2024 The year that was Part II

Half way through the year I had already seen more species than in any other year than 2019 so everything looked good for beating the total of 193 species from that year but I still did not think that 200 would be realistic. I needed waders and a number of trips to the islands were clearly going to be key and these trips would represent my most focused effort in #Oslo2024. It was hard going though and the tidal bay at Gressholmen was normally a disappointment although Galteskjær which is just a rock in the sea that you see at speed from the passing ferry was surprisingly productive.

 

July:

187	Red Knot	11-Jul-24
188	Common Redshank	11-Jul-24
189	Ruddy Turnstone	26-Jul-24

 Three new species and all waders from the islands shows my strategy was working. 

Dunlinn (myrsnipe) and Knot (polarsnipe). All adults as you would expect in July

and Dunlin with a Turnstone (steinvender)

August:

190	Golden Eagle	02-Aug-24
191	Black Tern	04-Aug-24
192	Little Stint	04-Aug-24
193	Bluethroat	12-Aug-24
194	Curlew Sandpiper	15-Aug-24
195	Little Gull	23-Aug-24
196	Northern Fulmar	26-Aug-24
197	Sanderling	26-Aug-24
198	Red Kite	27-Aug-24

 A surprisingly good month with three more species of wader but also real surprises with two raptors and only my second ever Oslo Black Tern. The Bluethroat was my only one of the year in Oslo and there were a number of species where I only saw one individual showing that there was a lot of luck involved. With #194 on 15 August I had already set a new record and now began to believe that 200 was more than a dream.

Little Sint (dvergsnipe)

Black Tern (svartterne)

Bluethroat (blåstrupe)

September:

199

Great Snipe

06-Sep-24

September is the month in Norway when rarities are commonest but not in Oslo and in a particularly poor month I added just one species.

I had heard a Two-barred Crossbill (båndkorsnebb) in the summer but it was nice to see this juvenile in September

 

October:

200	Jack Snipe	06-Oct-24
201	Water Rail	07-Oct-24
202	Rock Pipit	17-Oct-24
203	Pine Grosbeak	23-Oct-24
204	Taiga Bean Goose	26-Oct-24
205	Yellow-browed Warbler	28-Oct-24

Jack Snipe and Water Rail were species I had expected to see before the end of the year at Østensjøvannet and instead I had them both in Maridalen. The arrival of Pine Grosbeaks was hoped for and ended up being a record invasion. Taiga Bean Goose was a complete bonus and the Yellow-browed Warbler was a twitch for a species I had given up on. After hitting 200 species the goal was to see two more to survive the Redpoll lumping and that all went well!!

Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin)

Rock Pipit (skjærpiplerke)

male Pine Grosbeak (konglebit)

November:

206	Northern Hawk Owl	07-Nov-24
207	Long-tailed Duck	18-Nov-24

 

Hawk Owl was also hoped for and Long-tailed Duck would have been considered a guaranteed species at the beginning of the year but I had begun to lose hope of seeing it.

Long-tailed Ducks (havelle)

Hawk Owl (haukugle)

and another Grozza

December:

	less:
206	Lesser Redpoll
205	Arctic Redpoll

 

The only month with no new species!

this Mistle Thrush (duetrost) was the latest ever Oslo record

 

So what did I miss? 217 species were reported in Oslo in 2024 so there were 10 species I missed with Ruff, Tengmalm’s Owl and Capercaille being the ones I expected to see (the other 7 were: Spotted Redshank, Puffin, GW Egret, Pallid Harrier, Short-eared Owl, Marsh Tit and Sedge Warbler). We also didn’t have a good year for nocturnal birds in the late spring and there were no spicy seabirds in the autumn but I think that 207 is a record that will stand the test of time.