Owls, Waxwings and Crossbills

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