Snow!

As forecast and as the birds seem to have been expecting we had some serious snow today: 40cm of wet heavy snow. Now lots of snow in March in Oslo is no big deal in a historical perspective but it looks like the council has really taken to heart the consequences of this Global Warming thingy migigy. All buses were cancelled and the roads were chaos and the reason why? There were not enough snow ploughs because all the tractors have changed over to spring cleaning equipment and nobody thought to tell them to switch back!

The underground trains were still running though so I thought I would check out Frognerpark which would seem to be a likely place for birds to congregate in this type of weather. 140 Black-headed Gulls (hettemåke) were quite a sight including two birds with real pink flushes to their chests. Best birds though were a couple of Grey Wagtails (vintererle) that seemed particularly unimpressed with the weather.

I slogged on down to Bygdøy hoping to find even more geese but only managed to find Greylags (grågås) who were all lying down on top of the snow so could conceivably have been hiding other species in their midst. Surprisingly there were also 13 Lapwings (vipe) with them although 12 flew off at lunchtime presumably thinking they needed to find a place where lunch could be found. A Song Thrush (måltrost) flying over here was my first of the year.

The snow gave some great photo opportunities today with persil white backgrounds without having to resort to tricks in Photoshop.

male Grey Wagtail (vintererle). Its Norwegian name suggests that it is the wagtail you can see in the winter in Norway but that is just nonsense! This is an insect eating summer visitor although it does arrive earlier than White and Yellow wags.

Black-headed Gulls (hettemåke) and snow

portrait photo

one of the birds with a pink flush

  

Greylag Goose and a naturally white background

I had hoped for some white-winged gulls today but had to make do with this Herring Gull

Lapwings and Greylag Geese - not much food to find here!

Oslo starting to shine

The snow came as forecast this morning and was very thick for an hour or snow but had all meted by early afternoon. I didn’t really expect there to me much in the way of new birds today but in fact there was more to see today.

In Maridalen the number of Lapwings (vipe) had increased to 10 but none were searching for food and there must be a limit to how long they can survive here in such weather. Maridalen bird of the day were the first Twite (bergirisk) of the year with 2 flyovers stopping to join 3 others feeding on a field edge. Precious little else in the fields other than 2 each of Mistle Thrush (duetrost) and Skylark (sanglerke). At the feeders Chaffinch numbers had increased to 30 with a single female amongst the males and I heard some quiet song from the handful of Bramblings also present.

I was very unsure as to whether I should continue birding in this weather but thought that a trip to Bygdøy to check the geese which have in the past held a few interesting species and then to Frognerpark would be worthwhile as it is a while since I have visited either of these sites. And it was a good decision.

Arriving at the favoured geese fields on Bygdøy one of the very first birds I saw was a White-fronted Goose (tundrågås)! Only my second ever Oslo record of this species it was on exactly the same field as my first record in April 2010. The 2010 bird was a dull 1^st winter but today’s bird was a fine adult. It was not a particularly wary bird and allowed itself to be viewed at quite close range although I never tried to find out how it would react to me throwing bread at it ;-) A single Barnacle Goose (hvitkinngås) was also present amongst the Greylags but no Pink-footed Geese (kortnebbgås) yet. I also had my first Oslo Redwings (rødvingetrost) of the year here.

In Frognerparken my main aim was to see if the Iceland Gull (grønlandsmåke) was present for its third spring but when I arrived I saw all gulls flying nervously high up and they had presumably just been scared by a raptor and didn’t come down again in the 15 minutes I was there. On the lake I had 2 Coots (sothøne) which is the first time I have seen this species here. Also a pair of very tame Teal (krikkand). During the winter there have been 5 females and a male here. One female is ringed and thinks it is a Mallard whereas the other 5 birds acted like true wild ducks and I never saw them coming for bread. I therefore assumed that the ringed and tame female had snagged herself a mate but both these birds were unringed and therefore quite possibly new birds altogether. The male was particularly photogenic and I will most more photos of him at a later date.

adult White-fronted Goose (tundragås). The pink bill shows it to be of the European subspecies albifrons

Hybrid Greylag x Canada Goose paired with a Canada Goose. This right b*strd was clearly the gander in this pair

rare Coot (sothøne) at Oslo's Frognerpark

a male (left) and female Lapwing (vipe) riding out the snow in Maridalen

Starling (stær), Fieldfare (gråtrost) and Redwing (rødvingetrost). A few Fieldfares winter in Oslo but the other two are purely summer visitors

