On Monday I had my first Waxwing of the autumn in Maridalen and yesterday there was a small flock eating berries by the shop when I was grocery shopping. There really is something magical about their call! But what really got my pulse racing yesterday was a message on the Hedmark rare bird group on Band saying that 65 Pine Grosbeaks had been observed viz miging flying south. When I saw who had reported them - Jonas Langbråten - I assumed that they were from the Kongsvinger area and got very excited as this is only 80km or under 2 hours flight time for a Grozza from Oslo. I immediately drove to an area where I thought there would be the best chance of observing any viz mig in Oslo but without any luck. It was only later that I saw that they had actually been observed in Femund which is 250km away... so I think they are still a day or two away from Oslo but I am sure they will come. We are having very wet weather today and tomorrow but I have definite plans to find them on Friday when conditions are forecast to be better. In 2024 the first bird was seen 24 October, in 2021 on 23 October and in 2019 on 21 October so if I find them they will have turned up bang on cue!
As I have previously written there are enormous amounts of berries on ornamental rowan and asal trees in the city but very few remaining in the forests. This means that if the birds come then they will be very urban as was the case in 2019 - here they are at a petrol station!
my first Waxwing (sidensvans) since March 1st so it was definitely (yet) another reunion
a Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin) that I discovered "naked" without any technical help, not that that was an aim but because my thermal imager has decided not to work...
Tree Sparrows (pilfink) in Maridalen. I assume they are a pair but males and females are the same so I don't know if there are any plumage clues to tell which is which. Tree Sparrows remain common in Norway including in urban areas
owling on Sunday night gave only a single Pygmy but Tengmalm's are being caught by ringers on the coast and on islands (including a 1st year bird at Lista that had a Finnish ring) there is a definite movement and I think I will give Tengmalm's another chance in October if we have a wind free night.
Cold nights and sunny but still cold days have caused the
thaw to stop and also put a halt to new arrivals of migrants. This morning
there was no wind and the fjord had a thin layer of ice on it!
The Taiga Bean Geese have arrived though. The tagged bird
left Denmark on the 4th and arrived at the Glomma early on the 5th
having spent the night at Årnestangen. A flock of 50 were seen at Glomma on the
afternoon of 5th and I visited yesterday and saw ca.100 but they
were at very long range so I was not able to read any collars. Apart from Whooper
Swans there were hardly any other migrants to see and although the fields on
the east side of the river were mostly free of snow the ground was frozen.
Surprisingly the fields on the west of the river were still largely covered in
snow.
Yesterday and today Red-necked Grebes were reported on the fjord
but both sightings (same bird?) seem to be Slavonian Grebes. I saw todays’ bird
together with a GC Grebe and many Guillemots (all the birds had been
concentrated due to the ice) and it smalls size was enough to rule out RnG
although distance and lighting made plumage details impossible to see.
In Maridalen a Whooper Swan family with three young has now
turned up which must be last years family who have not lost any young over the
winter. 27 Skylarks this evening was I am sure a record count and 2 Snow
Buntings allowed themselves to be photographed. A male House Sparrow was also entering a nest hole so they male well be breeding alongside Tree Sparrows.
The White-fronted Geese and the flood remain at Bygdøy. The
flood waters were frozen this morning and the geese were showing very close to
the path and gave what were perhaps my best ever views of adult birds.
spot the Taiga Beans? Distance is about 2.5km
there they are
Slavonian Grebe (red), Guillemot (green) and Great Crested Grebe (blue). Faith is required here... Distance is about 3km
Snow Buntings (snøspurv) in Maridalen
a Lapwing (vipe). This was the only one I saw whilst going on a wild goose chase.
White-fronted Geese (tundragås). The bird on the right has a very extensive blaze
a juvenile/1st winter bird in the winter. With scaly feathers, no black barring and a black bill tip
the Whooper Swan (sangsvane) family are easy to see but can you spot the Great Grey Shrike (varsler)
A new Sunday tradition may be in the making with it
becoming twitching Sunday in which Jr gets to practice her driving by driving
me to a rare bird. The most important thing to make this into a tradition now
is that rare birds continue to found on Sunday mornings… That did indeed happen
yesterday (following on from the Cattle Egret last week) with the Baikal Teal
being refound 13 days after it was discovered and it was reported to have come
a long was out of eclipse plumage so sounded like it would be worth seeing
again. Since I saw it last I have had it in mind when visiting Nordre Øyeren
and Østensjøvannet and it was in Nordre Øyeren that it was refound. Not amongst
flocks of shy Teal or Wigeon but amongst Mallards (again) although in its
favour there were also Shoveler, Pintail, Wigeon and Teal associating with the
same Mallards. It truly looked like a male Baikal Teal now although may need
another two weeks to lose all traces of the eclipse plumage. Hopefully it will
hang around for a bit although winter arrived in force today and my attempts to
see it again were hampered by a blizzard.
I checked up on both the Wheatear and Tree Pipit yesterday morning and both were going strong despie it being -1C but the blizzard today seemed to have put an end to the
Tree Pipit in Maridalen although it may just have been clever enough to hide
away somewhere. The terrible weather will continue tomorrow but Wednesday
should allow me to have a better search for it. Best bird in Maridalen was an
Arctic Redpoll with a 100 strong flock of Common Redpolls (there was also at
least 1 Lesser Redpoll amongst them) but rarest bird was House Sparrow with a pair
amongst a 100 strong flock of Tree Sparrows. Have they been here all the time
since I first saw some in August?). The sparrows were curiously finding
something to eat in the snow on the road. I have no idea what it was and the
road had not been salted so it was not that they were looking for. I have also
put up some fat balls in the hope of attracting the female Grey-headed
Woodpecker that has been seen a handful of times over the last week although
not by me yet.
the Baikal Teal (gulkinnand) was a bit too distant to see well but using the bazooka with 600m lens and 10x digital zoom it was OK to film it
this is a screen grab from the video, and here is the video:
Today's Arctic Redpoll (polarsisik) - not often I see them in Oslo and even rarer in Maridalen
a Goshawk (hønsehauk) in the snow
Tree Sparrows (pilfink) finding nutrition in the snow on the road in Maridalen and there were 2 locally rare House Sparrows (gråspurv) with them
Tree Sparrows
there were also a few Yellowhammers (gulspurv) in the Dale. Could this be the winter to find something rarer amongst them?
The Tree Pipit (trepiplerke) on Sunday when it did look less energetic than the previous days
and its preferred area today when surprisingly enough I did not find it
The Wheatear (steinskvett) on Sunday. I reckon this bird will survive the snow a little bit longer than the pipit but did not look for it today
the Wheatear seemed curious about a Wren (gjerdesmett) that flew in
and the Wren was equally curious about the Wheatear. Both are insect eaters but the Wren searches in places the Wheatear doesn't or couldn't which may explain why it has evolved to stay in Oslo for the winter
