21 April is a red letter day in the birding annals
of Maridalen due to the Short-toed Lark I found on this date in 2016.This year though there is little to suggest
that a rarity of that magnitude will turn up any time soon. The northerly winds
continue although some rain and hail this morning did cause an increase in the number
of thrushes on the fields including my first Ring Ouzel of the year and numbers
of Meadow Pipits were noticeably higher (around 50 in the valley).
Early in the morning the lake was still 50% frozen
but by the end of the day is was all but ice free and this will result in more
birds using the lake although with the strong northerly winds forecast for the
next week it will not be easy viewing conditions.
Good birds do of course turn up as migration can only
be paused and not stopped and today I successfully twitched an american Green-winged
Teal at Svellet. This is perhaps the rarity I have had most luck finding myself
with, prior to today, four of the five birds I have seen in Norway being self
found. I have always thought that I would find one at Svellet as it attracts
thousands of European Teal every spring and I always go through them when the
light and distance allows. Kjell Isaksen had the honour of finding the bird
though but it was nice to have an excuse to visit Svellet and see it. The
experience was classic Svellet with the bird being so far out in bad light plus
a strong wind shaking the telescope that I was at the maximum of what the telescope
could manage. With 700 Teal to go through it also took a long time to find it
but I felt lucky to as not everybody who tried managed to connect. At the same
time as Teal numers have increased there has been a reduction in Curlew
numbers to 100. The flock again contained a Barwit but this was a summer
plumaged bird so was different to the one I saw last week. There were no other
waders other than a handful of Oystercatcher and Lapwing and with the weather
forecast as it is then other species may not arrive in numbers until out in
May. The water levels are very low though so Svellet should remain attractive
for waders for quite a long time.
See if you can see the G-w Teal (amerikakrikkand) in this video where I use the 260x digital zoom on the superzoom.
this was the best shot I managed with the Bazooka
and here is a screen shot from the video
the summer plumaged Barwit (lappspove), a male
my first Ring Ouzel (ringtrost) of the year, in Maridalen
On Monday evening a dog and Mrs OB walk in Maridalen
was bathed in a beautiful warm sunlight and great views of the four and a half
species of geese that are frequenting the Dale this spring. We also saw a
beaver which was feeding along the edge of the lake and due to the ice starting
just a couple of metres from the bank showed well as he had nowhere to go.
Today I also found a drumming male Three-toed
Woodpecker so have more hope now of locating breeding birds again this year. I
was getting worried as I had not been able to find them anywhere before
yesterday but this species is a late breeder and in previous years they have
still been fighting amongst each other in the first week of May.
The weather is still crap for migrants with
northerly winds, sun, no rain and brown fields. The first field was ploughed in
Maridalen yesterday which does mix things up a bit and there were a handful of
White Wagtails and Meadow Pipits on it. There were also a lot of Common Gulls
following the plough but attempts to find something rarer (Med or Ring-billed Gull)
failed but I will not give up with this type of gulling which is actually a
pleasant use of time.
This 2cy albifrons White-fronted Goose (tundragås) has now been been in Maridalen for three weeks and may well stay the summer
in the background are Common Gulls (fiskemåke) standing on the ice
the first blacks bars are appearing on the belly
the right eye seems to be completely unusuable now
the second bird which came in from the south with Greylags
Whooper Swan (sangsvane)
Greylags (grågås)
Canada Goose and a hybrid with Greylag
Greylag with Pink-footed Goose (kortnebbgås)
close encounter with a Beaver
three distant Black-throated Divers on some open water surrounded by ice
Common Gulls (fiskemåke) which are flocking in Maridalen prior to heading further inland
male Three-toed Woodpecker (tretåspett). The yellow on the crown was not visible from the side
In the garden we have three nesting boxes. Two are
for tits and one is an open box. The open box has only ever been used once when
Robins used it but the other two are used most years by either Great or Blue Tits
although it is rare that both are used each year.
