Exciting birds and a little twitch

The last three days have been very enjoyable. Svellet continues to be Mighty with lots of shallow water and mud but we really could do with some rain. When it is sunny the viewing conditions are very challenging but yesterday it was cloudy and suddenly it was possibly to see all birds well enough to identify them in the scope. There have been many hundred Greenshank and Wood Sandpipers although their numbers were greatly reduced today suggesting a large onward migration with few new birds arriving. A massive 110 Ruff was a huge spring count although is only a fraction of the numbers seen 40-50 years ago, up to 5 Temminck’s Stints and a couple of Black-tailed Godwits. I reckon the water levels will remain low for a least a week and there is rain forecast early next week so we still have the chance of some very exciting birds.

Other interesting birds that I have seen around Svellet and Nordre Øyeren include Bluethroat and Thrush Nightingale and my first Garden Warbler, Whitethroat and Spotted Flycatcher have all been noted. Raptors remain surprisingly scarce with very few species seen which may be an indication that they are busy with nest building and egg laying.

Absolute highlight though and a stunning bird was a Hoopoe at Fornebu which got me into twitching mode. It showed very well almost all day on Wednesday although when I took Mrs OB down in the evening to see her favourite bird it had of course disappeared.

Maridalen has been disappointingly quiet with a Common Scoter on the lake the possible highlight.

In the garden the male Pied Fly has now attracted a female so hopefully they will nest in one of the two nestboxes available although I do hear them in neighbouring gardens so they may choose another site.

Hoopoe (hærfugl). It raised its crown every time it landed.

a flight shot that is pretty much in focus and sharp!

male Bluethroat (blåstrupe) - birds don't get much better

Thrush Nightingale (nattergal) - of one two newly arrived males singing non stop

Two videos. The first long one has lots of sequences of the a singing bird starting with a video taken with the phone showing the habitat. You can hear both birds plus Willow Warbler

Watching the video I noticed that the bird was missing some neck feathers allowing its skin and muscle to be seen whilst it was singing. I have slowed the video down to half speed and zoomed in

young male Goshawk (hønsehauk) and one of the breeding Buzzards (musvåk) in Maridalen

male Hawfinch (kjernebiter) in Maridalen

the female Pied Fly inspecting one of the nest boxes in the garden which the male had been singing beside. This box was previously used by Nuthatches

male Yellow Wagtail (gulerle)

a Pink-footed Goose (kortnebbgås) is still hanging out with the Greylags in Maridalen

Spotted Flycatcher (gråfluesnapper)

The Mighty Svellet on 11 May