Life has come in the way of birding this last week
although I have managed to get out a bit. Today I had time to check on the
Taiga Bean Geese and was hoping to find that the flock size had increased. The
flock proved difficult to find though and when I did initially find them I
could only see a handful of the birds with the rest being behind some trees.
With the birds being so shy I didn’t dare to try to get closer to them but I do
at least have an excuse to go looking for them again.
There is still a lot of snow on the ground and lakes
are frozen so there are still very few migrants to see. Today I saw my first
Mistle Thrush and Rough-legged Buzzard and heard a Snow Bunting but these are
my first new birds since Oystercatcher a week ago.
The forecast is for overnight frosts to continue until
early next week when it will suddenly get a lot warmer. This will hopefully
result in snow melting and flooded fields and a surge of new birds.
I have managed a couple of nocturnal trips in the
forest which have been quite successful. A dog walk on Wednesday night revealed
a single Tengmalm’s and Tawny Owl. I had taken the superzoom with me but
managed to forget my head torch which is a real shame as the Tengmalm’s was
very close to me and I saw its silhouette. I went back without dog and with
both torch and Per Christian who always brings me owl luck (is very good company
too). This time we covered a larger area and heard 4 Tawny Owls and a single Tengmalm’s.
One of the Tawnys was singing very actively exactly where I had the Tengmalm’s
the night before and not surprisingly the Tengmalm’s did not reveal itself –
Tengmalm’s must be a possible prey item for the larger Tawny. The Tengmalm’s we
did hear was a couple of kilometers away in area where I have heard them in
previous years and which will warrant a search for a nest later in the spring.
Conditions were prefect for owling last night with no wind, a stary sky and
light from a new moon. We therefore expected to hear a lot more – we did after all
walk over 5km into the forest. This lack of owls (except for Tawny which seem
to be everywhere this spring) suggests that there are few birds to go around
after a number of bad breeding seasons in southern Norway. We need a good
breeding season this year and continued good numbers of rodents next year for
the population to build up again. We were out before it got dark in the hope of
hearing Pygmy Owl (in previous years I have heard 2 singing birds in the area)
and their absence is a real sign of how hard this species was hit by lack of
rodents.
Tomorrow I am guiding and Pygmy Owl is a target but
I do have that pair in another area to look for 😊
It's not often that the Taiga Bean Geese (taigasædgås) allow such close photos
here we see 6U and his mate 30 with the GPS collar. 6U was keeping look out a lot of the time whilst the female bird was busy feeding (she will need all the energy she can get if breeding is to be succesful)
my first Mistle Thrush (duetrost) of the year in a still snowy Maridalen. It was with a few Fieldfares (gråstrost) and Starlings (stær)
this hare met an early end when it tried to cross the road in Maridalen. The fur was amazingly white and soft and with no sign of the summer colours which will need to appear soon
this shot with the superzoom using flash did actually capture the Tengmalm's
I did manage to record it singing and also a couple of calls which I have not heard before.
both the overwintering Buzzards (musvåk) are still present in Maridalen and I have yet to see any new birds although they should arrive soon. This is the darker bird
Halvard’s Stonechat is still here (until yesterday
at least) which makes me wonder how long it may have been around before he
found it on Tuesday. Yesterday we had 30 cm of new snow so I was very surprised
to find the bird still there. Indeed, it was the only bird I encountered other
than 2 Hooded Crows and a heard only Yellowhammer. With all the snow I think its
chances of finding food were zero and it just perched with its feather puffed
up but didn’t look sick or weak and as long as it was in good enough condition
it will be able to survive a while by using its body fat. I had been expecting
to find it around a nearby farm where there are horses and manure and I presume
a few flies and it may well end up here if it can’t find food elsewhere over
the coming days.
Stonechat (svartstrupe). 2cy male of the race hibernans
this picture is from Wednesday before the snow came
A trip to Østensjøvannet did not reveal too much (I had hoped the snipe would be out in the open again given all the snow) but there were a few signs of spring with an increase in the number of Coots (upto 40 from the 17 that had wintered) plus three Goldeneye including one which allowed itself to be photographed. There was also a Water Rail that looks like it has survued the winter.
male Goldeneye (kvinand)
I couldn't help myself with playing with "levels"
The adult Water Rail (vannrikse) was still going strong
The Whooper Swans (sangsvane) in Maridalen on Monday when it was more spring like
The tagged Taiga Bean Geese flew north from their staging
grounds in Denmark on Friday afternoon. I had been expecting them to move later
as the winds did not seem favourable for a northward journey but it looks like
the urge to get closer to the breeding grounds trumped all practical concerns.
