Sunday 4 October 2020

Weekend birding & guiding

Saturday morning saw me guiding for the Fab Four and other forest birds. It was an overcast day with rain in the air and quite windy at times so was not a perfect day but we have to make the best of the conditions. I forgot both my cameras in the car which I hoped would mean we had mouth dropping views of the hoped for species but that unfortunately was not the case. The Fab Four became the Fleeting Twosome with only Hazel Grouse and Hawk Owl seen. The Hazel Grouse sang for a long time around us and we did get to see it very closely for around a minute (would have made for good pictures) whilst the Hawk Owl was very distant on tree tops. The Pygmy Owl was just not to be found and the only woodpeckers that revealed themselves were Great Spots although we did find a tree with the classic sap rings made by a Three-toed. Other birds we saw included Nutcracker, Willow and Willow Tits.

The rain contined today and combined with a fresh northerly wind there was little life in Maridalen whilst walking the Beast but a hunting Rough-legged Buzzard was a real treat. This is only the second or third I can remember having seen hunting in the valley (normally they are migrating over) and the fact it was hunting in the rain suggests it was a hungry bird.

my only picture from Saturday morning's guiding - the sp rings from a Three-toed Pecker
Sunday's Rough-legged Buzzard (fjellvåk)



Never seen one on wires before. I thought I was going to be able to get quite close to this bird but a passing car scared it off


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