Seawatching from the cabin

At the end of June every year we are lucky enough to borrow a cabin along the coast south of Oslo. My blog posts from these stays are normally about butterflies and Red-backed Shrikes although I do visit the same area both spring and autumn to sea gaze.

We are staying at the cabin now for a long weekend and given the time of the year and some southerly winds forecast I had some high hopes for sea gazing. Second half of May is when there is a chance for Pomarine or Long-tailed Skuas, White-billed Diver, Brent Geese, sea duck and maybe a scarce tern.

Thursday evening when we arrived I could see some Common Scoter on the sea and I felt this was promising. I was up early the next morning and 3 hours gave me not a single Common Scoter.... I did have 10 Velvets going south but the only tern was a single Common. The only real evidence of migration was provided by Red-throated Divers with 17 birds noted. I did have one bird though that made the 3 hours worthwhile and that was a summer plumage White-billed Diver!

I gaze from the patio of the cabin (see picture) which gives an OK view with the scope but the angle is limited and I will miss birds flying close. The diver was indeed flying close and only just popped into view and if I had been at my usual watchpoint would have shown very well. As it was I enjoyed it for one second in the scope, ran to get my camera fom the table, struggled to get the camera to focus on the white sea and managed 5 grainy and blurry pictures of the bird flying away from me. Not exactly the best way to enjoy a bird of such quality...

Saturday morning gave me not a single migrating bird in 2 hours...

Sunday I slept in but occasional scans of the sea during the day revealed no sign of movement.

Monday morning however was much better. I was watching from 05:45 and initially the wind was a bit northerly but then it swung south although frequent rain made things a bit difficult. The absolute highlight was a pale phase Pomarine Skua with a Gannet, a large mixed flock of waders, Long-tailed Duck, Honey Buzzard and Hobby also good. Quite a few Common and Velvet Scoters and Red-throated Divers were the most numerous birds. I was clearly not fully on the ball though as far more was seen both south and then later north of me.

I had not expected much on the butterfly front as it was so early in the year but yet again my expectations were not met. It was actually very good even though quantity wise there was little. I saw fresh examples of both Grizzled and Dingy Skipper which are species I have only previously seen here but at end of June when they are tatty. The real butterfly highlight though was an embarrasing affair which I would have been scathing of were it a bird and another observer... but it also confirmed the importance of always documenting your records which I try to do. I saw a blue butterfly which I took a picture of but as I assumed only one species flew so early in the spring I did not look at any details. I posted the picture along with some others on Facebook and labelled it as Holly Blue (vårblåvinge). Luckily someone called me out and my first ever Green-underside Blue (kløverblåvinge) was a fact. This is a red listed species and wasn’t on my radar and I see now that an even rarer species Chequred Blue (klippeblåvinge) also flies early so I should be careful with the assumptions I make if I hope to add to my butterfly list!

There were plenty of other birds to entertain and with most of them singing it was a pleasure for the senses. Wood Warbler (including one with very short trills veryreminiscent of Western Bonelli’s Warbler), Garden Warbler, Icterine Warbler, Pied Fly, Redstart, Lesser Whitethroat and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker were just some of the birds.

the view from the terrace

and a much improved view from the neighbouring cabin

White-billed Diver (gulnebblom) - this counts as a record shot doesn't it? The bottom left picture even shows the bill....

Pomarine Skua (polarjo) - this definitely counts as the "spoons" are visible :-)

male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (dvergspett)

Wood Warbler (bøksanger)

mixed flock of Common and Velvet Scoters (svartand og sjøorre)

mixed wader flock - at least 3 species including Redshank (heard) and Dunlin (ID from photo)

Brimstone (sitronsommerfugl)

Orange tip (aurorasommerfugl)

Small Copper (ildgulvinge)

Grizzled Skipper (bakkesmyger)

Green Hairstreak (grønnstjertvinge)

Dingy Skipper (tiriltungesmyger)

Green-underside Blue (kløverblåvinge)

2cy Goshawk (hønsehauk)

Hobby (lerkefalk) with prey

Seawatching snaps

Here are some pictures from yesterday. The bad light and rain are very evident.....

Grey Phalarope (polarsvømmesnipe) - at least I got a picture of sorts

possibly a bit better?

Black-headed Gull (hettemåke) and Little Gull (dvergmåke) - the smaller size, white upperwing and black underwing of the Litte Gull are obvious here

a 1cy Pomarine Skua (polarjo) - this bird shot past with another individual and stopped to chase a Herring Gull

8 Poms from a group of 10

goup of 7 Poms - this group had hung around for over an hour before shooting off north

Velvet Scoter (sjøorre)

Dotterels

A long, long day. Out at 0430 and back just before 2230. A really good day though!

