The second half of the week has, unsurprisingly, not been able to measure up to the good start but it has offered some good autumn birding. A trip to Nordre Øyeren today in damp conditions revealed a Svellet completely free of waders despite there being lots of attractive (at least to me) mud still showing. There were three Great White Egrets close by though and this is now a characteristic species for the area in the autumns. Despite it now being expected it is still a bit of kick to set your eyes on them and they are still exotic.
Bird of today was a calling Red-throated Pipit (lappiplerke) that flew right over my head when I was looking over Snekkervika but it wouldn't stop unfortunately. Also still there were two Red-backed Shrikes (tornskate) which are getting to be quite late.
Great White Egrets (egretthegre) - the bird on the right is perhaps an adult with what look like plume feathers sticking out
This video shows a dark juvenile Honey Buzzard and an adult Common Buzzard in Maridalen on Wednesday and continue the great run of sightings I have had this autumn
a video grab of the dark juv HB
and a picture of the pale juv HB that isn't in the video
the dark juv HB with a moulting (adult or at least 2cy+) CB
In this video of a Black-throated Diver family on Maridalsvannet from Thursday the youngster can be seen being fed small fish
juvenile Black-throated Diver (storlom)
BtD family
Goosanders (laksand)
a record breaking flock of 32 Cormorants (storskarv) that flew into Maridalsvannet yesterday and immediately set about feeding (or at least searching for fish) as a flock as can be seen in the video
Shoveler (skjeand) including an adult male in eclipse which I don't remember having seen in Norway before and a pair of Gadwall (snadderand) at Merkja today
A Nutcracker (nøttekråke) collecting hazel nuts in the garden on Wednesday. They do not eat them but rather fill up their throats/crops and fly many kilometers into the forest with them where they hide them to be eaten during the winter. In the video you can see it taking nuts and also see the bulges in its throat
This mink in Maridalen did not seem to have seen me and The Beast sitting only meters away but as can be seen could definitely smell us
I have had a couple of very enjoyable and of course successful
guiding trips recently. Both were morning outings with the delights of
Maridalen featuring in the first trip and the second which entailed a pick up
in Lillestrøm worked well to put the spotlight on Årnestangen and Nordre
Øyeren. For the Årnestangen trip I was booked as a birthday present from a clearly
very loving and thoughtful wife in Panama for her husband who was in Norway on
business!
We were at Årnestangen on Sunday morning and there were far
more birders there than usual with a Pectoral Sandpiper seen the previous day probably
being the draw. The Pec was not refound but it turned out to be a good raptor
day. Ryan and I had Hen Harrier, Peregrine, Merlin and White-tailed Eagle among
others but after we had left a juvenile Pallid Harrier was seen.
Pallid Harrier is a species I cannot get enough of. When I
was a teenager it did not even feature in the bird books I had but has in the
last couple of decades clearly expanded westwards. The reasons are not clear
but changes in farming practices in the former Soviet republics are a possible
cause with birds having to look for new breeding sites as old ones become
unsuitable.
I have been lucky enough to find three birds myself but none
have been exactly good views. I have twitched a couple of males that spent thesummer one year near Valdresflya and that was a great though damp and grey experience.
For a long time I was missing a good, prolonged and close meeting with a
juvenile bird though but that came to fruition in 2022 with another twitch but
only half an hour from home.
Every autumn I visit places such as Nordre Øyeren with the
plan of finding a Pallid Harrier but am always disappointed. Yesterday when I
decided on another trip to Årnestangen I had the same hope but nevertheless
expected to be disappointed. It was a damp start to the day and definitely not classic
raptor conditions but there were raptors. First a Marsh Harrier then a Hobby,
then the Marsh Harrier again and as I tried to get the scope on it another
raptor appeared and it was a juv Pallid Harrier! I assumed it was the same bird
as two days previously but later experiences make it clear to me that it could
very well have been a new bird (and there seems to be quite a few birds moving
through southern Norway in these days). With only the superzoom my digital
memories of this fairly close encounter are of course not that great but hey I
enjoyed it!
juvenile Pallid Harrier (stepphauk)
just as striking from above
The raptors were far from over in their generous giving
though. As I retreated in my steps to try to refind the harrier which had
disappeared behind some bushes I looked up and saw an immature White-tailed
Eagle chasing a Peregrine. The falcon, an adult, had a wader, probably a Ruff,
in its talons and was trying to gain height and fly away from the eagle but the
eagle kept catching up and following the falcons every move. The falcon then
dropped its prey and the eagle stooped down and caught it mid-air!! I was
certain that the Peregrine could out manoeuvre the eagle but maybe the prey was
just too large and heavy for it. Impressive flying by the eagle though and
something I wish I could have recorded digitally although I was so
enthralled watching it that I didn’t even consider lifting the camera. When
this was over I then saw that the Pallid Harrier was flying over where I had first
seen it and I then hurried back there and out to the end of the peninsula. I
chose to watch from the old tower as I thought the elevated position might prove
advantageous and it did. I picked up a female Hen Harrier working her way
towards me and then she put up the Pallid which must have been resting unseen
in the grass! The two flew together for a bit and then disappeared from view. I
waited a god while hoping they would reappear but in vain. I then hurried out
to the end of the peninsula and as I did so the Pallid flew quickly past and
then in true Top Gun style did a fly-by of the tower where I had just been
standing!!!