Jay (nøtteskrike) in Maridalen feeding on belly of pork

Tree Sparrow (pilfink), Yellowhammer (gulspurv) and Brambling (bjørkefink) - you would do well to see these three species together in the UK

pair of Teal (krikkand) in Maridalen

I don't think I've ever managed such a good photo of Teal before

 

Spring takes a pause

Signs of avian spring have pretty much dried up at least in Maridalen. Today was a nice sunny, warm, and nearly windless day and I had high hopes. The birds are clearly reading the weather forecast though and know that snow is forecast tomorrow and Thursday so are not getting ahead of themselves. I had hoped that today’s weather would encourage woodpeckers to drum throughout Maridalen but that just goes to show how little I understand what makes a woodpecker tick. I had just a single drumming Great Spot (flaggspett). Cleary it is still too early for much activity or at least I hope that is the reason. A flyover crossbill today had a deep call and was quite possibly a Parrot Crossbill (furukorsnebb) but did not allow itself to be viewed.

A couple of long-tailed Tits were acting rather strangely and being uncharacteristically quiet and gave the impression they were prospecting for a nest site – one bird kept going into a bush and looked like it was trying different places out for size. A bee of some description was a first for the year and my sinuses are detecting pollen but this in no way makes up for lack of birds! And where were the raptors? A single high flying, thermalling Raven was not what I was searching the skies for.

A trip out to Nordre Øyeren revealed great looking mudflats at Svellet which held two species of wader: Oystercatcher (tjeld) and Lapwing (vipe) so wader season has arrived! The next two months will be very exciting as long as the water levels do not rise too quickly. Teal (krikkand) and Mallard (stokkand) numbers have risen with the Teal being very vocal and groups of males chasing unpaired females around as they try to pair up before continuing their migration to the breeding grounds.

montage of the same Long-tailed Tit (stjertmeis) in Maridalen today

and now for something different. The moon last night taken from the house. Jupiter and two of its moon plus Venus were also visible although we couldn't min Mars which should have been visible but was probably to close to the horison

 

Maridalen

Yesterday’s snow has already melted but it was cold and unpleasant today and there was only a slight increase in bird activity. I kept things local with just a short trip up into Maridalen. A pair of Snow Buntings that flew in to the fields by Kirkeby were the undoubted highlight but they flew off again before I could get any pictures. The Whooper Swan flock had increased to 8 birds but the new pair did not seem to be welcomed and were chased off.

I had a couple of Black Woodpeckers that were drumming and making a lot of noise and it will be nice to follow these through the breeding season. I also had a calling flyover Common Crossbill which is my first of the year in Oslo. There were actually a few spruce trees here with cones on so maybe they could hang around and breed.

With the cold weather red squirrels were again using the feeding stations

as was this male Bullfinch (dompap)

and these 3 Hawfinches (kjernebiter) which were part of a group f 9

 

 Also a couple of pictures from a second trip I took up into Maridalen yesterday afternoon when the snow was thick on the fields and the trees.

MistleThrush (duetrost)

Roe deer (rådyr)

 

Winter bites back

Even though it was forecast it was still a shock to wake up to snow and wind this morning which could not be any more different to the weather when I was owling only 12 hours earlier.

A drive around Maridalen revealed the effects of this change in the weather. The fields at Skjerven that had held 9 active Lapwings (vipe) yesterday afternoon now held just a single bird that was hunkering down and seeing out the blizzard. Where are the others? Presumably down by the fjord in a muddy bay.

The fields seemed devoid of passerines but I did eventually find a single Mistle Thrush (duetrost) and Reed Bunting (sivspurv) alongside Starlings (stær). By contrast, the feeding stations were heaving with birds. I have often noticed this that as spring develops the feeders get used less and less but if the weather turns then they are suddenly a magnet for all the birds in the valley. Chaffinches (bokfink) were prominent but I only saw males whereas of the three Bramblings (bjørkefink) I saw only one was a male. This difference is I think due to the fact that the Chaffinches are all early migrants and it is males that arrive first whereas the Bramblings may well be some of the birds that have wintered in and around Oslo this winter and therefore not migrants per se. I also had three Hawfinches.

