Today was the day that was expected, based on the weather forecast, to be THE day. However, as is often the case, the Bird Gods had other ideas. It was a very nice to be out and the steps were put in (although only 16,000 today) and the wind was from the east but it was a case of more birds leaving than arriving with for example the Little Bunting and Turtle Dove not to be seen.
I did have a fly over Olive-backed Pipit (no photo) and took photos and video of both Yellow-browed and Barred Warbler but these are pretty much the bare minimum of what you expect here on Oct 1st.
Yellow-browed Warbler video:
Barred Warbler video taken from the balcony of Værøy Bird Observatory aka Kjell’s house.
Yellow-browed Warbler (gulbrynsanger). After hearing a bird in the same area yesterday I got to see one today and the photos are at least better than I managed in Maridalen
Barred Warbler (hauksanger)
Værøy makes Oslo Birder feel welcome
Two late Swallows (låvesvale) with the military installation known simply as “Nato” in the background
So, what are my thoughts and observations after a long weekend in Lista for the annual bird race and festival?
First I have remembered why I did not visit again sooner after my one and only previous visit in 2017 - it is a bloody long drive from Oslo! What on paper will take just over 5 hours ended up taking closer to eight due to Friday afternoon rush traffic and roadworks.
Secondly, even though Lista might be Norway’s premier birding location when the weekend list of 126 species didn’t include either Redwing or Fieldfare then it is clear Maridalen ain’t that bad either.
Third, I haven’t quite lost the edge yet and again bagged the title of Norway’s second best birder😉 in the evening quiz.
Birds of the weekend were Pallid Harrier, Red Kite, Great White Egret and a Barred Warbler (in the hand) and a 50 minute drive gave me a Norwegian tick in the form of a long staying and blinged up Ring-billed Gull.
We had three mornings of migration watching around the lighthouse and each was different. On the first two days there were lots of tits wanting to migrate with Coal the most numerous and also good numbers of Willow. There were also Nutcrackers on the move and a flock of 19 flew high out to sea towards Blighty. Siskins, Chaffinches, Swallow and Meadow Pipits were perhaps the most numerous birds but there were also good numbers of raptors with Sparrowhawks and Kestrels particularly numerous. On our last morning the easterly wind was quite strong and there was less viz mig but there were suddenly Wheatears everywhere.
Lista Lighthouse at 0607 on Saturday
The Bird Race results. We (myself, Anders Braut Simonsen and Hans Petter Rømme) were Team Tringa and were very happy with our second place, especially as we lack local knowledge and because we were also way behind at the half way mark
Great White Egret (egretthegre)
Barred Warbler (hauksanger) that had been caught in the observatories nets and was ringed
A selfie with my 326th Norwegian species
This Ring-billed Gull (ringnebbmåke) turned up in Norway in March 2023 and received its bling shortly thereafter. It has been seen regularly (at different times of the year at 2 sites 200km apart although also goes missing for months on end and has only been reported at one other location
It looks like it has a black rubber band on its bill
It really did rain a lot yesterday but just before 11pm the
cloud cover broke and seeing that there was a very strong forecast for Northern
Lights we headed into Maridalen. We arrived just in the nick of time and got to
see the most amazing display of colours (although no real “dancing” lights)
that I have ever seen. Unfortunately this really intense display was over just
a few minutes after we arrived and after that we had to be content with a lot
of green in the sky. Earlier in the day my social media feeds had a number of
posts about how to best photograph the northern lights so I knew what I needed
to do. I had changed the bazooka lens for an 18-55mm and had the tripod with me
for long exposures. My initial attempts to capture the display just resulted in
black shots and it took an embarrassingly long time for me to realise I had not
taken the lens cap off and this cost me capturing the best shots with my camera
although I did get some with the phone and on review the iphone 11 shots are
far better than from my Canon.
I am generally not happy with the pictures I am taking at
the moment and it all follows a very wet outing a couple of weeks ago. In
addition to my lens fogging up internally the touch screen stopped working on
the camera. I was unable to fix it and after a few days decided to try a
factory reset of the camera. Amazingly enough this worked but it also meant
that all the other changes I have made to the camera were lost and I don’t
think I have quite manged to set them all again yet.
That said though I think I did get some good shots of the night
sky and the wonders of a solar storm.
Today in Maridalen yesterday’s rain had resulted in an
increase in the water level and all the mid that the various snipe had been
using is now under water so that may be the end of that fun. There was also ice
on some puddles so we may soon be getting movements of birds pushed off now frozen
lakes further north. With blues skies it was very quiet in Maridalen and I gave
up quickly and headed for Fornebu. This is not in Oslo so any bird that I see
here doesn’t count for #Oslo2024 but good birds are good birds no matter where
you see them. Yellow-browed Warbler is still foremost in my thoughts but three
Chiffchaffs were the only phylloscs I found and none of them were from
east of the Urals (tristis). Three squealing Water Rails and a couple of
Little Grebes were the highlights and I didn’t think there would be much more
to find but decided to put the scope back in the car and have a walk around the
area. I saw a Red Admiral which may well end up being my last butterfly of the
year and there were still a few dragonflies on the wing. There are a number of
apple and berry trees and remembering that a Barred Warbler was ringed in the
area on Saturday I paused to see if there were any birds eating the berries.
Initially there was nothing to see but then I saw a movement in a rowan tree,
raised my bins and saw a grey bird with a ring on its leg – six days after
being ringed and with no sightings since the Barred Warbler was still present!
It was very difficult to see and even more difficult to photograph but
eventually I did get a couple of photos. I also heard it calling and some very
subdued subsong was also I think from it although there were also four Blackcap
in the area.
Barred Warbler is a real rarity in these parts with no Oslo
records but this is my second at Fornebu after I found one in 2012.
Barred Warbler (hauksanger) with ring
this video records its call
for a long time this was the only photo I had
but then got this which at least counts as a record shot and also shows the baring on the undertail coverts well
it would have been nice if it had showed as this male Blackcap (munk) which was one of four feeding in the same tree
and a female
And Northern Light photos, first with the phone
this shot was taken at home and is the first time we have seen it at home where there is a lot of light pollution
And photos with the camera
and videos from earlier in the week
Jack and Common Snipe Director's Cut
Common Snipe
Teal
Greylag Geese including picking grain off stalks (don't remember seeing this before)
Another promising start to the day with a number of Y-b
Warblers, Blyth’s Reed still around (and probably two birds in same area), a
Pied Flycatcher and good numbers of birds in the air.
Last night, after going to be early, I was awoken before
midnight to a nice surprise – a trapped Storm Petrel. Regardless of what I may
think of ringing it was a privilege to see this pelagic species so close up and
boy are they small birds. It is amazing that they live their lives at sea and
hardly ever seem to be driven into land by storms unlike their large cousins.
Maybe their small size makes them less susceptible to be blown by storms?
