Friday, 7 February 2025

A week of two halves

I had company today and we gingerly walked over the frozen Maridalsvannet

This week has been a week of two halves and the second half has felt far more spring like than the first and that despite it being much colder now.

Up until Wednesday morning it was foggy and although temperatures were above zero there was very little avian activity. From Wednesday onwards though it has been sunny, little wind and despite temperatures being down to -8C there has been loads of activity. Great Spotted and Black Woodpeckers are now drumming and calling all over the place (I had not registered a Black this year before Wednesday and today I had three together making loads of noise). Yellowhammers, Bullfinches, Treecreepers and various tits are singing and Goshawks are displaying. Even Goldcrests were chasing each other around and making lots of noise today although were not yet singing. I have also had my first Stock Doves of the year – a species that seems to arrive earlier and earlier but my first Starling and Moorhen were probably overwintering birds.

Crossbills which have been singing for a long time are now nest building and will have young in less than a month!

The Hawk Owl survives although is still moving around a lot without being seen to catch anything.

female Common Crossbill (grankorsnebb) collecting bark for the nest


collecting moss

and collecting grass

the female does all the work whilst the male just holds watch, sings a bit and mates when when he gets the chance. This is the male and he looks very much like a female which is because he is probably not even year old yet - born in early spring 2024 and will only get the brick red plumage after his next moult

a new species for the year was this very distant Great Grey Shrike (varsler)

Stock Dove (skogdue) which return directly to their breeding sites



Black Woodpecker (svartspett) - the extensive red on the crown shows this is a male

whilst this bird visiting a nest hole used for the last couple of years is a female


Hawk Owl. Whenever it is sunny then (s)he always chooses to perch high up










a Redpoll (gråsisik) and thankfully I can leave it there and not give myself a headache working out if it is a Lesser or a Common due to their now subspecies status. Redpolls have been very scarce this winter but there has been a noticeable increase this week although just single birds or small groups

Wednesday, 5 February 2025

February guiding

I was guiding yesterday and despite fog we had a good day. I took Tony who was visiting Oslo from Manchester to Maridalen and we trudged through snow and peered through the fog and were rewarded with Hawk Owl, Three-toed Woodpecker, Hazel Grouse, Dipper, Crossbill and Crested Tit amongst others.

I had been very anxious that the forecast fog was going to be so thick that we wouldn’t see beyond the tips of our noses but although it wasn’t that bad it did mean that for example scanning distant tree tops for anything interesting was out of the question. The Hawk Owl was located by walking around its recently favoured areas (we walked 9km in total during the day) and it was Tony’s very keen eyes that spotted it perched lowish down in a tree. We watched it for a good while and it changed perch twice and whilst clearly looking and listening for rodents it once again did not make an attempt to catch anything. It was in an area where Moose have been feeding and there was some bare ground exposed and I believe this may make hunting easier for the owl.

The ‘pecker that misses a toe and the Hazel Grouse were found in expected sites but we had precious little else in the forest with for example not a single tit of any species except at feeders.


Hawkie


after preening there appeared a hole which shows just how thick its feathers are but also hints at a real lack of body fat as a result of little food

male Hazel Grouse (jerpe) in a foggy forest



he moved to a birch and was eating catkins high up above our heads as can be seen in the video


male Three-toed Woodpecker (tretåspett). He can be heard drumming in the video

male Brambling (bjørkefink)

Crested Tit (toppmeis)

Dipper (fossekall)


Saturday, 1 February 2025

Little new but still quality around Oslo

Birding around Oslo continues in a very predictable manner. I did have a small flock of Wood Pigeons seemingly migrating north but they may also have been some of the small number of wintering birds just moving between sites. Otherwise it has been same old, same old with Jack Snipe, Scaup, Kingfisher, King Eider, Hawk and Pygmy Owl and the occasional Shag that have been receiving my attention, as they have most of the year.


we haven't had much sun recently so it was pleasing to be able to see the Hawk Owl enjoying it 





Common Snipe (enkeltbekkasin) is always more in the open and feeding when I find them unlike the Jack Snipes which are hidden amongst reeds

Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin). 

These videos show how the birds slowly relaxes after I disappear from view and also how quickly it reacts when I reappear





a Shag (toppskarv) at Bygdøy together with a couple of Cormorants (storskarv)

a Blue Tit (blåmeis)

a man, his dog and a Hawk Owl

distant Pygmy Owl (spurveugle)

Common Snipe (enkeltbekkasin) on a very cold morning but it had found some open water


Wednesday, 29 January 2025

Snipes

I have been drawn back again and again to the Jack Snipe at Fornebu and by using the thermal imager they have been easy to find and there are not just two but three birds and also a Common Snipe which is a far rarer mid-winter bird in these parts than its tiny cousin. Interestingly the Jack Snipe are always on floating reeds rather than muddy edges but they may well use other more open areas at night.

I managed to find the King Eider again at 2+km range and Hawkie remains in the Dale. A Greylag Goose at Fornebu was an early spring migrant and the first bird that I can apply that label to so far in 2025.

Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin) in the open. It must have been feeding here and froze when it saw me







can you see two birds?


close up of detail with flash on






and a Common Snipe (enkeltbekkasin)




only my second sighting of Waxwings (sidensvans) in 2025. 

Hawkie in the Dale








the King Eider (praktærfugl) is a bugger to document at >2km range but is at least identifiable in the video

Shag (toppskarv) and Cormorant (storskarv)



A surprise sighting of a daytime, mid winter Beaver in Maridalen. This stream had been frozen until just a few days ago and the Beaver was presumably using the opportunity to get some fresh food.