Easing into (the) autumn (of my life)

Since posting last time I have been keeping tabs on my late breeders and the young have now left the nest but have not wandered far and will still be reliant on their parents for another 3 weeks or so.

I have been spending quite a time gazing skywards in Maridalen and have noted a number of Sparrowhawks and regular Ospreys with a couple of sightings each of Kestrel and Hobby but I have only seen 1 Common Buzzard and no Honey Buzzards confirming my suspicion that these species have had a bad year locally.

The odd migrant wader has dropped in with Greenshank, Redshank and Wood Sandpiper noted and of the breeding species the odd Common and Green Sandpiper is still around and a group of 3 young Little Ringed Plovers looked a bit lost after their parent have left them (I wonder how many broods these 3 are from).

A singing Quail was a real surprise but as usual I did not get to see although it was very close as can be heard on this mobile phone video.

A twitching trip to Svellet yesterday when I turned 50 (entering the autumn of my life?) gave me Caspian Tern (which I saw in flight and fishing) and Black-tailed Godwit.

There are extremely few butterflies around but I have managed to see Silver-washed Fritillary and got good views of one of my local Purple Hairstreaks.

Caspian Tern (rovterne) - my third bird in Norway and all of them have been at Svellet. This is the first one though that I have seen in flight

it caught a fish which it seemed to swallow in flight

a montage of 4 shots of it landing

female Purple Hairstreak (eikestjertvinge)

my first Silver-washed Fritillary (keiserkåpe) of the year. I would normally have seen many by now

female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (dvergspett) in Maridalen

female Scarce Copper (oransjegullvinge)

and a male

Brimstone (sitronsommerfugl)

3 young Little Ringed Plovers (dverglo)

young Sparrowhawk (spurvehauk)

Whinchats (buskskvett)

Wood Sandpiper (grønnstilk)

The last week and an Oslo and Maridalen tick!

It has gone a whole week since my last post and even though we are at home summer holiday vibes are still running strong in the family. I have been fitting in some birding and butterflying, often in combination with Beast walking. My main focus has been on monitoring a scarce and late breeding bird that I have found and there will be a separate post on this exciting find later but for now here is the rest of the last week’s action.

The week has to be described as VERY GOOD for the mere fact that it included an Oslo and Maridalen tick! On Thursday I was waiting to pick up Jr Jr from Tusenfryd, an amusement park close to Oslo when a message came through from Knut Waagan that he had found a Black Tern at Maridalsvannet (yet another fantastic find from Knut). Of course I began to panic a bit and sent frantic messages to daughter that really she should hurry up (a bit difficult for her to understand as this contradicted the message I had sent just minutes earlier….). Well, all good things come to those who wait and upon my eventual arrival at Maridalsvannet the bird showed immediately. It was feeding over a flat lake under very threatening rain clouds and must have arrived during a rainstorm earlier in the day. If I had just stayed and waited patiently in one place then I would have seen it really well but instead I pent my time chasing it in the car from one place to another hoping I would get to see it really well but being outsmarted by the bird which changed direction whilst I was driving and returning to where I had just been…. Anyways, it was a good bird 😊. I also heard a Kingfisher and with luck this will turn out to be a regular feature again this autumn.

Passerine migration is stepping up with Whinchats, Yellow Wagtail and Red-backed Shrike appearing on the fields and raptors have become a bit more obvious with especially Ospreys showing (up to 3 often vocal birds). A Spotted Crake has been seen at Fornebu and I spent a long time looking for this one afternoon which resulted in a three second glimpse as it came briefly out of the reeded that is it temporary home – goodness knows how many birds we never see.

The weather has been a bit variable and I haven’t seen too many butterflies but yesterday a dog walking trip to Fornebu gave me a fine Swallowtail and 4 different Brown Hairstreaks.

1cy Black Tern (svartterne) - my first in Oslo

young Red-backed Shrike (tornskate)

the classic Maridalen photo

a Whitethroat (tornsanger) that clearly had young nearby

Yellow Wagtail (gulerle) and Whinchats (buskskvett) in Maridalen

Osprey (fiskeørn)

a different Osprey (see tail feathers)

this male Roe Deer was so focused on spreading his scent that he did not notice me

juvenile Common Sandpiper (strandsnipe) still with some downy feathers on its nape. It is fascinating how the breeding waders clear out as soon as they can and there are just a handful left now

a Cormorant (storkarv) displaying with a twig - will they breed in Oslo soon?

young Goshawk (hønsehauk) although the feathers being moulted on the back suggest this is a 2cy and it is probably the young male that successfully (and surprisingly) bred in Maridalen this year

the young Ruff (brushane) stayed 3 days in Maridalen

4 species of wader at Fornebu whilst waiting for the Spotted Crake

Common Snipe (enkeltbekkasin), Greenshank (gluttsnipe) and Green Sandpiper (skogsnipe)

female Brown Hairstreak (slåpetornstjertvinge)

Swallowtail (svalestjert)

Brimstone (sitronsommerfugl) that tries to look like a leaf

mating Common Blues (tiriltungeblåvinge)

Birds - finally - and the start of autumn migration

Finally a post on birds although that had not been my intention!

Yesterday, I checked out my local hairstreaks and found single egg laying Purple and White-letter and then in the afternoon I thought I would cycle up into Maridalen to look for butterflies (I was specifically hoping to see the large fritillaries – silver washed, high brown and dark green). Well, maybe I was a bit late in the day, in the wrong place or there aren’t any but I did not see a single fritillary and a ringlet (gullringvinge) was the only butterfly I saw apart from the ubiquitous whites. I did end up walking down to the lake though and here I was delighted to find there are still muddy bays and there were birds! A juvenile male Ruff was a very big surprise (only my fourth record in the Dale) and an adult Arctic Tern was only slightly less surprising (they have form for turning up around this time). Single adult Little Ringed Plovers with single large but not yet independent young at two locations suggests three pairs have nested successfully (another pair had large young a few weeks ago) of the upto five that were seen in the late spring. I saw no Lapwings suggesting they have all cleared off as soon as the young could fly and there were also only a couple of Common and Green Sandpipers suggesting they too leave as soon as they can. A Snipe on the mudlfats looked to be a juvenile but two Greenshanks were adults. This gives me a lot of hope for what the autumn can bring and already tomorrow evening there is forecast rain which could force down something interesting.

In addition to obvious autumn migrant waders and terns there were also a couple of Yellow Wagtail – an adult male and a juvenile that were definitely together. This is an early record and although they do not breed in Maridalen they have presumably not come too far.

Ruff (brushane) - fresh scalloped plumage shows it to a bird of the year and its large size made it a male

here with a Snipe (enkeltbekkasin)

young White Wagtail (linerle), adult male Yellow (grey-headed) Wagtail (gulerle) and juvenile Yellow Wagtail

adult (female?) Little Ringed Plover (dverglo) and a juvenile that looked like it could not fly

another adult (also female?) and juvenile about 1.2km away. This juvenile could fly as you see in the next picture but its wings are not yet fully grown

adult Arctic Tern (rødnebbterne)

Black-throated Diver (storlom). The fluctuating water levers have ruined the breeding attempts this year and there were 7 adults on the lake including 2 very close to the shore that I think were hunting for crayfish

adult Greenshank (gluttsnipe)

White-letter Hairstreak (almestjertvinge). This was on the same tree as the day before but is clearly a different and more worn individual to the two I saw then

here it is egg laying underneath a leaf and by a bud

zoomed out

and a Purple Harstreak (eikestjertvinge) that is also egg laying