This year the one with the smallest hole has very
surprisingly been taken over by Nuthatches. It amazes me that they get through
the hole but they do. They have no need to mud the hole up though and have
instead mudded up inside the nest box and outside under the roof. There is a
but of mud placed on the rim of the hole though almost as though they have to
do it. It is no longer possible to take off the roof to inspect the nest due to
the mud but I have seen them taking bark in which is what they make the nest of.
Blue and Great Tits have been looking at the other nest box and a few days ago
Great Tits were taking nesting material into it. Then on Sunday I saw the Great
Tits hanging around the Nuthatch nestbox and eventually going in. It took a
long time before a Nuthatch turned up but the tits quickly moved off although
returned later. Judging by the late response of the Nuthatch it is unlikely they
are incubating although I have often seen one of them staying in the box. A Red
Squirrel also showed an interest in the box and will take eggs if it gets the
chance.
A trip into the forest yesterday revealed my first
Three-toed Woodpecker for a long time. I could only find a female but may have
found a hole that was being excavated but am unsure and it may also have been
the handiwork of a food seeking Black Woodpecker. My sightings of Hazel Grouse
were limited to droppings but the day active Tawny Owl was again singing and being
scolded by Nutcrackers. The forest floor is covered in mouse holes in the grass
so there is obviously lots of food here but I cannot find any nest hole and
reckon this is an unpaired male who has been unable to find a territory and
attract a mate. I managed to film him singing which was cool.
the nestbox. The Nuthatches (spettmeis) have placed mud inside the hole and have sealed up the crack under the roof both on the inside and outside. They have also placed some mud on the bottom of the rim.
Great Tit (kjøttmeis) on the nest box
and inside
A Nuthatch (spettmeis) returns
and a Red Squirrel shows an interest
Hazel Grouse (jerpe) poo
an angry Nutcracker (nøttekråke)
female Three-toed Woodpecker (tretåspett)
this hole was in the same tree the pecker was feeding in. Time will tell whether it is the start of a nesting hole for Three-toed or a hole made by a Black pecker looking for food
Garganey has always been my favourite dabbling duck.
It is a beautifully plumaged bird although in a subtle way; it is scarce which
always increases ones interest in a bird and I was always fascinated by the
fact that in Britain, at least, it was the only duck that was a summer visitor
whereas most of the other ducks I saw were primarily winter visitors.
When one was found on a small pond on a golf course
on Friday evening I hoped it would stay until the next day and when I heard it
was still present I hatched a plan to visit it in the evening when I thought it
would be nice warm light. The only problem with this plan was that such a bird
risked being swamped by photographers and pushed off. Surprisingly though there
seemed to be little interest in it – maybe its beauty is so subtle that it is
only a birder’s bird. When I arrived though I was unable to find it and after
checking all the ponds on the golf course which held Teal, Goldeneye, Moorhen
and Coot I decided to check the large pond again. No joy but then it flew in
with 4 Teal and seemed to have come from a small stream (which I hadn’t
checked) where some dog walkers were.
After that we had over half an hour of fantastic views
when it fed at close range. It was frequently chased by the local male Coot
which led to it flying short distances and giving me the chance to practice my
flight photography – a skill I have yet to master. The results are promising
though… 😊
Earlier in the day a walk in Maridalen revealed a
flyover adult White-tailed Eagle – will this species one day breed in Oslo?
I am writing this on Sunday morning whilst the
others sleep having chosen to go through yesterday’s photos rather than visit
the Dale. If I had visited the Dale I may well have seen Red Kite which was seen
to the east and flying in the direction of the Dale. Maybe the lesson there is
take fewer pictures and bird more - or to put it more bluntly be more birder and less togger 😂
male Garganey (knekkand) - one of my better flight photographs
the cause of it flying was this territorial male Coot (sothøne)
golf course
with a female Goldeneye (kvinand)
I became a bit obsessed with taking photos with the reflection of the red pole..
my first frog of the year
I'm not sure what long legged bird this Sparrowhawk (spurvehauk) has caught
and first Camberwell Beauty (sørgekåpe) of the year
adult White-tailed Eagle (havørn) over Maridalen. Presumably a non breeded but a bird that is looking to find a suitable territory. Seems to be ringed
