Trying to film feeding Jack Snipe but just getting the bounce

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This post was started in mid-January and has been added to on a weekly basis. The intention was always to publish it when the Jack Snipe left or the weather changed such that their chances of survival were less precarious. I thought that would be at the end of January but the birds have hung around and the freeze been far longer than I expected so it is only now I choose to publish the post. The post has therefore grown and grown so I apologise if there is rather a lot to take in and if the "flow" has been lost.

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January has been brilliant for finding and observing Jack Snipe in Oslo although temperatures down to -20C have at times made it challenging to digitally record them due both to technological issues with camera and batteries but also because I lost feelings in both fingers and toes due to under dressing for the conditions. On barmy days though when the temperature has been around -5C then it has been a walk in the park.

Jack Snipe are supposed to be primarily nocturnal feeders and will normally roost on a marsh in daytime and then fly off to their feeding grounds at night. Those that choose to spend the winter in Oslo though have to deal with ice and snow making marshes unavailable and they are forced to seek refuge on the very few remaining streams that do not for whatever reason (pollution?) freeze over. One such stream is also slow flowing and shallow enough with a muddy bottom in many places that it clearly offers enough food to sustain a number of Jack Snipe (up to 5 this winter), Common Snipe (up to 2) and a Water Rail. How long these birds survive here though is another question as in previous winters they have eventually disappeared although I don’t know if this is because they have perished or moved off. I believe these birds must use the same stream for both roosting and feeding and if food is hard to come by then they will need to feed also in the daytime to find enough. Therefore I have hoped that the birds I find in the daytime would also be feeding rather than just roosting and sometimes the place/position where I found them did srngly suggest they must have been moving about at the very least.

When there is so much snow that it covers the banks of the stream and all vegetation then finding Jack Snipe becomes easy with the naked eye. Use of a thermal imager is not just unnecessary but also of no use (at least with mine) because the relative heat of the stream compared to the snow shines so bright that the warmth of the bird barely registers. The plumage that normally is a perfect camouflage in a wintery marsh with dead grass or reed stems proves to be of no use against a dark stream or white snow. Never-the-less it is interesting to see how birds react to seeing me depending on where they are. Those that are along the edge of the (narrow) stream choose to position their body at 90 degrees to the bank with their rear end pushed against the bank and their head flat to the ground or water with the bill often under water. Those that are discovered whilst mid stream just freeze whilst standing up without seeming to make an attempt to flatten their bodies. I of course never actually see them freezing like this as they will always see me before I see them but I have been able to film them relaxing and then see how they react when I make myself visible again.

When you find a “frozen” Jack Snipe it is very easy to take many close pictures but they are really rather boring as the bird is doing nothing. I have previously tried moving away a good distance and hoping that the bird will continue doing whatever it was engaged in before seeing me but this has never worked. A few years ago I tried setting up the camera and using it remotely with my phone from a position where I am not visible to the bird. This has sometimes worked well and I have tried the same technique a number of times this winter.

It wasn’t until I started writing this post that I remembered that I took this video on 21 Nov 2024 – I think I should have just been happy with that and not risked frost bite trying for something better which was never going to happen!

p.s - if the quality of the videos is a bit dodgy then be sure to choose max quality in YouTube 

Or how about this one from 22 Feb 2022? 

Or this one from 14 Feb 2022?  

Having reacquainted myself with these videos I think I should forget about trying to improve on them.......😂

I have been trying though. My first attempt on 7th January was something I was very happy with when that bird stood up, bobbed and then ran away and I had very high hopes to repeat that success and also record a bird feeding. Perhaps if that first attempt had just resulted in a bird not moving I may not have tried again, but I did....

Subsequently birds have relaxed and stood up, perhaps bobbed a few times but have not walked off and begun feeding. Some birds though have hardly changed their posture by more than a couple of millimetres. The longest I have waited is 35 minutes before batteries failed but I have also suspected that the birds are affected by the sight of the camera and tripod (even though I am not visible) and of course I do not want to be the cause of the bird not acting naturally and feeding. I am not however sure this is the full story. On other occasions I have noted a bird frozen against the bank and walked by only to walk by again maybe half an hour later to see it in exactly the same position with no sign it has relaxed and resumed “normal” activities in the intervening period. Maybe this is a sign that there is enough food such that some birds are choosing to rest/roost for at least some of the day? If they were really desperate for food then I would expect them to resume feeding at the earliest opportunity after having been found. I have also found birds at two other nearby localities on single occasions which suggests that the birds do move around (presumably at night) to exploit any other areas that might become available depending on the weather.

