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

Succesfull breeding

Some pleasant surprises in Oslo and Maridalen regarding breeding birds means I am not completely over into the butterfly world just yet.

On the lake there was suddenly a single adult Mute Swan with 5 small young! This is just like last year in that they suddenly appeared but this year I was better prepared and had discovered the nest on 26 May. After that discovery of the nest though I had been unable on subsequent attempts to see any birds on it (although it was very difficult to see) and had only a record of single adult on 1 June and then a pair flying over the lake (not near the nest) on 9 June. I therefore assumed that the nesting attempt had failed and the birds had moved off. To suddenly see an adult with young was therefore a shock and it was equally surprising that I could not find the other adult anywhere on the lake. Has the male died or moved off? And if so how did the female managed to incubate and feed without me ever seeing her? And the pair I saw on x June – were they visitors? Perhaps the other pair that started nesting and then gave up? An answer to the first question is that P578 who I saw on Maridalsvannet on 29 April, and his ring was again read on 24 May, who is the male of the pair that bred last year and I assume the father of this years young was seen on 16 June at Fornebu where he and his mate had spent the winter – so it looks like he has left his mate to fend for herself! Did this happen before the eggs hatched?

Mute Swan (knoppsvane) - presumably female PC79 who bred here last year - with 5 small young but not with her mate (P578) who has flown down to Fornebu!

The Black-throated Diver pair (one of perhaps two on the lake) still have a single youngster and have moved quite a way from the nest with it.

Black-throated Diver (storlom) family

The ever growing cereal crop on the Lapwing field makes seeing the birds very difficult but yesterday I could see 3 (2 + 1) almost fully grown young which is a great relief but the fate of the two last nests remains unknown.

a nearly fully grown Lapwing (vipe) young

And finally, I had Red-backed Shrike in the Dale this year and it seems to be a nesting pair so fingers crossed for their success.

pair of Red-backed Shrikes (tornskate) in Maridalen

and the male on his own

A visit to Østensjøvannet today also revealed lots of young birds. Best of all were the Black-headed Gulls which have had their first successful breeding season (at least as a colony) for a few years with many large young on two islands. Great Crested Grebes, Coot and Mute Swans also had young (the later no larger than the ones I saw on Maridalsvannet) and surprisingly a female Goldeneye had 11 quite large young with her. This raises two questions – are they all hers? Perhaps unlikely. And how have so many survived so long? Normally the vast majority get eaten either by gulls or pike.

Black-headed Gulls (hettemåke) have had a successful breeding season at Østensjøvannet

and a male Gadwall (snadderand) which once again seems to have chosen Østensjøvannet to moult although this year there were no records earlier in the spring

Male Red-backed Shrike

Not so much to report from the last few days with perhaps my first male Red-backed Shrike of the year the highlight. This late migrant seems to be later than normal this year or perhaps we are just going to get fewer than normal for some reason. Time will tell but Marsh Warblers that have also been scarce up until now seem to now be arriving in force.

An Arctic Tern at Maridalsvannet was a close second and a scarcer bird in a local context. Terns have become a regular feature of Maridalsvannet in recent years with both Arctic and Common exploiting good hatches of insects. I have been waiting for them to appear this year after the insects have started hatching and Black-headed Gulls, and a single brief Little Gull, have been exploiting them for a week. It was therefore satisfying to see an Arctic on Friday once a rain storm had eased enough for me to look over the lake.

The invasion of Painted Lady butterflies that has made the national press in the UK is hitting Norway as well and even though numbers are currently below those in the UK it is now turning up in all habitats, including my garden, and has already breached the Arctic Circle.

