relaxed on the surface and preened and flapped its wings. Then it suddenly took flight. It initially flew low over the river heading downstream before turning and gaining some height before flying very close to us. It then turned again and started gaining a lot of height. It flew over us again heading east before turning one more time and performing another fly by before finally turning south over land and disappearing – talk about timing!

After complaining that I had never got to see White-billed Diver I have now had two fantastic experiences with the species near Oslo this winter. Just need to find one on Maridalsvannet now…

1st winter White-billed Diver (gulnebblom) with a snack 

It would have been nice to be on the other side of the river

side-by-side with a Greylag Goose gives a good indication of how GINORMOUS it is

taking off

fly-by

just before it turned and came back for its third fly by

just look at how long those legs are