Started with 5 hours of seawatching at Brentetangen where at most we were six people. The winds had died down since yesterday and there was little moving although we all hoped that the Cory’s Shearwater seen further up the fjord yesterday evening might still be around (which it wasn’t). Highlights were a light phase Pomarine Skua heading north and a Great Skua which took about 2 hours to head south with long periods spent sitting on the sea. Eighty odd Kittiwakes and a few Fulmars and Red-throated Divers were all heading south after having been blown in yesterday. Also a handful of Scaup and Black Guillemots and a single Little Gull. Behind us we had a fine Redstart in song.

At Kurefjorden there were few waders to see from the tower with five Dunlin the highlight. The walk to the tower was good for warblers though with three year ticks in the form of singing Icterine, Marsh and Garden Warbler.

Next on the agenda was to find a Dotterel or two and boy did I have luck! In total 37 Dotterel in flocks of 10,13,8 and 5! I also managed a better picture this time.

Dotterel - one of in total 37 around Kurefjorden

Whilst searching for Dotterel I also had two Hobby, a Merlin, a Rough-legged Buzzard, a Sparrowhawk, a Kestrel, six Ospreys and a singing Cuckoo. I was joined by Tommy, Per and Steinar to admire the Dotterelæs and we then went upto Ovenbukta. In the wet horse fields here we had 4 Temminck’s Stints, a Blue-headed (flava) Wagtail along side three Grey-headed (Thunbergi). Also many hirundines feeding here low over the fields.

Thouroughly satisfied with how the day had been I decided to head towards Hellesjøvannet. On the way I had two pairs of Buzzards including this pair. He one of the birds looks to be moulting and has a completely different silhouette to the normal bird.

A pair of Common Buzzards showing very different "jizz"

At Kallaksjøen there were 46 Cranes and on Hærsetsjøen five late Pink-footed Geese.

Driving up the east side of Hemnesjøen there were a lot of birds in Kragtorpvika. A flock of 11 Temminck’s Stints was a very good number, 3 Ospreys including this one which flew low over my head,

Osprey

Over 50 Great Crested Grebes with many breeding within a colony of around 100 Black-headed Gulls, 8 Red-throated and 2 Black-throated Divers and good numbers of hirundines and Swifts. A Cuckoo was also singing here.

Getting to Hellesjøvannet at 1915 it was virtually windless and there were around 300 hirundines feeding over the lake alongside eight Common Terns and three Hobbies which were hawking insects amongst the hirundines. At least three Marsh Harriers, the pair of Pochard, male Gadwall, calling Water Rail, two singing Reed Warblers, two calling Buzzards, the nesting Whooper Swans were all quality birds. A single “boom” sounded very much like a Bittern but could also have been a man made sound from a nearby farm. I waited 45 minutes but didn’t hear it again so believe it was a man made noise.

At Haugrim 19 Cranes and at Mellom Hanneborg 3 Cranes.

A great day and now it's time for bed!

Male Marsh Harrier

Male Redstart

Brentetangen and Skuas

It really was windy today with the strength of the winds even being a talking point on the radio. The strength was around 20m/s and it was from SSW which is good conditions for Brentetangen. I could not get there before 0935 and there were three others already there, two of whom had been present since just after 5am! They had not had that much for their troubles: just 4 Arctic Skuas and a Great Northern Diver but it seemed that I turned up at a good time. Gannets were moving in good numbers, mostly south and there were also quite a few Fulmars going both ways. A Short-eared Owl that was being blown north mid-fjord by the wind was a strange site and it eventually made it over to the Vestfold side. There were a few ducks moving with the highlight being a close pair of Scaup heading south with a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers.

Highlights though was Skuas. Only a single Pomarine which was a dark phase bird and a bit tricky to identify. Picked up first flying low into the wind we thought it was an Arctic but it then hunted a Herring Gull which made its size apparent although in this flight mode its tail spoons were not obvious. However, when it resumed a more leisurely flight at much closer range then the tail spoons became obvious. Arctic Skuas were more numerous with dark phase birds predominating. Two pairs of dark phase birds headed south at fairly close range and two light phase and one dark phase headed north at great speed a long way out. One of the pairs that headed south lingered after finding a fish (which a Herring Gull made them drop!) and actually flew over our heads (although of course I failed to take a decent picture). I did manage some half decent pictures though:

Two dark phase Arctic Skuas, the upper bird being noticeably darker than the lower

Arctic Skua - the darker bird

This bird suddenly swooped and plucked a fish

Dark phase Arctic Skua

Rarest bird of the day was an Iceland Gull which was blown north. It was facing south and just allowing itself to be blown north! It was probably a 2k bird although it was not close enough to nail the age.

