The first quarter of the year is now complete and an ice
free Østensjøvannet is sure sign that spring is here as was the sound of
singing Chiffchaff today. The ice has gone very quickly at Østensjøvannet – on Wednesday
when I saw the Smew there was just a small ice free area where all the birds
were concentrated but by Saturday all the ice was gone. The period when there is
just a small ice free area is a good time to be at Østensjøvannet because it is
possible to get good views of many species so it is a shame that it was so
short this year. The Saturday visit was to see a Pochard that had been found
and another visit today revealed both the Pochard and Smew to still be present.
There must be a lot of small fish as there are good numbers of Goosander but
there are few dabbling ducks and unfortunately the Black-headed Gulls look like
they have already decided they are not nesting here for yet another year. The
lake has previously had up to 2000 breeding pairs and lots of work has been
done to ensure there are suitable nesting sites but something else, which I
believe is a lack of food, has put the gulls off the lake.
In Maridalen the first Meadow Pipits have arrived and Twite
remain in very good numbers but there is little else and definitely no raptor
passage which I hope to see each day with sun….
female Pochard (taffeland) at Østensjøvannet
and a male Tufted Duck (toppand)
I scanned all the gulls for something rare but reading colour rings was the most exciting thing in the end. Here three different types of colour ring on Black-headed Gulls. The white and green are Norwegian and the red is from the UK (I have yet to receive details on it)
J88E was the oldest bird and was ringed as an adult female at Østensjøvannet 31st May 2015. It has been seen many time since but only in the Oslo area and it wintering grounds are unknown
J0280 is the bird that has travelled most. Ringed in Oslo 9 June 2022 it has been seen in Milton Keynes, England in January of both 2023 and 2025
Whooper Swans (sangsvane) are still moving through and this group was in Maridalen yesterday
Adders can be found sunning themselves in the same places each (sunny) day and it is still only males that are out
Black Woodpeckers (svartspett) are excavating a new hole after using the same one for the last 3 years
We have now had two nights without frost and along with
southerly winds I have been expecting a flood of migrants. Of course, that has
not been the case and viz mig has been a particular disappointment with just a
few flocks of Pink-footed Geese, 2 Cranes and a Kestrel. I had a real hope for
a few raptors but it is clearly still too early still (and I have this “surprise”
every year at this time….).
Despite the lack of viz mig there has been an arrival of new
birds. Dunnocks and Redwings are suddenly back and singing from woodland, White
and Grey Wagtail are suddenly wagging away and there are considerably more Lapwing, Mistle
Thrushes, Chaffinches, Bramblings and a large Twite flock in Maridalen.
Surprisingly though there are no Robins back yet but that must happen soon.
The Hawk Owl has been showing very well as it exploits a
rich source of Bank Voles (klatremus) and I was very happy to be able to film
it dismembering and then eating one.
A trip to Østensjøvannet was very birdy with lots of noisy
gulls and various wildfowl with a pair of Smew being the absolute highlight.
The video I have long wanted to capture showing the beheading, entrails removing and swallowing of a vole
Hawkie on a wire
and on its way down for what ended up being an unsuccessful vole hunt
this video has a few sequences with it giving its call that I also heard frequently when it first turned up in November
male Smew (lappfiskand)
pair
and with a Grey Heron (gråhegre)
3 male Teal (krikkand)
and a close of up another bird
the Heron was not at all popular with the Black-headed Gulls (hettemåke)
Goosander (laksand) are also back
3 species of returning gulls on the ice and 2 male Goosander
Grey Wagtail (vintererle) is back in the Dale
as is Dunnock (jernspurv)
and Redwing (rødvingetrost)
and a large flock of Twite (bergirisk) is having a stop off on its migration
and the first White Wagtail (linerle) of the year
not in Maridalen and not a good picture but I cannot remember capturing Parrot (furukorsnebb) and Common Crossbill (grankorsnebb) together before
Canada and Greylag Geese in Maridalen suddenly became very alert when this fox appeared
As I said in my last post I had some owl action last week 😊
A trip to Owl Rd with Jr after I had been informed of a new
site to try for GG paid off big time. It was once again a “perfect” night with
no clouds and no wind although this time there was no moon either. At a barmy
-2C it was also warm…
On the drive down Owl Rd we heard nothing of the GG. We (or
more accurately me as Jr doesn’t get out of the car to just hear
owls)did hear a single Tengmalm’s and
then of much more interest a hooting male Ural Owl. Although it was at looong
range it was a special bird for me as it represents a self found tick, an
Akershus county tick and the first time I heard song (my previous records have either
been nesting or winter birds).
The forests here are a southerly extension of the deep
forests of Hedmark where Norway's ca.25 pairs of Ural Owls breed and there are a couple of previous records of singing birds on the Akershus side of the county line. It has therefore always been a species
I have hoped to hear on my visits to the area so was very satisfying when it
finally happened.
On the way back the desired Great Grey sang and was right by
the road meaning Jr also got out of the car to enjoy him. It was in the same area as the bird I filmed last year so could well be the same
individual. There was nothing to suggest a pair but I will follow up.
As if that wasn’t enough, I then had the pleasure of
reacquainting myself with Hawkie in Maridalen who is now hunting from low
perches in open woodland which would explain why it has not been seen for a
while. I was lucky enough to see it catch a mouse/vole and then eat it.
As it that wasn’t enough a bit later an alarm calling
Crossbill alerted me to a Tawny Owl at is daytime roost high in a spruce. It
was close to a Goldeneye nestbox and I will have to follow up to see if there
are Tawnies nesting here although the hole looked a tad small.
Great Grey Owl (lappugle)
this video sht by Jr has me taking pictures of the owl. You can hear how slow the shutter speed - I was using 1/15 second and a tripod
Hawk Owl (haukugle)
he then flew down and caught a rodent as seen in this video:
before dismembering and eating it:
here he has just landed on the other side of the road with his prey
by the time I had got a bit closer the head had been removed and swallowed
then the inners get eaten
before the rest is just swallowed
ever get the feeling you are being watched? Tawny Owl (kattugle)
A trip yesterday in very similar conditions revealed just one distant hooting Tengmalm's so it clearly isn't a great owl year any more. I have read that if the snow melts too quckly then this can cause a collapse in rodent populations that had been thriving under the snow and the snow did definitely melt quickly here at the end of February. Even if owls don't always play ball though there can be plenty of other things to see on a cloudless night in the forest. I have seen meteors burning through the sky and last night Jr and I saw this very strange sight which was apparently a string of US Starshield satellites launched by Space X from Californian the day before (Friday) and which are moving themselves into orbit. They moved through the sky in a straightline and were a definite a UFO until we heard about them on the radio a bit later (clearly lots of people had contacted the press about them).
we also had a good show of Northern Lights
and a couple of still white Hares running along the road
