After my first sighting of Pine Grosbeak on Wednesday, I found none yesterday but today had ten in total including my first adult males and my first in Maridalen. It is not quite invasion tendencies yet but I reckon we will have a good, if gradual, arrival. The birds I saw today were in spruce but they will turn up in an urban car park soon.
Maridalsvannet was completely calm today and revealed a total of 12 Common Scoters and the juv Black-throated Diver which is still present and may well not leave until the lake freezes which the way things are going may not be until well into 2027.
It is so mild that dragons are still flying and I also had a butterfly today which flew too quickly but was probably a Comma (hvit C).
a very late Black-throated Diver (storlom) in Maridalsvannet
Common Scoter (svartand) and a Wigeon also on Maridalsvannet today
Crested Tit (toppmeis) are quite easy to find at the moment
2 Pine Grosbeaks (konglebit)
and another two which were part of a flock of eight that were all in this tree top and included two adult males but it was only when they flew that I realsied how many there were
the Grozzas were at Grefsenkollen which has a great view over the city and fjord
these two ferries (one coming from Denmark and the other Germany I believe) offer mini cruises and always seem to race each other into Oslo in the morning
one of two Marsh Tits (løvmeis) at the feeders in Maridalen today
I've had some feedback that I didn't sound particularly happy with my sea gazing yesterday which did after all included a Grey Phalarope which is a VERY good bird - so good that it is only my 4th in Norway (3 of them have now been from same place - Krokstrand) and the first in Oslo & Akershus for 6 years. I guess I have overly optimistic expectations based on just one or two epic seawatches close to ten years ago and am forgetting how dire sea gazing usually is close to Oslo so should be happy with what others would describe as a fantastic day. One thing I really missed was the complete lack of skuas. I know that the global population of Great Skuas has been hugely affected by avian flu but there is also clearly something up with Pomarine Skua which used to be an expected feature of late autumn storms but nowadays I hardly see an autumn record of 1cy birds AT ALL in the whole of Norway. I have heard that one reason that Steller's Eiders are suffering is that Pomarine Skuas are predating them on the breeding grounds due to a repeated lack of Lemmings on their Siberian breeding grounds. What I don't know though (and maybe know one knows due to the dire situation in Russia) is when the last time Pomarine Skuas had a successful breeding season.
Anyways yesterday was a GOOD day and so was today because I got myself a Grozza. It was a sunny day with little wind and I was determined to find one so with the Beast in tow went walking in the forests of Lillomarka. And I did not have to wait long - just 10 minutes after leaving the car I heard one of the most magical sounds known to man and then saw the little beast of a bird. It was in an area of mixed spruce/pine forest with no rowan berries and although they eat the buds of coniferous trees I think the seeds of rowan berries are preferred so I reckon birds are just passing through the forests and will eventually settle in the city. I later heard another overflying bird(s) so they are clearly on the move as hoped/predicted. Otherwise it was eerily quiet in the forest but I did hear and then see a Hazel Grouse and heard a distant hooting Pygmy Owl so there is still some life in the forest.
The video has the magical sound of the Pine Grosbeak (konglebit) and the Hazel Grouse (jerpe):
Pine Grosbeak (konglebit). The reddy colouration suggests it is a 1cy male but it is not straightforward aging/sexing them
This week has been foggy! Every day the weather forecast has
said the sun will be shining in Maridalen and every day, until Friday, it has just
been thick fog. Friday though more or less made up for the whole week.
On Wednesday I visited Fornebu to try to be under the fog
which I was, just. I also had a target bird. I have been avidly reading about
the Dutch Spectacled Eider and thinking whether I should take a trip to
Amsterdam and thought I could try to recreate some of that rare eider twitching
feeling by seeing if I could see the returning/resident male King Eider (first
seen as a 2cy in August 2018) in the Oslofjord. Normally only seen with some
luck and from a boat it has this week been seen with a 100 strong flock of
Eider at telescope distance from Fornebu. When the distance is over 2km though
we are talking about bad views but I enjoyed the challenge of finding
it. It was joining in with the male Common Eiders in display and if it
continues to show an interest in female Common Eiders then there is a chance it
will be seen close to shore in the spring as it was in April 2022. There were
also at least 290 Velvet Scoter which is an enormous flock for these parts and
a sure sign there is a good supply of food. Goldeneyes are also around in good
numbers so the story that you often hear that the Inner Oslofjord is dying is
not quite that simple even if some species such has Cod have more or less
disappeared.