I went to look for them on Sunday afternoon (while the rest of the country was
glued to their television sets watching a strange sport called cross country skiing…😉
). The geese were very distant on the river and I counted 61 birds but could
read no collars.
I visited them again yesterday and found them on a
favoured field. This time I was able to view the at 150-200m range which is
good for this shy species and during the course of an hour I saw every collar
that was there. As the birds were feeding very actively it took a long time
before birds raised their heads and as is usual with these birds they were in an
undulating field so birds were often lost from view. There were 102 in total
and in addition to three birds with active GPS collars (27, 18 & 30) I saw
birds 6U (a male who is paired to 30), T8 and 04 (a bird which has lost its
neck collar but has a yellow ring on its left leg). This winter there were 13 ringed
birds noted in Scotland so I saw 6 of them. In addition bird 7V has turned up
on his own much further north in Norway and the other three birds with active
GPS collars have taken the Swedish migration route. This leaves another three
birds currently unaccounted for. As I usually see more than 102 birds on spring
migration there will hopefully be some more birds to come.
There were very few other migrant birds to see on
the river or on the fields and I noted no large flocks of Whooper Swans. Temperatures
today have fallen back below zero for the whole day and tomorrow is going to
bring a lot of snow so we may well see the geese moving back south as a result.
Getting my dose of Taiga Bean action (they are now
counted as a separate species) would normally have left me satisfied for the
day but things got a lot better when I got home. A call from Halvard H with the
question: “guess what I am looking at in Maridalen?” had me rushing straight
back out of the house. Halvard had found a Stonechat in the Dale. This was the
first record for the patch, a bird I have not seen in Oslo before and also a
bird that I (and many others) have been actively looking for this spring after
a record arrival further south.
H was still looking at the bird when I rocked up 15
minutes later and it showed very well hunting for insects from vegetation along
a small stream. It seemed to be finding food which seems remarkable given that
there were no other insect eating birds to be seen on the fields. Stonechats
are one of the very first migrants and are very hardy but they do live on the
edge.
So, this was my second new Maridalen species for the year (after Tengmalm’s Owl) and spring migration hasn’t really started yet. Will 2021 be the year that keeps on giving?
Taiga Bean Geese (sædgjess) - I find that they look more distinctive (ref. Tundra) from a distance when their long necks and bills are most noticeable
T8
6U and his mate 30 with the solar powered GPS collar
they quickly disappear in the undulating fields they favour and are often very close to the tree line
this bird wth an all orange bill could easily be confused with a Greylag Goose.
some of these birds look to have stubby bills and short necks so if seen on their own could easily be identified as Tundra Beans
heading down to the river
the birds are along the still frozen river bank
the movements of the 6 tagged birds since 3 March. Two of the birds following the Swedish route left Denmark on 3 March whilst the other 4 birds left on 5 March
male Stonechat (svartstrupe) - finally on my Oslo list
this male would seem to be a 2cy male (fresh tertials but older primaries and secondaries) and of the race hibernans due to very dusky flanks and lower belly plus nearly no white on the rump
it frequently flew to the ground but what it was finding to eat was unclear to me
With a title like that I am raising expectations and
this post may well end up being my longest ever but please bear with me as
Friday was a day to be remembered in the annals of Oslo Birding.
I hadn’t intended to do much birding in the day. My
plan was to go out owling again in the evening and I just intended to go out
for a short reconnaissance trip in the middle of the day to better understand
the lay of the land and see if there were any paths into the forest where we
had heard the Tengmalm’s on Wednesday night. Quite soon after leaving the car
my chosen (new) path became an ice rink on a downward 20 degree slope and I was
forced to leave this path and go through the softer snow in the forest. I just
started wandering and enjoying the work out (walking through snow quickly
brings on a sweat). I ended up where we had heard the owl on Wednesday (but not
by a route I would attempt in the dark) and searched for nest holes. There were
few trees that were large enough for a Black Woodpecker hole but I did
eventually find a large pine with a fair sized hole (not entirely sure who had
made it as it did not look like a typical Black ‘pecker hole). Scraping on the
tree did not result in a head sticking out but some white droppings on the bark
of the tree suggested that a bird had spent time here.
