Owls save the day

Guiding is a fickle business. I learnt early on that guaranteeing a bird was a fools game but when I received a long wish list from Roberto from Spain I didn't feel I was sticking my neck too far out when I said that Willow Tit and Redpoll wouldn't be a problem. How wrong could I be?!
The feeders in Maridalen where I haven't failed to see a Willow Tit this winter were devoid of birds despite me having stocked them up with food (nobody else seems to do so anymore although many people stop to take pictures..)
The Great Grey Shrike did show well which was one target bird down but Maridalen was not very generous otherwise.
With Hawk Owl and a number of duck species also on the wish list we soon headed for Vestfold. Hawkie was showing on arrival and we met a photographer leaving the site who proudly showed the fantastic pictures that he had taken with help of the good old mouse on fishing line trick. I know that this is the trick used to get all the award winning owl pictures and I have often wondered where I can get hold of a dead mouse but I can't help but wonder about the ethics of this technique. The owl had apparently attacked the mouse three times with resulting great pictures but had not taken the mouse when the photographer discarded it as he left. A check of the mouse showed it to be dried out and presumably not particularly attractive for the owl. The owl had therefore expounded quite a bit of energy for no reward and was clearly still in hunting modus as it sat high up looking intently around.
We were lucky enough though to see it twice fly down and catch a (live and kicking) rodent. Both times it seemed to react instantaneously to the sight or sound of the mouse and it flew down without any warning or hesitation. Both times it flew over 50metres in a flat glide before dropping down unseen into long grass. The first mouse was taken to the top of the highest spruce where after ripping off a bit of flesh it swallowed the rest in one go. I thought it would then have a snooze but it remained very alert (and also looked very thin) and 20 minutes later it flew down again and took a second mouse. This one it took half way up a birch tree and swallowed it unseen. After this the owl seemed content and then returned to the top of a birch and wiped its bill and set about preening. I don't know how many mice a Hawk Owl needs in a day but two in quick succession seemed at least to be enough for breakfast.
We spent an hour with Hawkie and the weather and light were fantastic with temperatures of -10C in Maridalen rising to +6C as the day wore on in Vestfold.
After Hawkie we headed for Presterødkilen where a number of northern ducks were going to be ticked off and photographed. Disastrously though the overnight freezing temperatures and most importantly no wind had caused the whole bay to freeze over to an extent I have not seen before. One tiny area of open water held a few Tufted Ducks, Mute Swans and a rare Pochard but these were not what we were looking for. We tried to find where the other ducks had moved to but did not succeed.
With a need for something good we checked all the bays from Tønsberg to Horten but despite water with hardly a ripple disturbing it there were incredibly few birds to be seen - one of the worst experiences I have had in these parts.
Hoping to salvage the afternoon I had an idea of where we could have another go for Willow Tit and also Three-toed Woodpecker and visited a really nice area of mixed spruce woodland. Of course there were no Willow Tits or any woodpeckers but the day felt saved when we discovered a pair of Pygmy Owls. Roberto proved to be a great mimic of the male’s song which gave us prolonged and at times close views of this tiny killing machine.

I wonder whether Willow Tit and Redpoll will be the first and second or perhaps second and third species I see when I visit Maridalen next?

Hawkie where we first saw him after he had been teezed (tormented?) with a dead, dry mouse

here in the process of bringing up a pellet

it occasionally came lower down

ripping into mouse 1

about to go down the hatch - look at the talons

 

here it had a shake and looked quite portly

but here when perched erect it looks incredibly thin - almost as though its bone are poking out

20 minutes after devouring mouse 1, it had spied a new snack

mouse 2 safely captured

this one was eaten in private

getting ready for a post breakfast rest

the only open water in Presterødkilen with a single Pochard (taffeland) amongst commoner fare

The tiny Pygmy Owl (spurveugle)

when singing its head changes shape

flight shots never work out properly

but perched shots sometimes work out

Vestfold

I reacquainted myself with birding in Vestfold today and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have avoided birding here the last few years as I have often encountered terrible traffic heading into and out of Oslo which I never encounter if I head for Østfold but today traffic was not a problem. I ended up not going for the Great Grey Owl as I knew that plenty of others were looking in vain so I stayed in a holding pattern to the north which would allow me to begin my attack run should the target be located, which it wasn’t.

