Migration seems to have been put on pause again and with
sun, blue skies and temperatures quickly reaching 20C it can feel quiet
birdless at times which is strange for the first week of May. Butterflies like it
though and I am now up to 7 species this year.
New species trickle in though. Yesterday Oslo #150 was added
from my bed when a Lesser Whitethroat sang in the garden and then in Maridalen #151
was added with Wood Warbler. No new Oslo species today but a Red-backed Shrike
at Nordre Øyeren was my earliest ever and a Thrush Nightingale was singing from
leave less bushes and was unusually easy to see (hearing it is never a
problem).
The male Three-toed Woodpecker was singing in the middle of
the hot afternoon yesterday which is rather strange and I did not see the
female. Today I saw neither bird and wonder whether something has gone wrong
with (female predated?). The male and a male Great Spotted Woodpecker had a territorial
fight though which was interesting to see. Previously these two species seem to,
surprisingly, have coexisted in the same wood without any agro.
An update on the swan drama is that the Whoopers are still
on the (Mute) nest and the new pair of Mute Swans were displaying today and
chasing off Greylags so maybe they will make a nesting attempt.
Sunday’s weather forecast suggests southerly winds and rain
in what is otherwise a period of dry sunny weather. If we are going to have a god
day this May then I think it will be then.
Thrush Nightingale (nattergal). I don't think I've seen one this well before
my earliest ever Red-backed Shrike (tornskate)
territorial Great Spotted (flaggspett) and Three-toed Woodpeckers (tretåspett)
it was the Three-toed who went after the GS but the GS had the upper hand
Buzzard (musvåk) in Maridalen
a White Wagtail (linerle) was not happy with it flying so low over the fields
I checked Maridalen's Goshawk (hønsehauk) nests and both had sitting birds
the remains of a male Mallard (stokkand) were on a plucking post close to one of the nests
three male Whinchats (buskskvett) in a row
in Maridalen a pair of Wrynecks (vendehals) and a lone male are singing close to each other. This was the female from the pair
my first Peacock (dagpåfugløye)
and a Camberwell Beauty (sørgekåpe)
a toad (padde)
and Grass Snakes (buorm). I have loads of footage which will have to be shown in a separate post
I write this on the last day of April and therefore the day
before my favourite birding day of the year – 1 May. This day may not
statistically prove to be that great but it is a national holiday and I
will always be in Maridalen from dawn following the migration. What will turn
up tomorrow? Red Kite? Black-shouldered Kite?? Pygmy Cormorant???.
Since my last post I have added the following to Oslo 2024:
Greenshank #145, Pied Flycatcher #146 and Whinchat #147. So, 150 is definitely
a possibility before the end of April. When I first started noting my Oslo list
I thought 150 for the whole year was a good result!
Migration is delayed this year so we could have some good
days ahead of us but unfortunately there is no rain forecast and just lots of
sun so there will be no big falls of migrants.
In the Dale the swan drama has now settled down with the
Whooper Swans on the nest and presumably incubating whilst the Mutes are on the
other side of the lake. I cannot wait (a month) to see if the eggs hatch.
The male Three-toed pecker was still excavating the nest
hole today and hasn’t come very yet. The entire chamber will probably take him
a couple of weeks.
Svellet is looking scrumptious and now the birds just need
to come. 25 Greenshank today was a 400% increase on the day before so it can
just keep on going like that for a few days and we will all be happy.
variety in the Dale - Common Sand (strandsnipe), Green Sand (skogsnipe) and White Wag (linerle)
Golden Plovers (heilo) at Årnestangen
my first Oslo Greenshank (gluttsnipe) of the year!
I was as surprised as the Snipe (enkeltbekkasin) when I came around a corner and we made eye contanct
the male Three-toed Woodpecker (tretåspett) has not come that much further with his nest hole building
my first toad of the year
first Whinchat (buskskvett)
and first Yellow Wag (gulerle) although not in Oslo yet. A male thunbergii
This last week has been a wet one! Southeastern
Norway has been hit by the extreme weather “Hans” and it really has rained a
lot and there has been a lot of flooding. Nordre Øyeren is over 2 metres higher
than normal and all of Årnestangen is under water with the birding platform
just above the water. This of course means no mudlfats or waders and it may
also mean that the whole autumn wader season there is washed out as it will
take a long time for water levels to fall again. The floods do seem to have
pushed Great White Egrets out from hidden feeding areas as three birds suddenly
appeared.
After the rains stopped a visit to Maridalen was
suddenly very autumnal with the first Yellow Wagtails and a Bluethroat and a
lot of Whinchats. A juvenile Cuckoo was also a less than annual sighting here.
There has been very little weather suitable for
butter or dragonfly watching but on Thursday it was sunny and a visit to Fornebu
gave a number of sightings of Brown Hairstreaks plus the final two butterflies
that I thought I had a chance of seeing this year – Wall Brown and Painted Lady
(there have been very few in Norway this year) which takes me to 61 species for the year.
Otherwise my time has been spent following up on two
late, scarce breeding birds which I will of course write about later in the
autumn.
Sparrowhawk (spurvehauk) and Cuckoo (gjøk) in Maridalen. This picture shows just how alike the two species are and why they confuse both birds and birders alike
and with a Swallow (låvesvale)
the Cuckoo. This bird is a juvenile (the adults are long gone) and as the species has become very rare as a breeding bird around Oslo has most likely come from further north
a distant view of a Great White Egret (egretthegre)
young Bluethroat (blåstrupe) still with a few juvenile feathers
on young birds that lack blue on the throat it is the red on the tail that is the most colourful part of the bird
I again saw three Ospreys (fiskeørn) together over Maridalen and they flew around for a long time. All were adults and not necessarily the same as last time as this bird does not seem to match any of the 3 in my last post
this Roe Deer buck at Fornebu was unusually confiding but to live here they have to accept the close presence of humans
there are not many butterflies still on the wing (and 2 dasys of heavy rain would have taken its toll) but Silver-washed Fritillaries can still be found in the right places. This one looks quite fresh
but this one has wing damage and discolouration
the underside of a female Brown Hairstreak (slåpetornstjertvinge)
and here is a male with a much duller underwing
upperwing of a male
and a female
Wall Brown (sørringvinge)
a toad (nordpadde)
young Whinchat (buskskvett) in Maridalen still with white tipped juvenile feathers
and a juvenile Whitethroat (tornsanger)
Osprey in Maridalen
a juvenile Heron flying over in Maridalen. There have been a few records of a juvenile and adults to suggest that they have bred in the Dale or somewhere very close. I am not aware of any previous breeding records in Oslo