I contented myself that I had found a possible nest
hole and was looking forward to an evening’s listening. Heading back towards
the car I decided to play the song of Pygmy Owl to aid me in determining the boundaries
of the Pygmy Owl territory in the area. What happened next was not what I
expected in a month of Sundays – a (the) Tengmalm’s Owl sang in the middle of
the day and from only ca.200m away! This was madness 😊
I made my way towards the sound and played Pygmy Owl
again. This resulted in a Pygmy answering and then later the Tengmalm’s sang
probably in response to the real Pygmy. I tried to ignore the Pygmy (I had
after all filled my boots just a couple of days ago) and set about looking for
possible nest sites for Tengmalm’s as my reasoning was that the bird would be
right next to a nest hole (I know of no nest boxes in the area). Problem was
that the forest was young and none of the trees were suitably large for a Black
Wood hole. I therefore changed tactic and started looking for a small lump in a
tree and straight away I noticed one!!! There it was - a Tengmalm’s Owl perched
on a branch about 5 metres above me. My footprints showed I had previously
walked underneath it and that gave me confidence that it was not going to be too
bothered by my presence. It was a bit obscured by twigs but I found an angle
and kneeled down in the snow to study it. He also wanted to study me and was staring
into my soul to start with. Then and probably as a result of my presence he sang
again. Insane!!! I was able to film some of it on my phone and although the
image is small and quality poor you can see the throat vibrating!!!
After this he started ignoring me and snoozed off
until a couple of Great Tits discovered him but even their scolding calls did
not cause him too much annoyance and they soon moved off. I saw droppings on
the bark of the tree that matched those I had seen earlier and there was also a
single pellet. Dissecting this at home and posting the picture on FB shows that
he had recently eaten a Bank Vole (klatremus).
It really was time for me to head home but I did
want to see the Pygmy Owls again. One had been calling only 50 meters away and
when I got there a quick burst of playback caused a bird to sing. Subsequent
observations revealed this to be the female giving a call that Sound Approach describe as “frustration hooting”. She kept on going and the then the male
started giving his song from nearby. This excited the female and I suspected
that I may witness some interaction between the two. The female was very close
to me (she had previously flown at my head) and I wanted to film her calling.
My phone had only 1% battery left so I chose to hand hold the bazooka. As will
be seen this was not very successful and when the male called from much closer
and the female started trilling I thought that I needed to switch to still
photos if I were to record anything. The result was that I recorded nothing but
I did watch mating Pygmy Owls at eye level just 5 metres from me. I was kicking
myself as I am sure this has been recorded very infrequently. On the other hand
though I was happy that I had seen it and had now confirmed that this pair are established
in this area which makes locating the nest later in the season easier.
My luck was not out though. About 10 minutes later
the female gave her “frustration hooting” again and the male responded. I stood
between the two and decided to use up the rest of the battery on the phone and
started filming to record the songs. The female flew in and perched behind me
and again I sensed that love was in the air. In these situations where time is
of the essence if one is to digitally record the behaviour I always seem to
panic a bit. I switched to the bazooka (the superzoom was stupidly in the car)
and started filming the female again. As she started getting more excited I
panicked and switched to still photos. This wasn’t an entirely wrong decision
as I did manage to record the act for prosperity but with a shutter speed of
only 1/320 sec it was not as sharp as I would like but these sort of love scenes
are often filmed in soft focus (so I am led to believe…).
So, to make a long post short: I found a
day roosting Tengmalm’s owl for only the second time in my life. I heard, saw
and filmed it singing in the daytime AND I saw and recorded Pygmy Owls mating.
Needless to say I did not feel the need to go out in the evening.
Going through the hundreds of pictures I took of the
Tengmalm’s I see that I got none of it looking at me without a twig in the way.
I did take lots of pictures from an angle without twigs in the way but somehow the
bird was always looking anywhere than at me. How is that possible?!?
daytime roosting Tengmalm's Owl (perleugle). Only the second time I have discovered one and only third time I have seen one like this. This is what you dream of!
after his initial interest in me faded then he hardly batted an eyelid
here I think a calling Raven flew over
twigs!
taken with the phone - the Tengmalm's was abot 5m up in a young spruce
a pellet I found under the bird
I dissected it at home and Facebook told me this was a Bank Vole (klatremus)
and two videos. The first is taken with my phone when the bird suddenly started singing right in front of me. Despite the poor quality you can see the throat vibrating!
And now the Pygmy Owl action.
this turned out to be the female
she was very aggresive whereas the male only sang from a distance and turned up only to mate with her
mating!
and two videos. The first is taken with the phone and you hear the different songs of the male and female. The second is with the bazooka and records the female just before mating and then has the mating in a sequence of still photos
