Pygmy Owl

Hazel Grouse is a species that is good to have staked out for guiding so I intend to use some time to get to know exactly where birds have territories this autumn and hopefully I will get payback for this later (if and when Covid-19 restrictions allow foreigners to visit without quarantining).

Currently feeding conditions are such that birds are seemingly using large areas as I am not finding birds in the same place two days on the trot. I am finding birds though and fairly easily. Yesterday I had two birds in the same area which I think were rival males rather than a pair. One bird was very cooperative and I got to see it both on the ground and perched in trees. Taking pictures of this species is always a challenge though: it is dark within the forest and they choose to walk or perch where they are protected so there are nearly always branches in the way and the autofocus (or at least mine) has huge problems locking onto the correct thing. With enough patience though they show in the open and as long as you don’t muck it up by having the wrong camera settings then an acceptable picture should be achieved. Today I had lots of out of focus shots and wasted opportunities but did walk away with some shots I am very happy with. In addition to the usual high pitched song of the male I also heard (for the first time) a quiet bubbling call which I have previously understood is the call of the female but unless there was an unseen female hiding behind the male then it seems that males also make this call.

I came across a large mixed tit flock today which had quite a few other species with it: Long-tailed, Blue, Willow, Great & Coal Tits plus Goldcrest, Treecreeper, Nuthatch and Chiffchaff but the absence of finches is really noticeable. After last autumns bumper seed and berry crop (which was apparently in response to the very dry summer of the year before) it seems that the forest has nothing to give this year and a couple of Bramblings flying over were the only finches I noted.

I saw lots of signs of rodents though and had a VERY happy meeting with a Pygmy Owl. This species is usually the most likely owl you will encounter in Oslo’s coniferous forests but after rodent numbers crashed at the end of 2018 there have been hardly any observations and in 2020 there have been more Great Grey Owls seen (the first Oslo record was only in autumn 2019..) than Pygmy Owls! My last Oslo sighting of Pygmy Owl was on 7 Dec 2018 although I did hear one last October so to hear and then track down and spend some quality time with a male today was magic 😊

Pygmy Owl (spurveugle)

male Hazel Grouse (jerpe)

 

there were still at least 4 Common Buzzards (musvåk) in Maridalen. Hopefully some Rough-leggeds will come soon

I got close enough to this frog to see the reflection in its eyes

Good weekend

Friday’s Hazel Grouse guiding was a success, I got an Oslo tick yesterday afternoon and then in the evening had a rare date night with Mrs OB so I have to say that this has been a good weekend so far 😊

 

Hazel Grouse is never an easy species to find and especially when it is your one and only target but whilst guiding on Friday we found two males including one just a couple of minutes from the car. Finding them is one thing but taking pictures and especially good ones is another. The first bird disappeared before allowing a shot but the second bird was far more interested in us and we had it around us and occasionally singing for a long time. Views though were usually in flight or very hidden behind branches although a couple of times it did show very well but flew off again before it could be digitally captured. My own photos were not my priority as I was guiding but I did manage a couple. Although nothing like the photos I had got earlier in the week (which I don’t think I will ever beat) they are not so bad for this species.

 

Yesterday whilst preparing Saturday morning breakfast of pancakes and a fry up a message came through of a Yellow-browed Warbler in Oslo. I still need this species for my Oslo list and was keen to see it. It was along a river through than industrial area that is supposed to be a nice place to walk and I suggested it as a nice place to walk the Beast and surprisingly enough was met with an affirmative response 😊 The bird was not easy to find but fell at last and even allowed itself to be digitally shot. Yellow-browed makes my autumn and as I will not be going to Værøy this year it means a lot to have seen this bird but I am still lacking something – I didn’t HEAR it! The call of YbW is actually the best bit of the bird and what really encapsulates the autumn birding feeling for me. My ears are open though and maybe I will hear one in the coming weeks as I walk the Beast…

 

Date night involved a very good dinner and then a social distanced cinema visit to see The Personal History of David Copperfield which once I realised wasn’t a biography of the illusionist turned out to be an exceedingly good film 😉

Yellow-browed Warbler (gulbrynsanger)

Hazel Grouse (jerpe) - never easy whilst guiding but this isn't so bad

Common Buzzard (musvåk) in Maridalen

another Buzzard with a young Goshawk (hønsehauk)

The Return of The Hawkie

I’ve been waiting for something good to blog about before bumping the Hazel Grouse down the page. Visits in Maridalen and the forest the last two days didn’t reveal anything worthy enough (although seeing the Whooper Swan family flying for the first time was quite a sight) but today I had my first encounter with Hawkie of the autumn and that is definitely worth writing about even if these days I have gained control of my previous addiction.

It has taken me four goes to find this bird and seeing it hunting in thinned our forest rather than on open clearings may explain why it has been hard to find.

I heard a Hazel Grouse today and am guiding tomorrow to see and photograph this species so fingers crossed for a successful outing.

Normally I would be on my way to Værøy at this time of the year but it doesn’t look like I will be able to this year which is an enormous shame and is making me feel quite depressed. Luckily though the weather forecast for this year does not look good at all (unless one believes a yank will turn up) so hopefully I won’t miss too much.

The one and only Hawkie!

I never manage good flight photos even though I stand there waiting for the bird to fly. All the flight feathers seem to be fresh and of the same generation which probably means this is a 1cy bird

both Nutcrackers, Hooded Crows and Great Spotted Woodpeckers gave the owl grief

this would be quite a site in the UK 😂

I had three flocks of Long-tailed Tits (stjertmeis) today including one with 16 birds so they are possibly on the move

Black-throated Diver (storlom) family still on Maridalsvannet

the Whooper Swan (sangsvane) family already seem to be accomplished fliers. Only one adult flew with the young and I wonder if the other is still moulting. I noticed the same 2 years ago that only one adult accompanied the young on their first flights and maybe it is planned that the parents don't moult together such that one is always able to fly

the other adult

the whole family

Hazel Grouse - best encounter yet?

 Yesterday and today I unsuccessfully searched for a Hawk Owl that had been seen in the forest east of Maridalen. It is still very early in the autumn for Hawk Owls to turn up around Oslo so the handful of records over the last week hints that something big might be about to happen although it may just fizzle out. The forests are strangely quiet with no Crossbills (or any other finches) which is in stark contrast to the situation a year ago when the abundant cone crop was attracting finches from all over Scandinavia many of which stayed and bred in the late winter.

My day was made though when I had an unforgettable encounter with a singing male Hazel Grouse. Late autumn is a good time to find this species as the males mark out their territories and today’s bird was only 600m from an equally confiding bird I had last year and could very well be the same individual. This species is normally very shy but these two sightings have both been right by much used paths and today I had a car, runners and noisy walkers go past whilst I watched the bird and I also had the Beast with me! With luck I will be able to pin this bird down and guide people to it over the winter.

Even though I was close to the Hazel Grouse it was not often it showed completely in the open and there was always a branch in the way but I am very happy with the images I got. I also took some video but hand holding the bazooka was never going to give a good result.

singing

eating a green catkin

singing