I called it quits at 13.25 and had a quick look for Dotterel on the way home but failed to find any in the strong winds although one was seen later in a field I looked at.

The winds resulted in Kittiwakes, Little Gulls and Arctic Terns being blown into the inner Oslofjord whereas we only had a single Kittiwake and no Little Gulls plus just a few distance Common/Arctic Terns. These birds will hopefully make their way south tomorrow when the winds calm down. The good numbers of Gannets and Fulmars though were not replicated in the inner Oslofjord with these true seabirds being able to handle the winds better.

Will the good times ever stop?

Yet another good day which is I guess to be expected in May but even so I was more than satisified with today’s results.

With fresh southerly winds forecast I chose seawatching at Brentetangen and thereafter Kurefjorden and the surrounding farmland as my destination. The targets were one or more species of skua plus Dotterel – and I succeeded on both counts!

I was in place at Brentetangen at 0617 and held out until 0921 with surprisingly no company. For the first two hours there was a steady passage of ducks and divers although the last hour was very quiet. The undoubted highlight came at 0710 when two distant light phase Pomarine Skuas flew north. They flew quite high over the water in a very leisurely manner with their tail “spoons” showing well despite the long range. If you look at this picture with a large magnifying glass and a bucket full of good will you can see that the dot which I have enlarged is indeed a Pomarine Skua. The distance to the other side of the fjord here is 10km (I would never have guessed it being so far but that is what the map tells me) and the birds were at least half way out so it is amazing my camera even picked up the dots.

Brentetagnen and 2 distant Pomarine Skuas (or was it a speck of dust on the lens?)

Otherwise a Fulmar, eight Kittiwakes, one Guillemot and a Black Guillemot were good sea birds but the bread and butter came in the form of: 170 Tufted Ducks, 134 Common Scoters, 65 Velvet Scoters, 48 Red-throated Divers and 11 Whimbrel all heading north.

The tide was falling at Kurefjorden and from the bird tower there was a nice selection of waders with 9 Bar-tailed Godwits, 47 Whimbrel, 4 Curlew, 20 Greenshank, 10 Redshank, 3 Ringed Plovers and a few Lapwing and Oystercatchers. Driving through the agricultural areas around Kurefjorden my target was to find Dotterel on one of the newly ploughed fields. Checking out the first fields I had only 3 Whimbrel and a Wryneck singing from a nearby copse. Continuing further to Roer there was a large ploughed field with a tractor working it. I scanned the field and picked out something brick coloured in the haze – I was sure it was a Dotterel but it didn’t move and I started thinking it was just a brick! But no it was a Dotterel and I eventually got good scope views although the pictures are nothing to write home about.

Rune was also in the area and he was able to finally tick off the most glaring addition to his list!

On the way back I dropped in to Maridalen and six Tufted Ducks on the lake were new in and not surprising given the good numbers I had seen migrating north at Brentetangen. Little else to see until I got to Dausjøelva and heard the sound of a Wryneck very close. In fact it was singing from a dead tree right by the road. The tree is full of old woodpecker holes and the Wryneck was actually sitting in a hole and singing. This area is where I have most often had Wryneck in Maridalen but I have never suspected breeding before. Let us hope that a female turns up as the male seems to have found a hole he likes.

A close up picture and a video:

Wryneck

In the evening a Swift low over the house is the first to be reported in the Oslo area this year.

There’s always time for another…

..seawatch! Today myself and Rune Z decided on a tour of Vestfold.  Due to a rather shortened day the tour became more of a single destination with a couple of stops on the way. Driving down the E18 we had an obligatory Great Grey Shrike (my 20^th sighting this autumn) by the road just north of the turning to Horten. We made a detour to Horten as  I persuaded Rune that a little seawatch from Møringa would be a good idea. Even though there was practically no wind there would surely still be birds left over from the last few days (and who knows maybe I would still have a chance for Leach’s..).