Otherwise breeding birds are hanging on. In Maridalen there are at least 3 Lapwing youngsters from 2 broods that are now large enough to resemble their paretns and the two replacement nests are still being incubated and should hatch any day soon. At Fornebu the Ringed Plovers seem faithful to their corner of a building site hemmed in by a road but they have attentive parents that still brood them when it rains or they perceive danger.

male Red-backed Shrike (tornskate) - here you see how it gets its name

and his mate

female Ringed Plover (sandlo) protecting 2 young during a rain shower. I am viewing from a car and despite being close to them they act naturally and react more to people walking along the road than any cars or lorries that pass close by. The young can also be seen in the video:

2 young Lapwing (vipe) in Maridalen. There was hopefully one or maybe two others from this brood in the long grass

this single surviving youngster from its brood is now looking quite adult like and will hopefully fledge making its parents hard work a success

Nordre Øyeren warming up for the autumn

I think we may be up for a very good autumn around Nordre Øyeren. As I wrote yesterday there are lots of ducks and geese using Svellet – the ducks (mostly Teal) are feeding there whilst the geese come into rest but are feeding on nearby harvest fields. Yesterday I discovered one of the fields that the geese (primarily Barnacles) are using and here there were also many raptors and Cranes. I assume there is lots of spilt corn which the geese and Cranes like but also rodents because the raptors (3 juvenile Marsh Harriers and at least 9 Common Buzzards) seemed to have no problem finding food. The harriers were quartering the field but the Buzzards were mostly just walking around and pouncing on prey. At least one juvenile Peregrine and 2 Hobbies were also in the area and it was particularly birdy. Amongst the geese was an interesting Canada Goose that I first noticed flying in when it was noticeably darker and slightly smaller than its compatriots but once on the field it was more difficult to find and the raptors, and my search for something rare, took my attention and I never formed an opinion on the goose. I was hoping to find a harrier other than a Marsh but failed although I am sure that with regular coverage something else will turn up. I also expect that Rough-legged Buzzards will soon discover the field as they migrate through the area.

There are rather surprisingly still some unharvested fields as well and one of these clearly also had a lot of rodents as another two Marsh Harriers were constantly hunting over it. Both these birds were second calendar birds – a male and a female.

If the stubble fields remain as stubble (i.e they don’t get ploughed this autumn) then they could continue to attract both geese and raptors until November or December depending on the weather. The passage of proper wild geese has yet to start and if Pink-feet discover these fields then there could be many thousands of geese still to come.

Numbers of waders using Svellet have fallen dramatically but a Black-tailed Godwit was briefly present as was the Little Gull and terns so there is still non-waterfowl potential. A Great White Egret was also present nearby but only visible very distantly.

2cy male Marsh Harrier (sivhauk) with a Hooded Crown (kråke). The dark secondary feathers are remaining juvenile feathers whilst the grey feathers are adult feathers

2 1cy/juvenile Marsh Harriers in the birdy field having a rest from their quartering

2cy female Marsh Harrier. Two generations of secondaries are clearly visible

the 2cy male quartering the unharvest field

many hundreds of Barnacle (hvitkinngjess) and some Greylags (grågjess) on their way from the field where they had been feeding to Svellet for a rest

this Common Buzzard (musvåk) was hovering over the unharvested field whereas those using the stubble field were mostly just walking around

the interesting Canada Goose. It has a dark breast and darker flanks compared to the normal feral Canadas and is also slightly smaller. It is possible that it is a wild bird but there are also feral birds of other subspecies and strange hybrids knocking around in Holland so it is impossible to know especially with only these grainy photos

a late(ish) Red-backed Shrike (tornskate)

Back to birds

Despite my best intentions I have spent quite some time this week with Honey Buzzards with a few checks on the regular nest but also trying to triangulate on a nest that I believe must exist in Maridalen. I am now within a just a few hundred metres of it and with luck will locate it tomorrow…

Other than that there is an increase in migrants in Maridalen with a few pipits, wagtails, Whinchats and Wheatears on the stubble fields and the organic vegetable patch still hosting Red-backed Shrikes and best of all a couple of Bluethroats.

The Maridalen swan saga continues. After the Mute Swan pair was driven off leaving behind a small cygnet (which I have not seen for a couple of weeks and presume has perished) something serious has now happened with the Whooper Swan family. On the 18^th the pair were at Kirkeby and in Nesbukta there was a single, lost looking cygnet. I then had no sightings of any swans until today when the pair were again at Kirkeby but with no sign of the cygnet. Prior to the 18^th they had seemed like a very tight family unit with the adults leading the two cygnets around and never leaving their side so what happened on the 18^th? Why would the pair abandon one of the young and what happened to the other? Were they attacked by a fox or dog? Or have the pair themselves turned on their own young? They are a very aggressive pair with their frequent attacks on the Mutes and any other Whoopers that dare visit Maridalen in the breeding season. Have they finally lost it and once their own young reached a certain size seen them as a threat? They are getting on now and have bred since 2010 but after rearing at least 40 young between 2010 to 2021 things have changed and since then they have struggled with 3 fledged young in 2023 their only success in this period.

