Male Pallid

Very high up on my list of birds to find is an adult male Pallid Harrier. I have seen adult males both in Norway and abroad and have twice found 2cy Pallids in Norway but the self-found adult male, ideally in Maridalen, remains up there.

Yesterday, Jack and I went out to Nordre Øyeren hoping for some good birding and raptors and harriers were definitely on the wish list. It was a bit foggy but definitely birdy with lots of finches, especially Bramblings and hundreds of Greylags and Mallards at our first stop along with a few Pintail.

From the tower at Monsrudvika we were initially a bit disappointed with no egrets, no raptors and few duck to see. After not too long though I picked up a BOP perched in a dead bush at quite a long range. My initial call was male Hen Harrier but the more we looked at (it was preening facing us) the more we wondered how large it was and started thinking it may be an exceptionally pale (its underside looked white) Sparrowhawk. Thankfully it flew though and then its identity as a male harrier was clear and the long, narrow wings with a wedge of black left no doubt it was a male Pallid! In the scope the views were good enough, although the ability to count the number of primaries making up the “hand” is impossible on these, and most field, views and requires good photos. My photos are not good at all but I will suggest can be filed in the record shot category and as such I can skip having to write a description for the locals records committee.

My views (and photos) of self-found Pallid Harriers are following the same trend as for Red Kite and the next one will be so distant as to be unidentifiable which will hopefully mean that the cycle will start afresh and I will have views to die for.

 

Were I to find one, a male Pallid Harrier won’t be a new species for Maridalen as one was photographed there this spring although believed to be a Hen at the time. These sort of records keep my motivation up as does the pluckings of a ringer from his garden in the forest just outside of Oslo. Today he plucked Red-flanked Bluetail and Yellow-browed Warbler from his nets and on Friday a Firecrest so there must be lots of good birds just waiting to be found out there.

On Friday I paid a trip to the islands and a notable increase in numbers of Goldcrests and Chiffchaffs had me hoping for their rare cousins but I had to consent myself with a couple of Shags.

male Pallid Harrier (steppehauk)

here the black wedge can be clearly seen.....

Shag (toppskarv) and Cormorant (storskarv) gracing Fru. Galteskjær with their presence

Scrapping for crumbs

The title of this post was supposed to be a metaphor for searching for autumn waders in Oslo but thinking about it scrapping for crumbs would actually be more exciting.

Yesterday, Jack and I took the ferry and visited the islands. The wind was from the NNE, it was raining and the tide so low that the bay at Gressholmen was just exposed mud. Hordes of waders were as good as guaranteed….

Well of course that was not the case. Two voyeuristic passes of Fru. Galteskjær gave a single Common Sand on the second pass. Fru. Gressholmen’s muddy delights had NO waders but Lindøya gave us a Ringed Plover, 4 Oystercatchers and a Common Sand. There was a highlight but we only realised once I was back home in front of the PC.

When approaching Bleikøya we had seen a wader at very long range and I pointed the camera and shot and prayed. As we got closer we found first one and then two Common Sands in the same area so assumed this was what we had originally seen. Zooming in on the very grainy photos on the PC though shows we had originally «seen» a Turnstone - my third and Jack’s first in Oslo.

 

Maridalen has in fact been possibly even better for waders the last few days. On Friday a Golden Plover flew over, and today there was a Dunlin, 5 Snipe and a Common Sand. The Dunlin is only my second ever here and had found a very thin bit of mud to spankulerer on.

There are close to 600 Greylags in the valley and one carries a neck collar showing it to have been ringed in Mid Norway and to spend the winters in Holland.

With it being so wet there have been few raptors showing themselves although today I had my first Merlin of the autumn.

Greylag Goose G V8 (what font is that?)

and here her history

when I first looked at my photos I wan't sure whether this was even a bird

but these must count as record shots of a Turnstone (steinvender)

there is not much else to find amongst the Greylag Geese in Maridalen except for these 2 hybrids with Canada

and this Pink-footed Goose. A Taiga Bean or (scraping the barrel) a Bar-headed Goose would help me on my #Oslo2024 quest

some mud and a wader in Maridalen!

a 1cy Dunlin

Wader desperation

This week I have twice boarded the ferry to visit my two ladies of the Isles and both times it is Fru. Galteskjær that has delivered but the wares she puts on show are very meager. On Tuesday it was a single Oystercatcher... and on Wednesday a Redshank, 2 Ringed Plover and a Common Sandpiper.

In desperation today I abandoned Oslo and went to Årnestangen in the rain. There was more to see but it was hardly a succesful visit and there was such a turn around of birds that virtually every wader I saw either came or went in the time I was there. Checklist is here.

 

the view at Årnestangen this morning. Some nice areas with shallow water and mud/sand but disappointingly few birds

a Redshank on Fru. Galteskjær was my Oslo wader highlight this week

showing the luck involved in wader watching in Oslo the Redshank flew off soon after I found it and was joined by two Ringed Plovers (sandlo) that I had not previously seen

a pair of Common Terns (makrellterne) seem to be the only terns left in the Inner Oslofjord and this summer has I think been dire for breeding

this young bird at Maridalsvannet may well have hatched further inland at one of the few inland breeding sites

Curlew Sand in Oslo!

Intermittent rain showers yesterday evening and in the night, low cloud this morning and low tide at 0930 meant there was only one thing to do this morning - work on my hopeless, one-sided infatuation with the islands and my quest for Oslo waders.