I did enjoy a Hawk Owl though which hopefully will hang around for another 10 days when I will be guiding clients who have this bird high on their wish list. Otherwise I visited sites around the towns of Tønsberg and Horten which hold a few good birds in the winter month. In Tønsberg at Presterødkilen there were good numbers of ducks including two female Smew and a female Scaup. Working my way up the coast towards Horten I stopped at various places but a strong northerly wind made it difficult to pick up anything on the sea.

In Horten I saw a few Rooks which is a surprisingly difficult species in Norway. For some reason the species only breeds in about five areas in Norway with a small colony in Horten the closest to Oslo. Here they breed and feed in the town so do not seem to be too particular in their requirements so why they should be so local is a mystery. I had very close views of one bird whilst I sat in the car, in fact probably the closest views of ever had of the species, and was amazed at how colourful it was with an amazing metallic sheen to the black plumage.

Another very local bird winters time (and definitely rarer than Great Grey Owl) is Mistle Thrush with less than 10 birds this winter. They are attracted to mistletoe (hence their English name I guess?) and Horten must have the largest growth of mistletoe in Norway and annually attracts overwintering Mistle Thrushes. With so much mistletoe though it is difficult to know where to look exactly but I had a bit of luck when I parked the car in a suitable area got out and found a bird perched literally above me J

Hawk Owl! I did get (slightly) better views..

it was at the top of a very high tree though

with lots of branches in the way. Nice bird as always though

it was easy to see what had brought the owl here. Mouse tracks everywhere

Mistle Thrush (duetrost) - rarest bird of the day. Living up to its name eating mistletoe

 

Rook (kornkråke). I had this bird at too close range and in a bit too poor light to rally capture the metallic sheen in its plumage

not quite sure what it was trying to eat here

close to the car!

Two female Smew (lappfiskand) at Presterødkilen

 

impossible to know for sure but this may be an offspring of the hybrid Black Duck (that was originally accepted as a pure bird) that was resident here for many years. Note also a male Goosander in the picture

 

Waxwings

Today the plan was to get better photos of the Water Rail (vannrikse) - if that would be possible I hear you say :-) Well there was sun today so the light would hopefully be better. When I arrived there was a bird showing but it went into the reeds. I crouched down with the camera on the tripod (I was also hoping to take some video) and waited and waited. After 45 minutes I had to admit that my body is not capable of long term crouching. When I stood up I was dizzy, really stiff in my knees and had pins and needles in my feet. Time to do something else....
 

Driving up to Horten and checking suitable places along the way gave me my first Starlings (stær) of the year - a flock of 20 but precious little else.

In Horten the mistletoe was still sustaining the overwintering Mistle Thrush (duetrost) and also a flock of 42 

Waxwings. These birds came down to drink from puddles formed by melting snow giving a good but brief photo opportunity.

Waxwing (sidensvans) having a drink

such colourful birds

synchronised drinking

Mistletoe berries seem to be equally whole on the way out as on the way in

At Fornebu, no birds to see but the year’s first Coltsfoot (hestehov) in flower. This is later than most years but given the amount of snow and freezing temperatures I was quite amazed to see this lovely yellow flower.

coltsfoot (hestehov) - the first flower to bloom in Norway

And finally, today’s gull. These two Herring Gulls (gråmåke) at Jarlsø, Tønsberg have very Glaucous Gull (polarmåke) like two-toned bills and had me thinking of possible hybrid influence. I thought at first these were 1^st winter birds in which case the bill would be more significant but see that they are most likely 2^nd winter birds where such a bill is less unusual. Striking birds anyway.

2nd winter Herring Gulls with very striking Glaucous Gull like bills

And some other birds

the Eiders (ærfugl) were displaying earnestly

Mistle Thrush