Water levels at Årnestangen and Svellet have been very high but started falling again from the weekend and a visit to Svellet today revealed lots of birds on newly (re)exposed mudbanks with 160 Ruff a very good count and out of 10 species in total a Black-tailed Godwit was the highlight.

Bluethroat (blåstrupe) in Maridalen

Red-backed Shrikes (tornskate) are still finding lots to eat in the organic vegetable patch

the Whooper Swan (sangsvane) pair and a single cygnet alone 1.5km away on 18 August. I have seen the adults again today, although not yesterday but have not seen the cygnet

the family on the 15th

one of three Three-toed Woodpeckers (tretåspett) that entertained my whilst I was on Honey Buzzard watch

Checking out the breeding raptors

Back in Oslo and procrastinating away I am using dog walking duties as a means of checking out on my breeding raptors. Yesterday, saw me visiting the Honey Buzzard nest and today was a final attempt to find the Hobby nest.

The Honey Buzzard young still look healthy although a very obvious difference in the development of the two birds is perhaps more than just an age difference and could suggest food shortages mean one of them (the older one) is getting more food. I looked under the nest and saw no discarded wasp comb which I take as a bad sign. Walking up to the nest area I glimpsed an adult gliding towards the nest but was unable to see if it was the male or the female although based on the last two years the female will probably have already bailed. An hour and a quarter at the nest revealed only the young doing nothing other than sitting still with no wing stretching or squabbling. On the way back to the car I saw two dark HB thermalling high over the nest site that quickly disappeared from view and then the male appeared low over the trees by the nest and also quickly thermalled out of view. I could not make out if the first two birds were a male and female but assume they were non/failed breeders moving over the area or perhaps prospecting for a future nest site.

 On the Hobby front it was a case of bad news and good news. The good news is that I located the nest and could confirm that there have been young, the bad news is that the confirmation came from the presence of a dead juvenile on the ground under the nest. The carcass was right by a path and the nest right over it and it was only seeing the carcass that allowed me to find the nest. The nest was incredibly will hidden and impossible to see from anywhere else other than under it. I had no live birds in the area so have no idea whether any other young have fledged although if they had then I would have expected to hear them. My last sighting in the nest area was 16 June and I have visited since then without joy so it was a real surprise that such a large juvenile was there which would have meant the adults would have been caring for it and bringing food for the last month. The carcass still looked fairly fresh although had been eaten at and there were droppings from a mammal on it. My theories for how it ended on the ground are either being blown out during high winds or perhaps a Goshawk attacked the nest resulting in one of the young jumping out and the others being eaten?? My failure to locate any adults (especially hearing them) on previous visits is also strange and makes me wonder if one of the adults also perished at some point such that just a single adult was bringing food but that is pure speculation.

 

Otherwise, I have had very few other raptors when in Maridalen although it is the end of the month that is usually the most productive and there is little in the way of migrants other than a few Whinchat and Red-backed Shrikes. The two baby Whooper Swans are growing and being well guarded by their parents but I have not seen the lone baby Mute Swan again.

The two Honey Buzzard (vepsevåk) young on the nest. The head of the closest bird is still covered in white downy feathers whereas the other, older, bird has lost most of them

very poor pictures of the two HB that thermalled high over the nest.

the male from the breeding birds that appeared out of the forest by the nest

the unfortunate proof that Hobbies (lerkefalk) have indeed bred in Maridalen this year

the carcass of a juvenile Hobby

fresh droppings of a mammal that I assume had been feeding on the carcass

here, I have turned over the carcass

the nest was very difficult to find but through the binoculars I could see lots of white feathers around the nest

one of four 1st year Red-backed Shrike (tornskate) that as is most recent years are finding lots to eat in a cooperative organic vegetable patch

a juvenile (male?) House Sparrow (gråspurv) was with the Tree Sparrows (pilfink) at Kirkeby and indicates repeated breeding of this once mythical species (for me at least) in Maridalen