We are now having the last days with sunshine and overnight frosts for what looks to be at least the next ten days and temperatures are forecast to rise over +10C next week so it looks like we may have a very early spring.
The Taiga Bean Geese have already arrived and their arrival date of 26 February is the second earliest arrival date after 22 Feb in 2023. Jack and I caught up with them on the 27th and counted only 54 which included the GPS tagged bird 05 and her mate V8 along with Y7 who has lost its neck collar but retains a colour leg ring. Hopefully there are more to come as 54 will be by far and away the lowest number we have recorded. There were very few other birds to be found yet on already snow free fields but down in Aurskog-Høland we found a large gathering of over 300 Whooper Swans and with them were another 2 Taiga Beans but I am certain these are not “our” birds but from a different population.
The White-fronted Geese remain on Bygdøy and I caught up with the wintering 1st winter male Pintail who has gone through a complete transformation from juvenile (female like) plumage so now almost full adult male breeding plumage. He was displaying to a female Mallard so we may have a brood of Pintards to look forward too next autumn and winter. There is a female Pintail at Østenjøvannet so there is also a chance these two may meet up.
The every melting snow in Maridalen allowed the Hawk Owl to spend all of yesterday hunting from roadside telegraph wires and was ridiculously easy to see – if only it was like that on Tuesday when guiding…
The course the Taigas took from Denmark. It is amazing how they set off in exactly the right direction before veering a bit off course when they hit the coast of Norway before correcting again presumably when they had some landmarks to use
here it can be seen that they actually flew over Oslo
The Taigas were along the back of the feed with a few Whoopers which are just about visible in this picture. This field was first used last spring so the birds clearly have fond memories
some of the flock
GPS tag "05" with her mate V8
the two other birds we found which to my mind have a slightly different look
this was the gander
where the 2 extra Taigas were together with Whooper Swans (sangsvane)
The swans were making loads of noise:
Jack getting his roadside does of Hawkie
1st winter male Pintail (stjertand)
he had his eyes set on this female Mallard and followed her around and displayed to her
a male Goldeneye (kvinand)
my first Kestrel (tårnfalk) of the year was this notably pale male
Three Teal (krikkand) at Hengsenga, Bygdøy. These may be early migrants or perhaps some of the small flock that winters at Frognerparken spreading their wings
they went in to land but pulled up when they realised it was ice
On Tuesday, 6 hours and 11km of walking in a foggy Maridalen with Wayne over from Guernsey could only turn up a Three-toed Woodpecker. Next day the Hawk Owl is back in its favoured place….
Three-toed Woodpecker - the highlight of a hard going days guiding
Hawkie of course showed the next day
Moose was a target when guiding and we saw lots of fresh droppings and footprints in the snow but no animal. We did see where one had fallen through the ice though...
Wednesday night 3 hours owling with Tommy and Maja gave just 2 very distant heard only Tengmalm’s and a very close Tawny that refused to perch in the open. I plan to go again on Friday with Jr and of course wouldn’t be surprised if there are owls galore…. It was cloudy on Wednesday night but little wind and was warm at +2C. I normally only go owling on cloudless nights so this may be the key factor (Friday is forecast to be cloudless).
Video of the Tawny Owl hooting including its Hawk Owl like warbling. We initially heard the bird from close to 1.5km away
Birding outside of guiding has been good though with my first Skylarks, Snow Buntings and Whooper Swans of the year. Best of all though was a pair of White-fronted Geese with the first Greylags at Bygdøy. I went there specifically with White-fronts in mind due to a few turning up further south so was mighty chuffed to find them.
White-fronted Goose (tundragås) with Greylags
there is little flooding currently at Hengsenga, Bygdøy and the weather forecast does not suggest we will get a big flood like last year
Snow Bunting in a still snowy Maridalen
and my first Skylark of 2025
The male King Eider (praktærfugl) seen from Huk at a distance of around 3km
The weather has changed with blue skies and many minus
degrees being replaced by cloud, fog, rain and temperatures up to 5C. This
might result in the first wave to spring migrants coming soon but right now the
result is very unpleasant conditions to be out both for birder and bird.
