First Lapwing and Woodcock

Temperatures are pushing +10C on the back of quite strong southerly winds so I have been expecting some quite large arrivals of migrants but that has not (yet) been the case. New species are of course arriving and a nocturnal outing on Sunday revealed my first Woodcock of the year and Oslo’s earliest ever record. This species is of course under recorded due to its nocturnal habits but given that the snow had only just started melting it could not have arrived any earlier.

Woodcock (rugde) - a very early bird but the mud was soft despite the snow so hopefully it could find food

Lapwings are far more obvious and I am always very keen to find the first returning birds. This year I failed to as one turned up yesterday which Ididn't see but today I did see the now two birds present. March 3^rd is the second earliest ever arrival date only a day behind 2021. A (the?) pair of Whooper Swans is back in the Dale and it will be interesting to see where and if they decide to breed and how much beef they have with other swans – both Whoopers and Mutes.

and one of the two Lapwings (vipe)

and the Whooper Swans (sangsvane)

A trip to Årnestangen, my first of 2025, and then further up the Glomma river revealed surprisingly hardly any swans or geese although I did make it up to the Taiga Beans which were still present but had not increased in number. Given how snow free it is along the river and how warm it now is and with southerly winds I was really expecting a surge in especially Whoopers but maybe there is some bad weather further south blocking their return.

a male Goshawk (hønsehauk) displaying in Maridalen

a Great Grey Shrike (varsler) along the Glomma

and the Hawk Owl on Sunday which I expect will be my last sighting of the bird - it seems fitting that it would move on just as the first Lapwing arrives