Disappointment

I know, I know, reading too much into weather forecasts is a fools game but as I frequently say “you’ve got to be in it to win it” and “he who dares wins (Rodney)”.

Well, the actual weather was not quite as juicy as the forecast from a day ago with no real rain over night or in the early morning but we did have a couple of really heavy thunderstorms midday.

I started off at Østensjøvannet hoping to find hirundines, swifts, marsh terns and Little Gulls galore hawking insects low over the water but ended up with no hirundines at all, just 3 Black-headed Gulls and a few Swfits high up.

Maridalen was next and here I was expecting the same species as at ØV but with the addition of rare waders on the slightly larger speck of mud at Kirkeby. Here I did actually get one of my targets but it was the most basic of expectations for today – Sand Martin, Oslo #182, but other than there was no sign of any arrivals. A few tens of Black-headed Gulls were hawking insects as they have been doing for the last few days but yet again there were no smaller cousins with them.

A small flock of crossbills went over calling and I really got the feeling they were Two-barred but they never gave the trumpet call. An invasion of this species seems to be brewing so we can hope there will be birds in the autumn and winter.

Otherwise the pair of Hobbies were in the same place as yesterday and seem very settled there although I still cannot see a nest for them to use.

 

I never made it to Gressholmen as Jack was already there and his frequent negative messages let me know I didn’t need, unfortunately, to make the journey.

 

There have been no messages from anywhere else suggesting that anything interesting at all has turned up in south eastern Norway as a result of this weather but maybe in the evening something good will be found.

finally, an Oslo Sand Martin (sandsvale)

a thoroughly drenched Hobby (lerkefalk)

the pair with the male (I believe) in focus

and the female

and an attempt to have both in focus

trying to dry out the tail feathers

male on left I think