The second half of the week has, unsurprisingly, not been able to measure up to the good start but it has offered some good autumn birding. A trip to Nordre Øyeren today in damp conditions revealed a Svellet completely free of waders despite there being lots of attractive (at least to me) mud still showing. There were three Great White Egrets close by though and this is now a characteristic species for the area in the autumns. Despite it now being expected it is still a bit of kick to set your eyes on them and they are still exotic.
Bird of today was a calling Red-throated Pipit (lappiplerke) that flew right over my head when I was looking over Snekkervika but it wouldn't stop unfortunately. Also still there were two Red-backed Shrikes (tornskate) which are getting to be quite late.
Great White Egrets (egretthegre) - the bird on the right is perhaps an adult with what look like plume feathers sticking out
This video shows a dark juvenile Honey Buzzard and an adult Common Buzzard in Maridalen on Wednesday and continue the great run of sightings I have had this autumn
a video grab of the dark juv HB
and a picture of the pale juv HB that isn't in the video
the dark juv HB with a moulting (adult or at least 2cy+) CB
In this video of a Black-throated Diver family on Maridalsvannet from Thursday the youngster can be seen being fed small fish
juvenile Black-throated Diver (storlom)
BtD family
Goosanders (laksand)
a record breaking flock of 32 Cormorants (storskarv) that flew into Maridalsvannet yesterday and immediately set about feeding (or at least searching for fish) as a flock as can be seen in the video
Shoveler (skjeand) including an adult male in eclipse which I don't remember having seen in Norway before and a pair of Gadwall (snadderand) at Merkja today
A Nutcracker (nøttekråke) collecting hazel nuts in the garden on Wednesday. They do not eat them but rather fill up their throats/crops and fly many kilometers into the forest with them where they hide them to be eaten during the winter. In the video you can see it taking nuts and also see the bulges in its throat
This mink in Maridalen did not seem to have seen me and The Beast sitting only meters away but as can be seen could definitely smell us
This weekend I was so lucky to spend with Per Christian at
his cabin in Ringebu. This is my third visit after trips in 2022 and last year.
This year’s trip was about 10 days earlier than the previous two and an absence
of many of the early passerine migrants that we had seen on previous visits was
explained by this but otherwise conditions felt similar. There has been little
snow in these mountains this winter and at the sides of the road the depth was
no more than 50cm and areas of rock and lichen were already exposed. Down in
the valleys the snow was completely gone but there was still a lot of ice and
apart from Whooper Swans, geese and some Cranes there were few migrants.
Muen mountain at 1424 m was still covered in snow but even here rocks can be seen sticking out
here we are at around 760m and looking eastwards over Gubrandsdalen. The eastern slopes are fertile farmland and as can be seen spring comes early
Owls of the both the day and night active varieties were completely
absent and raptors were also thin on the ground except for eagles. We started
Saturday off with a young Golden Eagle and an adult White-tailed Eagle flying
over it and then in the afternoon came across a couple of Goldens that appeared
to have been a pair and which flew very close to us for many minutes and called
lots. We were on a road and close to cabins so if we had come across a nest it
would be rather amazing that they had chosen to be so close to human activity.
From what I can make out they also do not normally make themselves so obvious
if disturbed by a nest but I cannot think of another reason for their behaviour.
One of the birds was in its 6th calendar year and only just old enough to breed. Perhaps this pair is newly formed ot even still forming which may expain all the noise?
I have never previously seen Golden Eagle so well and it was an experience I
will never forget. Unforuntely though it was quite challenging documenting them
as the sun was behind but I managed some video and photos I am pleased enough
with.
In this video you can hear them calling very well. Apparantly as a species they call infrequently but this was not the case for us
a video grab of the pair
the other bird was clearly fully adult
I did not manage to get as good photos of the younger bird
I have asked Facebook how old this bird is and have got an answer that it is in its 5th plumage meaning it is a 6cy. It is (just) old enough to breed even if its plumage is not fully adult.
the Golden Eagle seen earlier in the day which is I believe still in juvenile plumage and therefore a 2cy
the upper tail of the same bird as it goes into land
the adult White-tailed Eagle (havørn) that was above it
At the cabin the Siberian Jays did not show at all on
Saturday and even though I was worried PC was still guaranteeing we would see
them and whilst enjoying coffee on Sunday morning up to six birds provided a yet
again unforgettable experience as they fed within spitting distance of us.
Siberian Jay (lavskrike)
Another, for me, new experience came on the drive home when we discovered around 30 Black Grouse in a roadside stubble field. I have never come across them like this before and cannot recall seeing a picture in Norway of similar behaviour. They were equally split male and females and although one male was displaying I do not think it was a lekking congregation but rather feeding birds. When we first saw them at speed from the car I had no idea what they were and even if they were living creatures so after stopping the car and walking back to them it was a real shock to discover their identity.
two male Black Grouse (orrfugl)
and here a number of females
Otherwise, it was geese and swans that were the entertainment on the drives up and down. On the way up a stop at Starene revealed Tundra Beans and White-fronts amongst 2500 Pink feet and on the way back we came across many flocks of swans and geese along a very long stretch of the Glomma in both stubble and flooded muddy fields. We twitched a Bewick’s Swan and found more Tundra Beans and White-fronts.
Tundra Bean Goose (tundrasædgås) with Pink-feet (kortnebbgås)
and three White-fronts (tundragås) with Pink-feet
A visit to the shooting ranges at the fabled BT Banen was a strangely bird less affair apart from a showy Great Grey Shrike.
Great Grey Shrike (varsler)
All in all a weekend that will last long in my memories.
a normal Willow Tit (granmeis)
and a very distinctive bird with a white tail
these four Cormorants (storskarv) heading north over the mountains were a surprise
