Rising too quickly

Wader numbers continue to increase at Svellet but today the water levels also rose by a whole 18cm. If this continues then things will soon change from mighty to morbid. The first calidris, a Dunlin, has now turned up and we can only cross as many fingers and toes as possible and hope we have at least another week of fun.

In other news there seemed to be a small fall of Redstarts, Whinchats and Wheatears today which allowed me to come up with the hilarious line “it’s starting to get chatty”… I’ll get my coat.

Svellet today 5th May

and the scenes yesterday:

At nearby Merkja a pair (one of two present) showed well today

And in Maridalen it was a red letter day with the first Lapwing young noted. Two broods were seen with a minimum of 3 and 1 young and another birds was still on the nest having been saved by the farmer when he ploughed a couple of days ago. There were 10 adults in total with another two females just wandering around on their own so there is still a chance for further, late, breeding.

Still too nice

Cloudless nights mean that there are fewer and fewer birds every day, or at least that is how it seems.

Encounters with Jack Snipe, Bearded Tit and Siberian tristis Chiffchaffs have been the highlights of the last few days as a wing bar or two continues to elude me.

Singe pairs of Bearded Tits are in two reedbeds at Fornebu but are for the most past very low down and are I believe still feeding on insects. They call loudly only very occasionally and it seems to be when they have lost contact with each other. Today I had a pair feeding in reeds just 3-4 metres from me for a good 15 minutes and it was possible to hear very, very quiet calls which I assume were to make sure they stayed together but they were incredibly difficult to see until they perched on a reed just over the ground for a couple of minutes and preened. They were only two metres away but were almost impossible to see let alone photograph.

I have had upto two Jack Snipe but lack of observations from day to day suggests to me that these are new birds that are moving through and just stopping for a day before continuing.

My best views of Beardies were on Wednesday when there was thick fog

a Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin) in the open

droppings and bill marks in mud are a good sign that snipe are around

this Jack was much better hidden. Can you see him?

should be easier in this picture

there are a lot of Long-tailed Tits (stjertmeis) around this autumn and flocks move through very quickly

a ringed Siberian tristis Chiffchaff at Fornebu yesterday. A quite classic individual that was also heard calling

it was together with this unblinged bird

the lone 1cy Whooper Swan (sangsvane) is still at Fornebu. It loosely associates with Mute Swans but is often alone

And a trip to Østensjøvannet gave some photographic birds

male Mallard (stokkand)

young Moorhen (sivhøne)

female Pintail (stjertand)

Shoveler (skjeand)

side by side with a Mallard

and a late Adder (hoggorm). This was very small and I believe hatched this year

Stuck on the mainland again

The end of September is when I should be on a far flung island finding birds with stripes or touches of red and blue. Unfortunately 2025 is yet another year where that hasn’t happened but I haven’t given up on an October trip to Værøy. It doesn’t seem that I have missed that much though as September hasn't been that productive with hardly a Yellow-browed Warbler reported although Olive-backed Pipits have been more numerous than usual. A few good birds have of course been found along the coast but not enough to make me jealous, yet…

Local birding is, no surprise, rather boring. I have had three owling trips so far which have yet to pull in a Tengmalm’s (although it is still early days) but I have heard Tawnies and a Long-eared came to inspect us one evening.

My only sense of rarity hunting came with an acro at Fornebu which turned out to be only a late Reed Warbler but it did get me in island mode for a few seconds.

And some photos from a visit to Østensjøvannet in the week.

a Moorhen (sivhøne)

and up a tree

Mute Swan (knoppsvane) family. Just a single pair bred succesfully this year due to lack of food and they have done well to raise 6 young although they cannot fly yet. Bread does seem to be an important part of their diet

a Shoveler (skjeand). There are up to 4 birds present but they are masters at hiding away

Oslo Little Stint

On Thursday I had to drop Jr Jr off at Bygdøy so afterwards decided to see if the fjord at Huk had anything to offer. I don’t normally visit there at this time of the year unless it is blowing a gale which it wasn’t but it was blowing from the south and raining so there was always the chance of something. The rocks and skerries here attract Purple Sandpipers in winter but I have seen few other waders over the years other than Oystercatchers and those I have seen have generally stopped just briefly before continuing on their journey. Yesterday was a bit different though as first a Little Sint and then a Dunlin showed themselves and seemed quite happy searching for food in exactly the same way the Purple Sands do. The stint was only my third in Oslo and is a genuine rare species here with just 6 other records this century.

I also visited Østensjøvannet for the first time in a good while and there were worryingly few birds. Even if there was a lack of quantity then it was compensated so some extent by some quality with a male Pintail coming out of eclipse, a Shoveler, a Peregrine and most surprisingly a Common Scoter. This is a surprisingly scarce species on the lake with only 6 previous records ever and these have either been on spring passage or in late October (which matches when birds turn up on Maridalsvannet). A record in mid September is therefore unusual (and I had seen none on the fjord) and the bird was an adult female which is also an unusual record with records later in the autumn being almost exclusively 1cy birds.

 

Another unusual trip for me was a walk all the way out to the tip of Årnestangen. Water levels have kept on rising and the mud flats were gone but it was a relatively good day for raptors with 9 species noted including a hunting Hen Harrier at relatively close range.

Little Stint (dvergsnipe) with Eiders (ærfugl) - they are small!

and the Dunlin (myrsnipe)

this Herring Gull (gråmåke) made short work of a starfish

Østensjøvannets male Pintail (stjertand) coming out of eclipse. Hopefully it will hag around until it has acquired its full breeding plumage. Male Pintails that have turned up in Oslo have often, for some unknown reason, lacked the long central tail feathers that give this species its name and it looks like this bird (which could well be a returning individual) will also lack them

Shoveler (skjeand) with Tufted Duck (toppand)

adult female Common Scoter (svartand) with Great Crested Grebe (toppdykker). There was a brood of 2 less than half grown grebes which still had stipy, downy plumage and one of which was sat on a parents back. This is very late and it will be interesting to see how things go especially if we have an early cold snap

Great Grey Shrike (varsler) at Årnestangen

and a Great White Egret (egretthegre)

hunting Hen Harrier (myrhauk)

with a mouse

and a Merlin (dvergfalk)

Cranes (trane) are starting to head south now

2 Shoveler and 2 Wigeon (brunnakke) at Merkja

The Beast accompanied me to Årnestangen and I finally discovered who the viewing shutters were designed for...