So in January I have inadvertently managed to document that Jack Snipe are quite good at remaining frozen for very long periods of time!

Here are a few videos showing how little they do:

A video from 9 Jan that I have already shown where the bird does next to nothing in the course of 35 minutes which are here sped up to 15 seconds

and here on 12 Jan where 18 minutes are sped up to 10 seconds

And here on 14 Jan which shows 20 minutes of inaction sped up to 23 seconds. At the end you can here the sound of the national emergency alarm system which was being tested at noon.

And here on 15 Jan with 18 minutes sped up to 16 seconds. At the end it lies down in response to me returning to the camera.

A sequence from the same clip at normal speed showing some bobs - this is the most action I have recorded since the first sighting on Jan 3rd.

And another bird on 15 Jan. This one was found midstreams and remained standing up but hardly moved over the next 19 minutes! Here sped up to 11 seconds.

This video from 13 Jan is of a bird 1.8km away from the regular site and on a very small stretch of stream in woodland. I have previously seen Common Snipe and Water Rail but this was my first sighting of Jack here. I checked the same stream both before and after the 13th with no other sightings. I did not try to remotely film the bird so have no idea how long it remained frozen.

Rain on On 16 January and subsequent temperatures over zero caused a change in conditions with more water in the favoured stream and other marshy areas now opening up and becoming suitable for Jack Snipe. The number of birds on the favoured stream fell to just one but on 21st and 22nd I did have a bird in another area where reeds predominated and this bird acted differently to the ones on the stream - LOTS of bobbing but still a failure in so far as that it didn't feed. After setting up the camera it unfroze and stood up in under 5 minutes (much quicker than the birds on the stream). Whilst standing up it bobbed vigorously but then tucked its bill under a wing and after carrying on bobbing for a few seconds then stood still but did not feed. This suggests a bird at daytime roost. And it also shows that bobbing is not used (or at least in this case) to disturb food items but seems more a way of showing to a potential foe that I see you and am in good form and will escape you if you try anything.

And a bird on the usual stream also on 21 Jan.

On 22nd Jan I finally had some payback for my perseverance when I again found and then managed to record the bird on the marsh. It stood up quickly and really bounced this time and it even did a 360 bobbing turn but ended it all by again putting its bill under its wing and resting rather than feeding. Clearly life is good enough that it finds enough food at night which is a very good sign.

A 27 second clip of video showing the 360 degree bounce (same video as at the top of this post) went down well on Twitter

27 seconds of a Jack Snipes life.

A 360 degree bounce for no apparent reason other than it can?

Or perhaps this allows it to check for foes from any angle whilst also telling anything that is looking that it is alert and ready to flee should it be attacked?

Oslo Jan 26 pic.twitter.com/JmzfzgTMGw

— Simon Rix (@si_rix) January 24, 2026

Jack kept on giving (he is eager to please) and on Jan 29th I had two birds together on the stream that ended up standing right next to each other with their bills almost touching. 

On Jan 30th there was a bird again on a marshy area where I had filmed my viral sensation on the 26th. Probably the same individual it again stood up only a couple of minutes after I set up the camera and again bounced a lot but still no feeding which I think almost confirms now that most of the time when I find birds they are at daytime roosts meaning they are finding enough food nocturnally.

The beginning of February saw no decline in Jack Snipe sightings with birds regularly at all the three previously used sites (including the small wooded stream) from the 5th and with four on the 11th. The fact that I could find them in the exact same spots on each visit showed that they were at their daytime roosts which must mean that they are finding enough food at night. This is great but surprising news given how cold it has been for such a long period but also raises questions as to where they go to feed - is it in the same area they roost in or do they fly off to other areas? I am now resigned to not being able to get any new videos of feeding birds but still set up the camera in the hope of more bounce. The bazooka is now really struggling in the cold and frequently looses the wifi connection so I fear that were a bird to suddenly start feeding that I would fail to record it.

On the 13th I only found one bird and although the weather had not changed I feared that the end of the Jack Snipe fairytale was over but it was clearly just a temporary relocation of a couple of the birds (or incompetence on my part) as three were again present on both 16th and 20th.

Feb 20th allowed me to video the bouncing bird again

And on 22nd I filmed the bird on the small, wooded, stream that for once relaxed quickly (I had previously given up trying to film it as it had always just remained frozen and flattened to the ground/water) but it did not bounce at all whilst standing up. This had me thinking as to why the two birds show such different behaviour? Is it just that the two individuals act differently or, as I expect, that their surroundings dictate how they will behave. Bouncer is in a very open, flat area where it can be attacked from 360 degrees whereas the bird on the stream has a bank behind it so is only vulnerable from a 180 degree angle but also has less choice as to how it can fly off - this perhaps causes it to be more cautious?

