OSLO BIRDER: The luck of the birder

Monday 28 October 2024

The luck of the birder

Luck is a major factor in life and no less so in birding. A flyover bird will only be seen if you are in the right place at the right time and ditto hearing a calling bird. Hard work and long hours in the field will obviously increase your chances and knowledge of especially calls will help you find a lot more birds but luck is still probably the single most important factor.

The last couple of days have certainly been lucky for me. On Saturday as I got out of the car at home I heard a goose calling that I immediately recognised as from one of the Bean Geese and I just had time to get my bins from the car and see it was a Taiga Bean! – species 204 in #Oslo2024. Then today I was in the car in Maridalen when a message came through of a Yellow-browed Warbler in Oslo. 12 minutes later I was at the site and after a further three minutes I had species 205 on the list!!!! That was where my luck run out though. The bird was by a kindergarten and I am not a fan of hanging around places frequented by small kids with a big camera over my shoulders… I therefore had my camera in my bag and after just a second of watching the YbW I went to get my camera out such that I could digitally record this moment. Of course, once I had the camera raised I couldn’t find the bird again. A couple of minutes later I glimpsed it in flight as it was being chased by a Goldcrest and this was also the only time I heard it call. Another 45 minutes of waiting gave no other sign of it and the three other birders who arrived after me were not lucky either. But I had been lucky 😊 Even if it was my worst ever view of the species I had at least seen it and it was safely on the year list despite me having given up on seeing the species at all this year.

Pine Grosbeaks are still being seen and I had eight in Maridalen today but they are clearly still on the move and not yet settled although I am sure that quite soon there will be some settled and reliable flocks.