I was supposed to be guiding today but a forecast of heavy
rain (although it has ended up being just drizzle) caused us to move it to
tomorrow when fog is forecast…
I have little to report with just a roadside encounter with
a couple of Moose worthy of mention.
young Moose (elg)
mum Moose
winter food consists of branches
I finally caught up with the overwintering Peregrines (vandrefalk) in Oslo. The white trails from their droppings show this is a favoured spot to rest and spot a Feral Pigeon meal
the Posten building which is the second highest in Oslo where the falcons were
Last night I took Jack to hopefully see the Great Grey Owl.
Jr did an excellent job driving us again and this was a big night for Jack. It
was his, perhaps final, chance to prove that he is not a jinx. It has to be
said that having him in along is normally just for his delightful company as
bird wise we normally see Jack.. 😉
Conditions were good although as has proved to be the case rather
too often recently temperatures were 4 degrees colder than forecast so our extremities
had to deal with -13C. It was cloudless and pretty much windless but the moon
was not up. We did not go chasing Tengmalm’s but did hear three or four and saw one but
it was the GG that was the absolute main target. The bird we heard last year
was Jack’s one and only encounter with the species and that was a long range
hear so too see one would be something else. Jr was also unusually invested in
getting to see one.
Our first attempt drew a
blank but at another place we heard a bird albeit
distantly. We then tried to get closer which proved unsuccesfull and we could not locate exactly where the bird was but eventually
approached our first stop again and heard that individual was now in full throttle.
It was actually quite easy to find him as he sat quite high up in a spruce and
looked down at us as he threw out his deep hoots. I am quite famous within an admittedly
extremely small circle for my Great Grey impression and I tried it out on this
bird. I immediately got his attention but after a quick look he then decided to
fly to another tree 10m away. The way he looked over his shoulder at me when he
landed was difficult to interpret – it was either come chase me handsome or you
scare me big boy. Either way I think we can say I have clearly got a future as
a GG impersonator.
The night was already made and it was only 8pm so we decided
to have a few other stops and this is when things got interesting. We heard a
hooting that matched the frequency and depth of a GG but the sound was very
gruff. We were unable to get close to it and get a recording but my conclusion
is that it was a GG with a speech impediment. However, in the same area we then
heard three different sounds. One was a barking that may very well have been a
female Ural Owl, the other a high pitched owly noise that resembled a Little
Owl (doesn’t occur in Norway) and then a single hoot that I have no idea about.
Our attempts to get the source(s) to come closer and call more frequently
failed and in the end extreme extremity pain caused us to seek refuge in a now
cold car and just start driving home to warm up. This though gives even more
reason to visit the area more this spring.
I made no attempt to take “proper” photos or videos but did
capture the hooting GG on my phone and also took some images with the thermal
imager. Despite it being -13C it was only the eyes, bill and legs that lit up
showing just how good the thick feathering is to insulate.
it was -13C but the body gives off no more heat than the trees
heat only comes from eyes, mouth, ears and legs
We also heard a Tawny Owl and I saw Hawkie in Maridalen
earlier in the day so it was a case of Owl, Owl, Owl & Owl!
the Hawk Owl had at times clearly heard something but I am still to see him even attempt to catch something in 2025 but his continued presence obviously means he does
Waxwings have been very scarce this winter but I did finally
get to see a small flock very well in Maridalen on Wednesday as they fed on the
red berries of I believe the black listed garden plant red elderberry (rødhyll)
that has spread everywhere.
Waxwing (sidensvans)
the red waxy tips to the secondaries are clear to see
In Maridalen lots of Common Crossbills are still coming down
to the roads and I have managed better footage showing that it must be
salts/minerals they are licking rather than grit they are eating although I am
sure they do both. It was unsurprising that I found a roadkill male which allowed
a closer look at its impressive bill. I was tempted to dissect it to look at
the contents of its stomach but thought that was a step too far for citizen
science.
salt licking male Common Crossbill (grankorsnebb)
and female
and some photos of the dead bird. I had wanted to open the bill to look at the tongue but I was just unable and did not fancy having to snap it open
