Birding since my last post has been pretty
uneventful until today when I had that most notable of birding events – a local
patch tick. The bird in question was a White-fronted Goose and this was the second
record in the Dale. I did not find the bird but my twitching skills were for
once in order and I had seen the bird less than 15 minutes after getting the
message. This is a species that I always scan the flocks of Greylags and
Pink-feet for and was one I felt confident would fall sooner rather than later.
With this bird I have now had three new species in Maridalen already this year
and am now on 199 species – maybe the magical 200 will come sooner than I
expected. A Rough-legged Buzzard was also a nice to see although was soon
chased off by a Hooded Crow.
A much anticipated owling trip on Saturday night along the most owled
forest track in this part of Norway was in what are considered by many to be
perfect conditions: full moon, stary sky and no wind. They were however far
from perfect with just two Tengmalm’s Owls for my troubles. Rain earlier in the
day may have been the factor that affected the owls (lots more Tengmalm’s had
been heard earlier in the month) but it may also be that eggs have been laid
and singing is no longer necessary although given how long I was out I would
have expected to hear more. On the way there I stopped to look at the Taiga
Beans. I had only a pair feeding on one of the fields but on the river there
were a lot of geese. Unfortunately distance and light meant that I could not
make out how many were Beans and how many were Pink-feet but it did look like
there were considerably more than 100 Taiga Beans which would mean additional
arrivals since I last counted them.
I did see Cranes which were new for the year and I
have also chalked up Redwing, Woodcock, Shelduck, Smew and Ringed Plover so
have now accelerated to 108 species.
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| 2cy European (albifrons) White-fronted Goose on it was to siberia with a little pit stop in Maridalen |
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| this Rough-legged Buzzard (fjellvåk) is also heading north but will probably breed in Scandinavia |
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| Taiga Bean Geese and Pink-footed Geese on the Glomma River at sunset |
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| Grey Heron |
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| I actually tried to get a good picture with the reflection but the bird moved off after this shot |
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