3 of 5 White-tailed Eagles (havørn)
female Hen Harrier (myrhauk)
I then spent around three hours on the platform at the tip
and have to say I was pretty happy with my time there. There were quite a few waders
including my first Grey Plover of the year I twice heard a call that matched the
recording of Pec Sand that I had on my phone but never saw the bird that gave
it although there were clearly many waders that were very hidden as a couple of
Lapwing only gave themselves away after I had been there a couple of hours when
a Kestrel caused them to call and then briefly fly up from behind a long line
of willow bushes. Many of the waders present match what was seen on Saturday to
it wouldn’t be a complete surprise if the Pec Sand was also present but well
hidden.
Bird, if not sighting, of the day was a 2nd
winter Mediterranean Gull which I picked up resting with Herring and LBb Gulls
before it quickly flew off. This was a species that up until a few years ago
was becoming almost expected but has since become rare again.
There were also a couple of Great White Egret, a migrating
juvenile Honey Buzzard (I have never seen so many as this year which must be
proof of a great breeding season) and then another sighting of a juvenile Pallid
Harrier. It was suddenly in the air with a Hooded Crow harassing it and then
landed for a few minutes and giving good scope views before then flying off
south-west over the water and then thermalling over the “mainland” before
disappearing. This bird had a different jizz and did not appear to be quite so long
and thin winged as the earlier bird making me sure I had seen two different
birds.
this is the second Pallid when it briefly rested before crossing the water to the SW
and this video has the first Pallid, the female Hen Harrier, both harriers flying together and then the second Pallid together with a Hooded Crow both in flight and on the ground
Here is my eBird checklist for the day, a day I reckon will
be hard to beat this autumn, or at least until I go to Værøy in three weeks 😊
this Black Woodpecker (svartspett) was in a the final bunch of trees at the end of the peninsula and on three occasion flew out heading south (and otherefore over the water) before each time returning. If 3km of water is too far then it is no surprise they have never been seen in GB
a latish Red-backed Shrike (tornskate)
and another
here we see one of them is carrying a ring
and a picture from Maridalen of a migrating juvenile Honey Buzzard (vepsevåk). I know the bird is completely unidentifiable in this picture but you can at least see it is in Maridalen
The Oslo Honey Buzzard nest that I have been following this
summer is now empty (as far as I can see) although if you have been following
the Sussex Honey Buzzard nest webcam on YouTube then you will know that the
young can potentially still visit the nest four weeks after taking their first
flight so my lack of sightings is definitely not absolute proof that they are
gone. I will of course have a loooong but hopefully interesting post on the
nest later in the autumn.
At the same time I no longer found any HB at the nest site I
was following (I also know of another successful nest in Oslo this year) I
noticed multiple juvenile HB over Maridalen with some birds definitely
migrating in a southerly direction (both south east and south west) and other
birds seemingly just enjoying thermalling, soaring and landing in the woods
where I would love to to know what they were doing. It therefore seems clear
that the species has had a good, and early, breeding season in southern Norway
in 2026.
All the time looking at the sky has resulted in quite a few
other raptors with seven species in Maridalen and a session at Årnestangen
yesterday giving ten and I have seen 12 in total this last week. Nothing too
exciting yet but juvenile HB in a direct flight have a very harrier like jizz
and many birds also have narrow pale rumps so I have been eft scratching my
head quite a few times.
Årnestangen yesterday was apart from the raptors a very
strange affair with the extensive mud/sand flats almost completely empty of
waders with just two Dunlin and two Greenshank. Svellet though has been far
more productive with large numbers of both waders and dabbling ducks. A
Broad-billed Sandpiper here was the undoubted highlight and a species I had
forgotten about completely when in my last post I moaned about the wader
species I had yet to see this year.
