Two very enjoyable and successful days of guiding different
clients (Martin from Edinburgh and Andrew and Merril from New Jersey) have
given some very nice birds. There was a large grey owl in the mix on Sunday and
today was a morning of Oslo’s finest including Hobby, Rosefinch, Marsh &
Icterine Warbler, Wryneck, Hawfinch, and all three species of Flycatcher
😊.
As usual when guiding I took very few photos and just used
the superzoom so my digital output does not do justice to the two days.
something was watching us
is that a Robin?
no, it is Oslo's first reported Red-breasted Flycatcher since 2019. This species seemed to be on the cusp of establishing itself as a regular breeder and then just stopped appearing
The Bird Gods deemed I was indeed not wicked and a day of rest was
unexpectedly given to me today after an unavoidable guiding cancellation. This
came after guiding yesterday and further guiding the next two days.
Yesterday’s guiding was a successful morning session in
Maridalen for Gerald and Mary from Minnesota. We enjoyed birds both common and
scarce and I hope some good photos were taken.
A Wryneck (vendehals) from yesterday:
Graham and Marcus have started going through their photos
and videos and posting on SoMe. Their results are, as I predicted, much better
than mine and Graham made me blush with some very kind words.
Find Graham on Facebook (see account above) and Marcus on Twitter/:.
My most memorable and favourite video from my time in Norway 🇳🇴 insanely close views of this female Great Grey Owl, whilst getting some amazing footage of her I noticed she was starting to cough up a pellet! What a moment!!!!!!! I still have so much to share 🦉 pic.twitter.com/qkNbDcoLQo
The day of rest was spent in Maridalen and looking more
down than up. It was a very warm day and during the morning a few butterflies
were clearly emerging and I found the first reported Germanium Argus (brun
blåvinge) and Green-underside Blue (kløverblåvinge) in Norway this year. The
argus was also my first record of the species in Maridalen and as I saw two of
them (both females I think) I wonder if I have just overlooked them before or
perhaps not been looking early enough in the year.
A nice selection of finches at a feeder in Maridalen today:
Grizzled Skipper (bakkesmyger)
Geranium Argus (brun blåvinge)
Green-underside Blue (kløverblåvinge)
A Willow Warbler (løvsanger) with an abnormal song had me checking out the song of all manner of rare phylloscs until I eventually saw the bird:
The last week of January has been quite like the preceding
three, i.e uninspiring, with the exception of reacquainting myself with my Hazel
Grouse. We can now look forward to February with hopefully some cloudless,
freezing cold, nocturnal trips interrupted only by the sound of trees cracking
in the cold, owls of various sightings hooting and northern lights flickering
overhead. By the end of the month the very first spring migrants will also with
luck have arrived and then we can really look forward to the spring and all the
bounties it brings.
I have had a few walks in the forest but it is incredibly
quiet there with, other than the HG, hardly a bird to see or hear. There are
ZERO finches in the forest and even in more suburban areas with feeders there are
hardly any so a flock of 18 Hawfinches that I came across at Østensjøvannet one
day was quite a surprise.
A noisy Nutcracker (nøttekråke) was one of only a handfull of birds seen on my forest walks but it is always a good bird to see.
the Pygmy Owl (spurveugle) has become harder to see again and when it does give itself up it is usually high up as here with a Magpie (skjære)
Mallards (stokkand) at Østensjøvannet
where this female Teal (krikkand) is still hanging around
and where with some patience Water Rails (vannrike) can be seen
an unusually large flock of Hawfinch (kjernebiter)
Woodpeckers are not really making themselves known yet although I have heard a drumming Great Spotted and this female Black Woodpecker was making a lot of noise hacking away at a dead tree trunk
Winter has regained its grip on the land and nighttime
temperatures in Maridalen are falling to -13C and it remains negative in the
day despite blue skies and sunshine. Many of the resident birds are very active
singing and displaying but any hope of early migrants has been put on hold.
In the forest I spent some quality time with the male Hazel
Grouse that we viewed last Tuesday when guiding but now I have been able to
watch him in sunlight. He appears to be unpaired but has a good territory that
has held Hazel Grouse in at least the two decades I have visited the area.
Hawfinches have returned to breeding areas in Maridalen and
are banging out their squeaky “song” and I was able to see some quite well at a
feeding station.
male Hazel Grouse (jerpe)
it doesn't seem right to see such a large bird clambering around on such thin branches
female Hawfinch (kjernebiter)
and a more colourful male
the male with a Greenfinch (grønnfink) that seems tiny in comparison
Crested Tit (toppmeis)
female Greenfinch
and male
female Siskin (grønnsisik)
and male
male Brambling (bjørkefink) - unusually many have wintered in and around Oslo
Bullfinch (dompap) and Bramblings
female Blackbird (svarttrost) - I don't remember so many wintering in Maridalen before
Jays (nøtteskrike) are starting to "sing" and can sound like Goshawk, Buzzard and Tawny Owl
