Egrets

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

Pallid time

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 2^nd 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

and three Common Buzzard (musvåk) in a tree

Raptor time

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:

More good guiding

I am just off the back of another two very enjoyable and successful days guiding. Wednesday was Hedmark Owls and a short and sweet best of Maridalen with Rob and Helen from Blighty and today was an Oslo highlights trips with Andy from New York.

Many good birds, good experiences, deep discussions and laughs were had. The best birds were of course Great Grey and Ural Owl plus Black Woodpecker and Wryneck on Wednesday and then on Thursday, Oslo (and suburbs) could offer amongst (many) others Thrush Nightingale, Honey Buzzard, Goshawk, Black-throated Diver (or Arctic Loon if you are so inclined), Temminck’s Stint, Velvet Scoter, Marsh, Wood and Icterine Warblers, Common Rosefinch and of course Black Woodpecker and  Wryneck. The bird that got me most excited though is one that will never appear as a “tick”. It was clearly a Branta goose and at first glance I was thinking Cackling Goose but after a bit more study it was clearly a hybrid between Barnacle Goose and either Canada or Cackling. I think Canada is the most likely other parent as it was not as small as I would expect a Cackling hybrid to be (I have previously seen one of these in Oslo in 2018) and lacked a throat collar. There is a population of feral Branta hybrids in Holland and these birds are very likely to come from there.

My own pictures are getting worse and worse but give an idea of what we witnessed. The video is from today with snippets of Thrush Nightingale, Temminck's, Rosefinch and the hybrid goose.

the lady

a high Honey Buzzard (vepsevåk) over Maridalen. Probably a female

presumed hybrid Barnacle x Canada Goose (hvitkinn x kanadagås) with Canada Goose in Sørkedalen.

The Ugly Owlet. Ural Owl (slagugle). Not long until this youngster makes the big jump

Honey Buzzard nest 2025

I have this year spent little time with the Oslo Honey Buzzard nest that we first discovered in 2023 so this post will be shorter than in 2023 or 2024 but still interesting I hope and every year is different. I have had a couple of updates already but will with this post try to summarize the whole season.

Stig Johan was the first to visit the nest and on 9^th June saw fresh spruce branches had been placed on the nest but no birds were seen. I visited on 11^th and spent 2 hours in the area without seeing any birds.

the empty nest on 11th June but with fresh spruce branches placed on it

On the 14^th Stig saw the female was on the nest and it looks like the nest is at least 10 days ahead of last year.

I visited on 15^th and also saw the female on the nest but did not hang around.

the female incubating on 15th June

We then had no more visits until 20^th July when Stig saw the female standing in the nest suggesting the young had hatched. On 28^th I saw the white fluffy head of one small young and suspected the female was brooding another.

the female was sitting high up in the nest on 28th June and I glimpsed the white head of a small youngster

1^st August the male was on the nest with two young visible. I had a long session at the nest with nothing interesting happening apart from a fox, runner and mushroom picker that all passed between me and the nest until after a wait of 5 hours the female turned up but did not visit the nest after having clearly seen me (I left shortly afterwards to avoid my presence affecting their behaviour).

male with both young visible 1st August

Next visit was on 14^th August and by now the young were alone on the nest. No adults visited in the 2 hours I was at nest. Looking over the nest area later two visiting Honey Buzzards (both quite dark birds) circled high over the nest and disappeared from sight before the nesting male appeared out of forest and also thermalled out of sight.

the 2 young on 14th August. The difference in age/development is clear

the two (a pair?) visiting birds that thermalled over the nest

A visit on 16^th revealed one food delivery from male.

the older youngster wing stretching on 16th August

and the younger bird

the older bird on the nest

On 18^th the male came with food 3 times with around half an hour between each visit so had obviously found a wasps nest fairly close by. I noted that there was a clear difference in the development of the two young with the oldest having pretty much fully developed flight feathers whereas the youngest still had sheathed feathers.

the oldest young on 18th August

the development difference between the 2 is clear with the younger bird still having white downy feathers on its head

the older bird wing flapping. The flight feathers are almost fully grown

a new watch point where I was able to position the (remote controlled) camera closer to the nest whilst I used an upended tree trunk as a hide

On 20^th I witnessed the male come with food twice with exactly an hour between visits. The male called for the first time after leaving the nest and presumably having seen me (he never calls before delivering the food). Viewing the nest area from a distance I saw a dark bird (presumably one of the two birds seen on the 14^th) sky dancing over the nest area without being intercepted by the breeding male (I assume the female has, as in previous year, already left).

the youngest bird has nearly lost its downy feathers and resembles how the older bird looked 4 days previously on 16th August

dad coming in with food

on the nest for the second food delivery

Honey Buzzards do not have the same strong talons of other birds of prey as they do not use them to catch prey in the same way

viewing from the other side of the nest. Here the youngest bird is visible and some wasp comb can be seen on the edge of the nest

the older young

a dark visiting bird that sky danced over the nest area, presumably one of the two birds seen on 1st August and meaning they must have been resident in the area

a piece of wasp comb under the nest

there was not much wasp comb on the ground meaning the nest is probably full of the stuff as well as droppings so must be quite unpleasant

On 25^th the oldest was doing some serious wing flapping and was jumping onto branches by nest. The male visited once with food and again called after it left the nest (had clearly seen me).

In this video both young can be seen wing flapping and the difference between their development is easy to see with the younger birds flight feathers still not fully grown.

the younger bird with just a faint trace of down left on its head

those chicken legs

the older bird. Both young are quite pale although they can be paler. In 2024 one of the young had a similar plumage although the other was a bit darker and in 2023 both were similar to this years birds

the older bird I think

My last visit was on 28^th. I was surprised that both young were on the nest when I arrived. The male came with food and upon leaving (and having seen me) called from around the nest area both in flight and also while perched for 10 minutes before he drifted off. The largest youngster then flew very strongly off nest and away through forest. I think that the calling when the young have reached fledging age is to warn them that they may have to flee the nest to avoid danger. There is not point in calling like this when they cannot fly as it will only draw a predator attention to the nest without the young being able to escape.

the older bird I think

the older bird shortly before he flew off

the younger bird remaining on the nest

what must be dad seen flying past the nest area later on

I did not visit again but based on flight feather development I reckon the youngest bird would have needed another 3 days or so before it could also fly off the nest.

The first sighting of a fledged juvenile on 28^th August compares with 10^th September in 2024 (a very late year), 7th September in 2023 and for the different pair on a close by nest in 2021 of 31^st August. I would say that this year’s fledging date is a typical date for a Norwegian nest whereas the last two years have been particularly late.