Post guiding silver platter

As is typical after guiding, the species that were difficult to find have served themselves up on a silver plater in the following days….😂

 A male Three-toed Woodpecker has showed exceptionally well in Maridalen in a small area of flooded forest with dead trees well away from the species normal areas and the exact area we checked unsuccesfully on Saturday for Black Woodpecker (and had no other ‘peckers either). And Black ‘pecker which was our most striking miss at the weekend has of course also shown well….

 Pygmy Owls have just been waiting for me on roadside trees and two in a day was so noteworthy that it required a comment on eBird (our local reviewer is a meticulous young man😉).

 A visit to the Hazel Grouse saw me heading straight for where we had the male on Saturday and what do you know - he was in exactly the same tree and I only used 10 minutes from leaving the car to see him rather than nearly 2 hours. He was high up in an alder tree but I was able to clamber up a slope and see him nearly at eye level for a long period of time.

 Two different Marsh Tits still in Maridalen maintain the hope of the species establishing itself although they are not a pair and one of them is the (mostly) silent bird which always is hanging with Willow Tits and which best case has an identity crisis and worst case may be a hybrid. The other bird loves to call and is either on its own (although earlier there were two vocal birds together) or with Blue Tits.

 Jack and I visited Owl Road last night in glorious positions - a cloudless starry night sky, -16C, no wind and even a tiny slither of a moon. Three Tengmalm’s Owls meant a 200% increase on 9 days earlier but we had no other owls (it was the same date last year when I showed Jack his very firstGGO).

 The sun has been shining but temperatures remain a long way south of zero so early spring migrants are still to arrive but from the middle of next week we are forecast to have temperatures above zero and some rain. This will probably be all that is needed for the first geese, Snow Buntings, Skylarks or Starlings to show up if there are suddenly snow free flecks on the fields.

only three toes

the rings on this tree suggest that a Three-toed has been in this area quite a while...

Moose have also showed well but were absent at the weekend

Pygmy Owl in the snow

I attempted some flight shots and nearly succeeded in a sharp shot

my Hazel Grouse (jerpe) photos were nothing special but I am happy with the videos which have him singing and eating snow

singing

owling on Owl Road

and Pygmy Owling in Maridalen with the bird on top of the highest spruce

I then had a very nice photo shoot with him or perhaps her

and a Robin (rødstrupe) in the snow

and these little beauties are still giving of themselves