Beardies r back!

I visited Maridalen and Fornebu again today and this time with the Beast for company. Maridalen was a lot quieter than the previous day but I did have a Great Grey Shrike as the best bird. I had hoped for some diving ducks on the lake but a single Goldeneye and three Goosander were all I could muster.

Fornebu had a lot more to offer though. I got a bit further than Storøykilen this time with a visit to the dog park so that the Beast could run around with some other canines. This has the double bonus of giving him some entertainment and also tires him out such that birding afterwards is easier with him more content to sit and wait rather than pulling on the lead all the time.

With him duly tired out the next stop was Koksa where Bearded Tits that have been heard twice by others in the last week and finally gave themselves up to me and in the end showed really well. There were two pairs and with luck they will remain the whole winter and provide further entertainment. I am glad that I got to enjoy them on my own as judging by previous years events there will certainly attract a lot of attention in the coming weeks.

male Bearded Tit (skjeggmeis)

female

close up of a male eating reed seeds

and the female doing the same

2 males and a female when I first saw them

I don't think I have ever previously noted that the black "beard" feathers do actually hang loose

Bobbing Jack Snipe

After Monday’s snow I was excited to see what new birds had turned up yesterday. There was a thick layer of fog hanging over Maridalen that made viewing difficult, but it was clear that there were more birds around as I could hear and sometimes see lots of Redwings and Fieldfares in the air. A male Merlin was a real highlight and a species that I barely see annualy in Maridalen. A late Buzzard was also noteworthy as was a single Twite. There were quite a few Yellowhammers on the fields and I kept thinking I heard the “tick” of a Little Bunting but it always turned out to be a Yellowhammer. This autumn must represent the best chance of finding a Little Bunting as there have been lots of records in the country.

Moving to Fornebu the light was much better and I had intended to work the whole site. In the end I got no further than Storøykilen where I flushed a Jack Snipe and saw where it landed on the edge of a reedbed. I then spent an hour watching it in the scope. It did not do as much as I had hoped but every now again started bobbing. This is only the second time that I have observed this behaviour (and I was a teenaner the last time) and it bizarre and without any apparent purpose. It is unusual to see a Jack Snipe that is not frozen or in flight and I had really hoped to see it feeding and doing a but more than I witnessed but it was still a very exciting hour I spent with it and I managed some grainy, shaky video at full digital zoom.

Also here were two Siberian tristis Chiffchaffs that showed very well.

Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin) - it was much easier to see in the scope, I promise

a male Merlin (dvergfalk) in Maridalen

and a late Buzzard (musvåk)

Twite (bergirisk) are scarce autumn visitors in Maridalen

a shoal of fish had attracted a flock of hungry gulls at Fornebu

and 5 Razorbills (alke) joined them, I saw in total 25 Razorbills on the sea which is a very high count and surprisingly there were no Guillemots to see

A Common Snipe (enkeltbekkasin) in Maridalen

Red Squirrel

Siberian tristis Chiffchaff at Fornebu

they do look so "rare" but have become an expected species in the late autumn at Fornebu

First snow

Some sniffles (must take precautions in these Covid times) have contributed to little action since my last post.

The first snow of the autumn has fallen today and that should cause some movement of birds over the next few days although I don’t feel like venturing out in it just yet.

A visit to Fornebu revealed little except for a couple of Siberian (tristis) Chiffchaffs – quite why Fornebu is such a magnet for this species but no other eastern warblers will always be a mystery. Waxwings are also turning up but with no berries (after last years exceptional crop trees seem to have nothing to give this year) they will not stay for long. They were already eating rosehips which is something they normally only resort to late in the winter.

Attempts to find Tengmalm’s Owl in Maridalen continue to draw a blank but another trip further into the forest gave Hawk Owl, Pygmy Owl and 2 Tengmalm’s.

In Maridalen I had a rare non-breeding season sighting of a Three-toed Pecker and a male Grey-headed Pecker (a white feather on the face seems to suggest it is the same bird I found on 30 Sept) has been turning up on one of the feeders resulting in some amazing pictures appearing on my Facebook feed although I have yet to see it.

male Three-toed Woodpecker in Maridalen. It is unusual to see this species here outside of the breeding season

poor picture of a Siberian (tristis) Chiffchaff (gransanger) at Fornebu

first Waxwings (sidensvans) of the autumn

Hawk Owl at dusk

Maridalen delivers

It is always a bit of a let down to publish a new blog post after the previous ones have been so exciting but today’s birding/dog walking in Maridalen was not too bad at all. It was another lovely autumn day with blue skies and clear air. There has been a noticeable clear out of birds over the last week with the large Greylag flock having departed (the first frosts of the autumn probably providing the incentive) and there was only one Meadow Pipit and far fewer Bramblings than just a few days ago.

New birds had arrived though. On stopping the car I saw the first Great Grey Shrike of the autumn in the Dale although a drone scared it away immediately (unfortunately Maridalen seems to be a popular place for people to practice their flying skills).  A walk through the areas that had held Great Grey Owls last winter didn’t not reveal any (although things might change once there is snow) but a Hawk Owl was a very nice find and my first in the Dale for a few years. Checking suitable wet patches revealed a lot of snipe poo and eventually a Jack Snipe flew up from under my feet in its characteristic feeble way although its flight did get stronger as it flew to the other side of the field. This is my first record in the Dale since October 2017.

A couple of Black Woodpeckers were very noisy and I managed some flight shots of one of them when it flew low over my head. The Greylag flock which had peaked at 600 in the middle of September slowly dwinded during October and the last birds I saw were 50 last Saturday. A young Pink-footed Goose had joined the Greylags at the beginning of October and surprisingly this bird was still present all on its own today. It can fly and doesn’t look injured so I don’t know why it didn’t tag along with the Greylags. It will be interesting to see how long it stays around now.

today's headline act: Hawk Owl. Always easy to find when they sit on top of the tallest tree they can find

it also allowed closer approach

my picture of the Great Grey Shrike (varsler) was not so good though

a slightly better picture of the Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin)

flight sequence of a Black Woodpecker (svartspett)

the focus couldn't keep up unfortunately

the small area of red on the head shows it to be a female

the last Meadow Pipit of 2020 in the Dale?

there are clearly lots of rodents and this fox looked very healthy and well fed

Bearded Vulture or Raven?

close up of Pink-footed Goose (kortnebbgås)