Great White Egrets have now turned en masse at Nordre Øyeren with 12 being the highest, and a record, count. I have had to content myself with just eight including a flock of six.
a migrating juvenil Honey Buzzard (vepsevåk) which is a grab from this video
the pale Common Buzzard (musvåk) in Maridalen. It has been around a few years now but for such a distinctive bird I see it quite infrequently.
my first Great Grey Shrike (varsler) of the autumn on the early date of 31 August. a lack of a wing bar shows it to be an adult and the all black bill probably a male
six Great White Egrets (egretthegre) and some Cranes (trane) at Svellet
and two at long range at Årnestangen
a video of a male Hen Harrier (myrhauk) at Årnestangen:
and a Marsh Harrier (sivhauk) eating a young gull at Svellet:
My new favourite Maridalen fields were jinxed by my last
post and have been almost empty since! Fog also covered the valley on Wednesday
and until early afternoon on Thursday but today we had sun from the get go and
I had sky high expectations. With a light southerly wind I was expecting Falsterbo
heavy but had to wait a looooong time for my first raptor. In the meantime a
number of small flocks of Pink-footed Geese headed north but I really thought
there should be raptors. We have not had a raptor migration day yet this spring
and by my reckoning there should be thermals full of Common Buzzards and
Sparrowhawks waiting to head north. Well, my reckoning doesn’t seem to count
for much.
There were NO Sparrowhawks, and none of the four Common
Buzzards that eventually passed in front of my field glasses looked to be
actively migrating. One of them, a very pale bird, looked to be the same as I
have seen in previous years. There was one raptor highlight though that then brought
a little rush. I picked up a young Golden Eagle heading very slowly west over
the north of the valley whilst I was stood at Nes. I drove up to the north and
did not find it but did pick up a Kestrel and a White-tailed Eagle heading
north so there was some quality if no quantity. Along with Goshawk I had five
species of raptor today and am already up to to nine for the year in Oslo.
The first Adders are also out showing themselves and my
first butterfly, a Small Tortoiseshell was on the wing today so spring is
springing!
a young Golden Eagle (kongeørn) at far too long range but you can see what it is
One of 4 Common Buzzards (musvåk) none of which was actively migrating. This very pale bird looks to be the same that has been in the valley in previous years
Goshawk (hønsehauk)
Goldcrests (fuglekonge) look to have really suffered due to the cold spell so it was nice to find this bird which was also singing
Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers (dvergspett) are making themselves known singing and drumming and I have seen a pair together. Here the male
and here the female who was reacting to the male in the next door tree
Pink-footed Geese (kortnebbgås) - one of a number of small flocks heading north today
I think we may be up for a very good autumn around Nordre
Øyeren. As I wrote yesterday there are lots of ducks and geese using Svellet –
the ducks (mostly Teal) are feeding there whilst the geese come into rest but
are feeding on nearby harvest fields. Yesterday I discovered one of the fields
that the geese (primarily Barnacles) are using and here there were also many raptors
and Cranes. I assume there is lots of spilt corn which the geese and Cranes
like but also rodents because the raptors (3 juvenile Marsh Harriers and at
least 9 Common Buzzards) seemed to have no problem finding food. The harriers
were quartering the field but the Buzzards were mostly just walking around and
pouncing on prey. At least one juvenile Peregrine and 2 Hobbies were also in
the area and it was particularly birdy. Amongst the geese was an interesting
Canada Goose that I first noticed flying in when it was noticeably darker and
slightly smaller than its compatriots but once on the field it was more difficult
to find and the raptors, and my search for something rare, took my attention
and I never formed an opinion on the goose. I was hoping to find a harrier
other than a Marsh but failed although I am sure that with regular coverage
something else will turn up. I also expect that Rough-legged Buzzards will soon
discover the field as they migrate through the area.
There are rather surprisingly still some unharvested fields
as well and one of these clearly also had a lot of rodents as another two Marsh
Harriers were constantly hunting over it. Both these birds were second calendar
birds – a male and a female.
If the stubble fields remain as stubble (i.e they don’t get
ploughed this autumn) then they could continue to attract both geese and
raptors until November or December depending on the weather. The passage of
proper wild geese has yet to start and if Pink-feet discover these fields then
there could be many thousands of geese still to come.
Numbers of waders using Svellet have fallen dramatically but
a Black-tailed Godwit was briefly present as was the Little Gull and terns so
there is still non-waterfowl potential. A Great White Egret was also present nearby but only visible very distantly.
2cy male Marsh Harrier (sivhauk) with a Hooded Crown (kråke). The dark secondary feathers are remaining juvenile feathers whilst the grey feathers are adult feathers
2 1cy/juvenile Marsh Harriers in the birdy field having a rest from their quartering
2cy female Marsh Harrier. Two generations of secondaries are clearly visible
the 2cy male quartering the unharvest field
many hundreds of Barnacle (hvitkinngjess) and some Greylags (grågjess) on their way from the field where they had been feeding to Svellet for a rest
this Common Buzzard (musvåk) was hovering over the unharvested field whereas those using the stubble field were mostly just walking around
the interesting Canada Goose. It has a dark breast and darker flanks compared to the normal feral Canadas and is also slightly smaller. It is possible that it is a wild bird but there are also feral birds of other subspecies and strange hybrids knocking around in Holland so it is impossible to know especially with only these grainy photos