a Starling (stær) on the church ruins in Maridalen

rather grainy pictures showing male (left) and female Hawfinch (kjernebiter)

the field at Skjerven which held 6 Whooper Swans and 9 Greylag Geese but only a single Lapwing today

It continued snowing through the afternoon and this bought the first two Chaffinches of the year to the garden - again both were males.

male Chaffinch (bokfink) in the garden

I've already updated this post so there's no harm updating it again. I've just had an SMS and a couple of pictures from Simon and Trevor who I guided on Thursday. Look what they have just found in Vardø and down to only 2 metres:

adult Ivory Gull! Photo: Simon Colenutt

Photo: Simon Colenutt

Some Oslo owl success

This evening had all the hallmarks of a good owl evening: no wind and no clouds and also temperatures below zero. The only thing that wasn't perfect was no moon but you can't have everything can you?

I decided to walk into the forests of Nordmarka from Hammeren in Maridalen. I cycled in from here on 17 March last year and heard a couple of Tengmalm's Owls (perleugle) so hoped to be equally lucky today.
I walked in 4km and by this point the road was sheet ice and it was not particularly nice walking but I had got as far as one of last years owls so decided to settle down and wait for sunrise. Sunset was at 1830 although it didn't get properly dark until after 1900. After the sun disappeared I could make out the tiniest slither of a moon just over the western horizon and above this was Mars and above my head Jupiter. There was not a human made sound to hear and with no wind rustling the trees the only sound I could hear was ice on a lake cracking.
At 1830 though there was another sound: a Pygmy Owl (spurveule) started singing a couple of hundred metres from me and kept going nearly constantly until after 1900 at which time another bird sang from the other side of the lake. Even though I have seen more Pygmy Owls than Tengmalm's owls I have in fact rarely heard them singing which is in contrast to Tengmalm's which I usually only hear.
Unfortunately though I was not lucky enough to hear a Tengmalm's tonight and my attempts to call in the Pygmy so that I could see it in the torch light failed. Never-the-less a magical and very atmospheric evening.

Airport Guiding

Yesterday I was guiding Simon aka The DeskboundBirder and Trevor  aka The BarleyBirder from Hampshire who had a stopover in Oslo on their way to Kirkenes and a long weekend birding in Finnmark. With only two and a half hours including driving time I felt some pressure to find things quickly. I had suggested we go for the Bean Geese (sædgås) which are 30 minutes from the airport and listed Crane (trane) and GG Shrike (varsler) as other interesting birds I thought we could find.

I drove by this years favoured goose field on the way up and they were there so that was a good sign as long as they stayed an hour.

After picking them up and discovering that I had stayed with Simon at Dungeness Bird Observatory 25 years ago we headed for the geese. The first interesting bird we saw was a roadside GG Shrike so it looked like things were working out as planned! Closing in on the goose field Simon spotted a flock in flight and I feared we would arrive to find they had just flown off. Luckily though there were at least 50 still there and likely more on the other side of a bump in the field. We also had a fly over Crane, Whooper swans and singing Yellowhammers which is becoming such a scarce bird in England now.

We enjoyed the geese and then headed for Udenes Church. Here it was quiet but atmospheric and we heard and then saw a pair of Cranes descending from height to a distant hidden field. We also had a very obliging couple of moose which were having to go down on their knees to nibble on green shoots in a field - I have noticed this often in the spring when these fresh green shoots seem irresistible.

Time flies though and there was a plane waiting so we needed to head for the airport but not without another and better photo opp with the shrike.

Feeling satisfied with the day I drove back via the geese. This time the whole flock was visible and I counted 153 in a quick sweep over the flock. I read off all the neck collars and was happy that the flock was unchanged from the weekend. At 1720 they got ready to fly and left south towards the river. I took some pictures so I could confirm the count and then tried chasing them in the car. As I have discovered before they fly quickly and were easily exceeding 60km/h. I saw them distantly when they were close to the river and it looked like half went down to the river but half headed for some fields. They clearly need to eat as much as they can on their spring staging grounds to get into prime condition for breeding. At home scrutiny of grainy pictures gave me a confirmed count of 152 birds compared to the 154 I counted from pictures on Saturday.

