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.
The reedbeds at Fornebu receive attention in the winters
when they hold Bearded Tits but in the few winters, such as this one, when
there are none then they normally get little attention.
The local Birdlife Norway group has, in Norwegian terms, been incredibly
productive and raised money, and perhaps most impressively got permission from
the many government bodies that have a say, to carry out improvement work. The
money was used to dig some pools although I fear these will just have cosmetic
value but most importantly and independently of the pools the water level has
been raised and trees and bushes removed. This wetter and more open reedbed has
lots of potential. The stream that feeds the reedbed just appears out of the
ground and has always been a mystery due to the fact that it doesn’t freeze
over no matter how cold it is. This water source means that even in the winter
there is open water and with the raised water levels there is more water than
previously.
On Thursday when it was snowing and the wind blowing strongly I didn’t really
expect to find anything but how wrong could I be?
I heard a Kingfisher on getting out of the car and then got to see it well, a
Water Rail ran past and best of all I found first one bobbing Jack Snipe and
then two when the Water Rail flushed another. As soon as the Jacks were aware
of me they stopped bobbing despite me being a good 20m away but in usual style
they started again when I managed to hide from their view.
A visit the next day in much better weather only revealed the Water Rail but
today the Kingfisher was showing again. There would appear to be 4 Kingfishers
wintering in the Inner Oslofjord this winter plus at least one bird away from
the coast and the species seems now to be able survive out winters which
previously had always been the limiting factor for the species to really
establish itself in Norway.
the 2 Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin) side by side
a bit easier to see them in this shot
the Kingfisher (isfugl)
the all dark bill shows it is a male
and in the same place today in sunshine and with all the snow on the reeds gone
filming the Kingfisher on Thursday
a running Water Rail (vannrikse)
the Hawk Owl continues to search for rodents in Maridalen, but does he find any?
Scaup is only seen very occasionally in Oslo in winter with
only three January records of single birds in 2004, 2013 and 2021. That was
before 2025 though when a small flock was discovered on 18 Jan on the fjord.
The site is, as far as I know, rarely visited so the birds may well have been
present a while. There are 7 birds and they have the company of up to 5 Tufted
Ducks. They are diving to find food quite close to shore and keep returning to
the same spot so there is clearly a rich but small (in area) food source. There
are three males and four females. All the males are clearly 1st
winter birds and while I assume that the females are also 1st
winters I am not sure and there is some variation in how they look especially
the extent of white around the bill.
That these birds are present and clearly find food is together
with the huge numbers of Velvet Scoters, Goldeneyes and Eiders a sign that something
is good in the Oslo fjord despite the repeated assertions that the fjord is
either dead or dying. Populations of many fish are critically low but mussels
would seem to be present in great numbers which is I think the main reason for
all the seaducks this winter. There are quite a few Common and Cormorants and
the newly arrived Shags but other fish eaters are very scarce with just a few
auks and no divers or grebes.
From the same spot I could see in the telescope good numbers
of Velvet and Common Scoters, Goldeneye, Red-breasted Merganser and 10
Razorbills and 4 Long-tailed Ducks so this was a very bird rich Oslo fjord and
also a spot that I will have to visit more often.
7 Greater Scaup (bergand), 3 males and 4 females. The smudges in white flanks and grey backs show the males to be 1st winters. Of the females the one at the top has a sizeable and clearly defined white patch around the bill which may mean she is an adult but the other three are I believe 1st winters
here seemingly dabbling for food
with 3 Tufted Ducks (toppand)
and with 5 Tufties
with a female Tufted at the bottom
female Scaup and female Tufted. Here the white area around the bill is a clear difference but some Tufted also have this which is when you need to look at other differences such as the head shape, over all size (Scaup is larger), the paler cheeks of the Scaup and a smaller black "nail" on the bill of the Scaup
