Whilst I was away at the weekend the ice melted on
Maridalsvannet. This is early but despite it having been so dry the water
levels are currently high so the lake doesn’t yet look that appealing. That
being said though there have already been some good birds and maybe when the
ice doesn’t melt until the end of the month as is often the case that means
that a lot of birds are missed out on as they cannot splash down even if they
wanted. Both species of diver are already back and their display calls ring
around the valley. More impressively though has been the three , yes 3, species
of grebes that have graced the lake. Following last years first ever record of
Little Grebe in the Dale a bird in exactly the same place it was probably the same
bird. Great Crested Grebe is more expected but a Slavonian Grebe hanging out
with Teal is record early as this species normally passes through, and not
annually, at the end of the month.
Raptors are still very thin on the ground but the first Osprey
of the year turned up on Tuesday and a Peregrine was hunting in the valley
today. Today also finally saw the first day with really good numbers of
passerines on the (very dry) fields: Bramblings, Redwings and Meadow Pipits
were the most numerous.
A real treat today was being able to listen to the calls of
migrating Curlews and a flock of 6 really wanted to land but in the end gave up
and flew north.
an ice free Maridalsvannet looking towards the south
my first Osprey (fiskeørn) of the year - a particularly well marked female
migrating Curlews (storspove)
Little Grebe (dvergdykker)
Slavonian Grebe (horndykker)
and the best picture of all, a Great Crested Grebe (toppdykker)...
there have been up to 10 Lapwing (vipe) on their favoured two fields and there are already two nests. Nest 1
Nest 2
Green Sandpiper (skogsnipe)
a Kestrel (tårnfalk) today and a Brambling (bjørkefink)
a young Peregrine (vandrefalk) that I saw three times today
Yesterday I thought I would see if Sørkedalen had anything more to offer and caught up with the plastic hybrid goose that has been around for a couple of weeks and a real piece of plastic had me for quite a few seconds thinking I had seen my first Ring Ouzel of the year…
what looks to be a hybrid Emporer x Barnacle Goose together with Pink-feet
The first quarter of the year is now complete and an ice
free Østensjøvannet is sure sign that spring is here as was the sound of
singing Chiffchaff today. The ice has gone very quickly at Østensjøvannet – on Wednesday
when I saw the Smew there was just a small ice free area where all the birds
were concentrated but by Saturday all the ice was gone. The period when there is
just a small ice free area is a good time to be at Østensjøvannet because it is
possible to get good views of many species so it is a shame that it was so
short this year. The Saturday visit was to see a Pochard that had been found
and another visit today revealed both the Pochard and Smew to still be present.
There must be a lot of small fish as there are good numbers of Goosander but
there are few dabbling ducks and unfortunately the Black-headed Gulls look like
they have already decided they are not nesting here for yet another year. The
lake has previously had up to 2000 breeding pairs and lots of work has been
done to ensure there are suitable nesting sites but something else, which I
believe is a lack of food, has put the gulls off the lake.
In Maridalen the first Meadow Pipits have arrived and Twite
remain in very good numbers but there is little else and definitely no raptor
passage which I hope to see each day with sun….
female Pochard (taffeland) at Østensjøvannet
and a male Tufted Duck (toppand)
I scanned all the gulls for something rare but reading colour rings was the most exciting thing in the end. Here three different types of colour ring on Black-headed Gulls. The white and green are Norwegian and the red is from the UK (I have yet to receive details on it)
J88E was the oldest bird and was ringed as an adult female at Østensjøvannet 31st May 2015. It has been seen many time since but only in the Oslo area and it wintering grounds are unknown
J0280 is the bird that has travelled most. Ringed in Oslo 9 June 2022 it has been seen in Milton Keynes, England in January of both 2023 and 2025
Whooper Swans (sangsvane) are still moving through and this group was in Maridalen yesterday
Adders can be found sunning themselves in the same places each (sunny) day and it is still only males that are out
Black Woodpeckers (svartspett) are excavating a new hole after using the same one for the last 3 years
This year hasn’t been that good for butterflies yet with
lots of rain and when there is sun it is often windy. I have consequently not
spent much time searching for them but as with all things with wings sometimes
they come to you. Yesterday whilst driving in Maridalen I saw a large black and
white butterfly flutter in front of the car. For the first time (that I can
remember at least) I emergency stopped for an insect although it soon transpired
I had all the time in the world. The butterfly, which was a Poplar Admiral
(ospesommerfugl) was attracted to the road and was clearly finding something
good, probably salt, on the tarmac. It managed to avoid death at the hands of
passing cars, although all slowed down as they were clearly interested to see
what I was up to, and it kept landing and showing itself off from all angles.
Whilst this was happening a Swallowtail flew over although unfortunately did
not stop. So arguably the two most spectacular Norwegian butterflies at the
same time and in the Dale 😊
Poplar Admiral (ospesommerfugl). Only the fourth time I've seen one and by far and away the most cooperative. They are famous for being attracted to dog sh*t but seems tarmac roads are just as attractive
I paid a visit to Østensjøvannet yesterday hoping that the rainy
weather might have produced something (a Black Tern turned up at Årnestangen at
the weekend) but as with all my rain fuelled visits this spring there was not
even a Swallow to see. Something is clearly up with the lake with there being
no insects hatching and therefore no Swallows, terns or most importantly gulls
to feed off them. I reckon that this is the reason that Black-headed Gulls, which
used to breed here in a colony of many hundreds of pairs, have now more or less
completely abandoned the lake for breeding. It did look like there were two nesting
pairs though which was a surprise although whether they can raise young is
another thing.
Even if there were no insect eaters, a couple of male
Gadwall in eclipse plumage were most unexpected.
male Gadwalls (snadderand) in eclispe
Coot (sothøne) parent and young
when at Østensjøvannet it is rude not to take a picture of a Great Crested Grebe (toppdykker)
Maridalsvannet has been having lots of hatching insects over
the last few weeks with many Common and a few Black-headed Gulls hawking them.
There have also been Common Tern which today peaked at 6 birds which I am sure
is a record here. There have also been lots of Swifts, Swallows and House Martins
and the odd sighting of Sand Martin. Today there three birds including a pair
mating on wires right above my head. I never saw them visiting potential nest
holes although they have previously bred in holes between stones on a nearby bridge.
I did foolishly have another nocturnal outing last night but
with nothing to show for it I think this must be my last of the year, in
Maridalen at least.
mating Sand Martins (sandsvale)
Swallows (låvesvale) collecting nesting material. The bird on the left is ringed. It is quite late to be nest building
I haven't been able to make much out of the ring not even which country
Marsh Warblers (myrsanger) have become quiet as they pair off
there are now two Pink-footed Geese (kortnebbgås) at Maridalsvannet. At least one of them is paired to a Greylag and maybe both
These two Mallard (stokkand) chicks are very different