As usual when guiding I don’t prioritise my own photos and rarely pick up the camera so mine are nothing special although Simon and Trev should have got some good ones.

the Bean Goose flock leaving for the river - I counted 152

these two geese wee feeding separately from the rest of the flock

the days great grey

A tale of two owls and an eagle

I had the always enjoyable company of the Natural Born Birder today and we headed out east in Akershus with a hope that the drizzle in the air would bring down some migrants. There was no real evidence that it had worked as hope and early in the morning it was really quite cold and unpleasant being out. At Årnestangen bird were pretty much the same but all the ducks were sitting out on the water and I said rather hopefully that they had probably been disturbed by a White-tailed Eagle (havørn). And after a quarter of an hour we noticed that indeed there was an eagle sitting on the shore out in the bay. It was probably a 4cy bird and we saw what was presumably the same bird in the afternoon over Svellet where it white tail but otherwise immature plumage suggested this age class was correct.

The only species that distinguished itself today was Common Buzzard (musvåk) with four birds seen at three locations. None were flying around soaring and making themselves known but all seemed intent on finding food and three were already deep within the forests. Jules had two lifers today and the species show the real difference between resident birds in eastern and western Norway. The first lifer was a distant drumming Three-toed Woodpecker which we failed to see so hardly a satisfying experience but the second was much better: a Pygmy Owl (spurveugle). Both the species were where Rune and I had them on Friday so look to be good stake outs. The owl showed well atop a roadside spruce and we had it in flight being chased by a Magpie (skjære) when its speed and agility were surprising.

Bird of the day though was another species of owl which showed very well in its daytime roost. Hopefully a bird I can follow later in the year.

Long-eared Owl (hornugle) found at its daytime roost

 

 

 

Pygmy Owl



the dot in the middle isn't muck but a White-tailed Eagle

 

Årnestangen

No real change in the weather but there were more migrants today although the choice of Årnestangen over Maridalen played also a big role.

Dabbling ducks are starting to arrive with ca.140 Teal (krikkand) a good number for such an early date. A couple of male Pochards (taffeland) were first seen at the weekend but when I found them they were feeding by upending with a flock a Teal and it took me a while to work out what I was looking at.

Two different Great Grey Shrikes were both singing but neither had attracted a mate. The song is quite a strange affair and includes mimicry and before I saw the first bird I thought there was a calling Snow Bunting before I managed to connect call and bird.

No Jack Snipes (kvartbekkasin) yet but I did have a Common Snipe. The marshy areas are still frozen in places so it is not yet ideal for snipe but give it a week or so.

In Maridalen there was two new birds with my first Mistle Thrush (duetrost) of the year in Oslo and my first Goosander (laksand) in the valley. Four Lapwings were sharing the field at Skjerven with 6 Whooper Swans and a Greylag Goose and one of the Lapwings looked very much as though it was making a nest scrape.

Still no raptors which I hope means they are building up somewhere to the south and will suddenly go through in a big and exciting rush (dream one).

Picking up jr. jr. from school I had the local Stock Dove feeding in a garden. I really need to try to find out where and if they are breeding although I have never seen more than one or heard singing.

singing Great Grey Shrike

male Goosander in Maridalen

 

Quiet again

I had plans to find a lot of good breeding birds in the forests north of Maridalen today. Various woodpeckers, Hazel Grouse (jerpe) and Pygmy Owl (spurveugle) were on the cards. There was a lot more snow than I had expected with the cold nights clearly stopping the big thaw and there was little water in the streams. Walking on the snow (and often sinking through it) was a good test for my knee and judging by how sore it is now I still have a bit of time left before it is healed. My lack of serious exercise the last few weeks as I try to rest my knee was also evident as I was quite tired after my exertions. Was it worth it though? Absolutely not! Cloudy but not overcast conditions and a chilly northerly wind were enough to cause a near absence of drumming woodpeckers although Wrens (gjerdesmett) were singing and seem to have had a good winter.

There was no evidence of new migrants either although Chaffinches (bokfink) were now singing in the forests although none were on the fields.

a pair of Dippers were probably the highlight of my quiet slog through the forest

a few Goldeneyes (kvinand) are back on the couple of ice free areas of Maridalsvannet

these 6 Whooper Swans (sangsvane) consisting of 2 pairs and two youngsters have been around for a few days. It is tempting to think that they are the pair that bred in Oslo last year with two remaining young plus the other non-breeding pair that was around last summer. It will be interesting to see how many pairs attempt to breed this year and which localities they choose