I fell back into old habits and showed Fru. Gressholmen my affection first. But when will I let it sink in that she doesn’t have any feelings for me. There was a really good amount of mud showing and I actually let out a cry of yes when I saw it but what was on the mud? 4 Black-headed Gulls😂. I did see single Greenshank, Common Sandpiper and Oystercatcher whilst on the island but all were on the rocky shores which you find everywhere in the fjord whereas Gressholmen is supposed to be wader site #1 because of the muddy tidal bay…

Well would Fru. Galteskjær forgive my infidelity and show off her delights for some brief voyeurism? As the ferry sped past on the way to Nakkholmen I saw two small waders but both turned out to be Common Sandpipers. Had I burnt my bridges with her just when I seemed to be getting somewhere? The ferry continues to Lindøya and then gives another even briefer chance of voyeurism as it heads to Hovedøya. I scanned and scanned and a wader dropped in from the north, landed for a second and then flew west. Up with camera and shoot and pray. And what do you know my first ever Oslo Curlew Sandpiper and #oslo2024 species 194. A camera is vital for «birding» Galteskjær as the binocular views are so brief that it is necessary to review pictures to be sure of what you see (e.g Little Stint would have been impossible to ID without relatively decent pics). This appears to be only the 9th ever Curlew Sand reported in Oslo so is a true Oslo rarity.

I have previously said Fru. Galteskjær has given me two new species for Oslo (Little Stint and Turnstone) but I was forgetting she also gave me my first Shag and Great Skua in Oslo and Gressholmen my first Red-necked Grebe). Anyways, the Curlew Sand is the fifth that Galty has shown me (3 to Gressy) and my #Osloever species #252.

This is my 11th visit to the islands in the last month so I have put in the effort but today’s sighting shows just how important luck is.

Curlew Sandpiper (tundrasnipe). the pictures won't be winning any prizes but the wing bar and distinctive white rump are visible and rule out any other species. The bill also looks suitably long and perhaps downcurved

 

these picture are even worse but show the colours better and suit a juv Curlew Sandpiper

the view of exposed mud at Gressholmen that prompted me to exclaim "yes". To be followed a few minutes later by a depression when I could not find a single wader

the two Common Sandpipers on Galteskjær

Islands - what are they good for?

Islands are a mystery to me. You think you have a good thing going on and you try to treat them well but they just blank you.

There had been a bit of rain last night and a lot is forecast tonight and low tide was at 2pm so I thought why not. I gave Fru Galteskjær the focus of my attention and did not get off the ferry when it stopped at my ex, Fru Gressholmen - true devotion! Instead I stayed on the top deck and studied Galty as we sailed past. What fancies was she revealing today? Two Common Sandpipers…..

I tried to keep faithful though and disembarked at Lindøya which gave me Rb Shrike, Whinchat, Wheatear and Yellow Wag but not Bluethroat which I thought might be around now.

Now I had the option to go home or to sail past Fru. Galt one more time and also get off at Fru. Gressholmen to see if she had a sudden change on feelings. Well Fru. Gress only held 2 Greenshank and Fru. Galt only a single Common Sand this time so I am being rejected by both of them!

 

Islands - you can’t live with them, you can’t live without them!

Fru Galteskjær - I realised this little giver of joy probably hasn't been pictured before - I'm sure you can see why I like her!

 

no picture of waders but Whinchats (buskskett) are also nice

a couple of singing Stock Doves (skogdue) were a surprise as they are early breeders

Wall Brown (sørringvinge) may well be the last addition to my butterfly list this year unless there is an arrival of Painted Ladies

Relationship update

It’s official and my Facebook status is updated accordingly:

 

Simon is no longer in a relationship with Fru. Gressholmen

--

Simon has started a relationship with Fru. Galteskjær

 I had been playing things cool and islands and ferries were kept at the back of my mind but rain and low tide at midday today meant my desires could not be ignored. Of course as I arrived at the ferry I forgot about all rejection and heartbreak and my naive optimism was going at full throttle. 

Surely Fru. Gressholmen would finally admit, and most importantly show, her love for me. As I arrived at the bay sheltering from the rain under my umbrella I could see a medium sized wader with my naked eye and convinced myself that it was a Spotted Redshank and that the fire of our love had been reignited. Upon getting my scope out though my hopes were dashed and the fire hose of rejection splashed all over me - it was a juvenile Common Redshank. A juv Greenshank was the only other wader in the bay (interesting that juveniles are now migrating) but I had to accept it - me and Fru. G will never reconcile, she has clearly moved on.

 But there is the other, more risky Fru. G – Fru. Galteskjær. She doesn’t require anything more than that you look admiringly from afar and that I did. And boy, did she reward me with a Little Stint🥳❤️. Only my second Oslo record (the first of course also being from Galteskjær) and #oslo2024 species #191 thus equalling my 2019 record. She is a keeper but she also knows her attractions and will always be a tease I fear. As we sped past and my attention was absorbed by the stint I barely registered a couple of other waders and attempts to take photos have not resulted in being able to ID them. How can I best woo her? Get off at Lindøya or Nakkholmen and view from afar with a scope? Take the ferry multiple times?? Or should I put my heart completely out there and drop visiting Fru. Gressholmen at all and make Fru. Galteskjær the full focus of my ferry ride???

To celebrate my new relationship I have given Galteskjær her own tag on the blog whereas before she has always been covered under Gressholmen.

 More rain is forecast later in the week so we will see what strategy I choose and how I fare.

arriving at the Ferry and feeling so optimistic

there was even good amounts of exposed mud but Fru. Gressholmen is not to be reconciled

Little Stint (dvergsnipe) on Galteskjær. An early juvenile

and what was this wader?

spot the Greenshank (gluttsnipe)?

there were very few Common Terns (makrellterne) left and I fear they have had a disastrous breeding season. This one had an unusual all red bill

I am now equal to 2019 (ignoring the redpoll lump) and 200 looks a possibilty