Arriving at Møringa we immediately saw some Oystercatchers (6 in total) which must be the first I’ve seen for a couple of months and looking out to sea began to see Kittiwakes in all directions with at least 100 being counted. Most were just feeding but a few were also heading south back to open sea. A handful of Fulmars with most going south but one also feeding close inshore. Then it started to get interesting. I picked up a skua sitting on the water at some distance feeding on a dead Kittiwake with a Great Black-backed Gull in close attendance. My first thoughts turned to Pomarine but I was hesitant because it looked pretty large and fairly uniform in colour. I needed to wait for it to flap its wings which it did when the gull came too close and there were big white flashes on the upper and under wings – an immature Great Skua! Rune then decided to get in on the act and found another imm. Great Skua feeding on a (presumed) Kittiwake with its size and wing flashes very evident even though it was at quite a range. We then noticed another, smaller, skua on the water nearby which took off and chased the Kittiwakes – an immature Pomarine Skua (a fairly light bird) with its double white underwing flash and pale rump being very visible. Quite a skuafest!

Aware of the time we had to leave after only 45 minutes although I felt sure that a whole day’s seawatching would have paid dividends.

Our destination for the day was Moutmarka at the end of Tjøme. We were hoping that there might be some storm driven birds here (Grey Phalarope or maybe a large diver) and a hope of finding Water Pipit. The wind was really blowing when we got out of the car (see picture below) which made viewing a bit difficult but we put some effort in.

Unfortunately there was nothing particularly interesting to see. We went through the Rock Pipit flock but found only 16 Rock and 3 Meadow Pipits although for this time of year this was a reasonable sighting. It was very difficult to make anything out on the sea but there were 20 or so Kittiwakes and a couple of Little Auks of note.

With time now against us we headed back towards Oslo with a quick stop at Rosanes. This is home to a long staying Black Duck. On our first scan of the area (a marina!) we saw it sitting with 15 Mallards on a jetty. On the assumption that they were waiting for some bread I headed briskly towards them with camera in hand (ignoring Rune’s requests to not be “so offensive”). Well, I should have been less offensive because they all jumped into the water and headed away. I managed a couple of very poor shots of the Black Duck but rued my haste.

Male Black Duck (right) with Mallard

Male Black Duck in flight

I have some nagging doubts about the purity of this bird as I can detect green on the head and on a previous trip thought I saw a hint of a white neck collar â la Mallard but it has been officially accepted as a pure Black Duck (with I believe the blessing of American experts)

Otherwise here a fine female Smew, a pair of Goosander, 14 Teal and a couple of Kittiwakes.

On the way home the anticipated message came through... Stormsvale (Leach’s Petrel) seen going south on the other side of the fjord from Møringa. Can’t win them all!

Pomtastic

The winds were just right today and there was little rain forecast and temperatures were around 5C. In other words prefect for yet another seawatch (and probably the last of the year). I wasn't able to get out to Rolftstangen, Fornebu until 11am by which time I had received a message of a Pomarine Skua there. Fortunately it was still visible when I arrived and remained so until 3pm when I left. It had killed a Common Gull which it regularly returned to feed on just 20m away from where we were standing and gave outstanding views - very exciting stuff. The bird was definitely immature although I am not sure whether it was juvenile (1K) as it had noticeably longer central tail feathers which may be a sign of it being a year older. We also had another Pom Skua at some distance which brought down a gull (possibly a Herring Gull) which it sat on and appeared to succesfully kill and then feed on.
Otherwise there were very good numbers of Kittiwakes with at least 50 and many coming very close and also at least 10 Fulmars which also frequently gave excellent views. I have still to take a decent picture of a Fulmar and today was no exception. I got frame filling views but could not get the exposure right - something to keep practicing. One Fulmar was also noticeably dark but would probably be classified as an intermediate morph rather than a dark morph.
Few auks to see although we did have Razorbill, Guillemot and Little Auk. No Black-headed Gulls and very few Common Gulls remaining but a single immature Little Gull was a nice find.
Rarest bird of the day (although not highlight which definitely belongs to the Pom Skua) was a Grey Phalarope which I saw but unfortunately so briefly that my 2 fellow observers did not get on to it. The bird was in flight on the Bygdøy side of the fjord at Huk and landed which was when I lost it. The identification as a phalarope was easy enough but the specific identification as Grey was based on time of the year (Red-necked's being unheard of so late).
Later in the day a probable Leach's Petrel was also called by another observer but was lost from view. This is the only seabird that I have missed in the Oslo fjord this autumn and it now feels like I have run out of opportunities but I can be happy with everything else I've seen.

Pomarine Skua

Pomarine Skua with Common Gull - lunch!

A very short video of the skua tucking into lunch. You can see it having to flap its wings to deal with the wind.

Fulmar without the colours

Fulmar not quite in focus

Adult Kittiwake