Perhaps my last videos of them this winter:

On 23rd Feb I filmed birds #1 and #2 with #1 not bouncing this time and #2 on the stream just remaining frozen as is its want.

On the 25th, #1 was showing at close range and now seemed to be so used to people that it just remained standing all the time I was there so with no freezing and then relaxing there was no need to do the bounce.

And here are some of my favourite photos that I have taken at the same time

These photos are from 15 Jan and show 5 different birds which is a record count for Oslo. They were spread over 250m of stream but with 3 within 15m of each other

#1 - a bird that froze by the bank and lowered its body

#1

#2 - a midstream bird that froze whilst standing up

#2

#3 which has found a place where the plumage does act as camouflage

#4

#5

Photos from 13 January

this bird has backed into the snow

same bird from the side

a bird found on a different stream (previous checks of this site had not revealted anything and subsequent visits also drew a blank until the 1st week of Feb after which a bird was regularly present)

as is typical with a bird by the bank it has turned to be perpendicular to the bank, backed in and lowered its body

And a bird on 14 Jan which was also discovered mid streams and froze still standing up

the same bird

and filming it

Images from 21 January

bird in a reedy marsh which has become suitable after rain and warmer temperatures

and the only bird remaining on the stream that clearly is a refuge when it is at its coldest

22nd Jan

a bobbing bird and a low shutter speed

sleeping with (at least) one eye open.

Temperatures dropped again to -12C on 26 Jan resulting in a refreezing of everywhere other than the magic stream. I therefore expected a new influx of birds seeking refuge but there were only two to be found. One of these was a long staying bird that could be found in pretty much the exact same spot on every visit but the other bird was on a stretch of the stream that had not previously been used this winter (although in my eyes should be the best stretch for snipe). I discovered it mid stream and set up the camera but the remote filming kept failing due, I think, to the cold so I abandoned that attempt which was a mistake as when I passed again 20 minutes later the bird had moved a few metres and was under the bank and it would have been nice to have captured this.

midstream where it would have been feeding before freezing after seeing me

and 20 minutes later it had moved to hide by the bank

and the stationary bird

Jan 29th when I had two birds together one of which would be the stationary bird (given where they were). I assume the stationary bird is the one to the right which in typical style did not move and the bird to the left which moved is a visitor.

the two birds as I found them

and after setting up the camera and moving out of sight they moved together

Jan 30th when in addition to the faithful bird on the stream there was again an individual on a marshy area which had a very small area of open water.

bird in the marsh after it had relaxed

flattened and frozen

the stationary bird which I showed to someone else and which took a good 10 minutes for him to actually see 😉 When you are used to finding birds from their movements a well camouflaged, motionless bird can be a right bugger to see even if you are told exactly where to look from just 5 metres away!

slightly easier to see from another angle

Two birds again together on 3rd Feb:

There were usually two birds that could be found in the exact same spots which I see as proof that they were at daytime roosts but not always. Sometimes I could find only one bird but from the 5th there were three (and on the 11th 4) and they were always in exactly the same spots. We also started getting sunlight more often which resulted in better photos.

Here are the three different birds that I regularly found in the exact same spots plus a montage from the 11th with all 4 taken with the superzoom.

the bird on the marsh which is very quick to stand up and likes bobbing

6th Feb

7th Feb

Bird #2 which has chosen a (smelly) stream

bird #3 5 Feb on the tiny woodland stream where I also had a sighting on 13th Jan

6 Feb

10 Feb. I am particularly pleased with this image

on 11th Feb. It still amazes me that these small streams don't freeze over especially when you see how the ground is frozen

different exposure

and with the flash

head on

4 different birds on 11 Feb. The two on the left were a metre from each other so I don't know which one was the regular bird and which one the visitor but this is the same spot where I have twice previously seen two birds together

#3 on 16th Feb

and #3 on 20th Feb

#1 Feb 22nd

and #3 also on Feb 22nd. I know it is not in focus but like it with the ice crystals

#1 on 23 Feb. In the open and relaxed without feeling the need to bounce

#2 also Feb 23rd. In typical style if just relaxed a little bit without standing up properly or bouncing. I did not find #3 on that date

#1 on Feb 25th. Seemingly it no longer sees humans as a threat

#3 was back on Feb 25th and also remained standing after I discovered it