A week of nothing

When it is mid May and I go a whole week without posting then I think you already understand that I am going to say it has been dire.

The hot, sunny weather continues and there just seem to be few birds. We have just a looong weekend with Friday being Norway’s national day and yesterday was a holiday in celebration of Pentecost (don’t ask me what that is…). We spent 3 days at the cabin at Hulvik which I had expected to provide loads of good birds but it didn’t for once. A nocturnal trip produced zero Nightjars or other interesting nocturnal birds (although it was a tad early in the spring there should have been more) and a sea gaze from before 5am in what were not bad conditions produced a single Red-throated Diver migrating north and that was it!!!!

I have added to my Oslo list with Reed Warbler #171, Redstart #172 and Common Rosefinch #173.

Rain that is forecast on Thursday night and Friday morning will if the bird gods are feeling generous produce floods of marsh terns, Little Gulls and hirundines….

3cy+ male Common Rosefinch (rosenfink)

finally Redstart (rødstjert)

male Red-backed Shrike (tornskate) in Maridalen

he had attracted a female and was dancing for her

male Whitethroat (tornsanger)

Hobby (lerkefalk) today

a Sparrowhawk (spurvehauk) trying to chase the Hobby away

an unexpected meeting with a Beaver in the middle of the day today

and even more unexpected was getting close to a fox that was feeding on a long dead Moose carcass in a river