At Huk I also saw the flock of Purple Sandpipers numbering
at least 16 and here the rocks were covered with baby mussels so yet another
sign of a healthy fjord.
The Hawk Owl survives in Maridalen although the fog has made
finding it hard and I wonder whether a single Pine Grosbeak eating the last
rowan berries at Grefsenkollen and then three migrating NW over Hawkie will be
my last Oslo bird for a few years.
On Friday a Pygmy Owl also showed in Maridalen and a Tawny
Owl that evening made it a three owl day in the Dale! Whilst the Hawk Owl is
still clearly searching for rodents, and I believe really struggling in the
snow, the Pygmy Owl clearly had his eyes on tits at a feeding station and this
gives the species an advantage over other species that are rodent specialists.
A real surprise in Maridalen was a Merlin on Friday. My attention
was drawn to it by the Hawk Owl that had become alert and was staring at on a
tree top quite a distance away. I dismissed it as a Sparrowhawk but something
stirred in my grey matter and I looked at it again more closely and realised it
was probably a Merlin and when it then flew that ID was confirmed. This is Oslo’s
first January record (and there are none from December either).
The sunny and relatively warm weather (just over zero) on
Friday also caused a number of species to start singing and woodpeckers to drum.
I have had nightly trips into Maridalen with Jr where she
drives meaning I can use the thermal imager. With it being cold and the ground
and trees covered in snow the imager works exceptionally well at the moment.
Mammals have been very scarce though with just one Moose and three Roe Deer
seen but roosting birds have been unusually easy to find with two roosting Treecreepers
and also a few roosting Magpies found. I will have a separate post on the
Treeceepers as they are quite fascinating.
I will start with that undoubtedly is one of my very worst videos although it is at least not shaky
King Eider (praktærfugl), Common Eider (ærfugl) and Velvet Scoter (sjøorre) at more than 2km range. The two birders in the boat took a much better picture
Pygmy Owl (spurveugle) in the Dale
after so much time watching the Hawk Owl I had forgotten how small Pygmy Owl is
Hawk Owl at sunrise (picture taken at 09:06)
at one stage it got ready to pounce but in the end nothing happened. I assume it had heard a vole under the snow
not an easy hunting ground and I saw no rodent tracks on the snow
a couple of Yellowhammers (gulspurv) observed the owl from a respectful distance
the Merlin (dvergfalk) which I found due to the Hawk Owl
I had hoped to be able to get pictures of owls in front of the moon but it is now too late as it disappeared below the horixon at dawn
a 2y male Pintail (stjertand) that is overwintering in Oslo
and an overwintering Teal (krikkand)
a very strange Mallard (stokkand) presumably with a good dose of domestic duck in it. With that yellow bill I am also unsure if it is male or female
Purple Sandpiper (fjæreplytt) and cockles?
and here lots of baby mussels
a Robin (rødstrupe) in an unexpected place
Three-toed Woodpecker (tretåspett)
This Water Rail (vannrikse) at Fornebu would disappear in holes under the snow
one of those Herring Gulls (gråmåke) that remind you why you don't like gulls
not many rowan berries left for this Pine Grosbeak (konglebit) to extract the seeds from
this is probably my last picture of a Grozza in Oslo for 3-4 years (until the next invasion). You will be missed
The New Year was spent in a damp England where I didn’t even
have bins let alone a camera although my ears did pick up a Firecrest as the best
bird.
We returned on Saturday night to a very cold Norway (-17C)
and from today we are forecast to have a up to 50cm of snow so it is a big
contrast and it will not even be easy to get out whilst it is snowing.
I had a short window yesterday morning to check out Maridalen
and was happy to reacquaint myself with both Hawkie and Piney but otherwise I
have nothing much to report. I took no pictures or video but have some from
after Christmas that I never posted so will let them adorn this post, the first
from what will hopefully be another exciting birding year although I will not
be focusing on lists in 2025.
do you see Hawkie on the telegraph pole?
the Yellow/Orange legged and billed Herring Gulls continue to stand out in Oslo
here the difference is very obvious with a normal bird on the left
