On Friday the forecast was for sun so I decided to
pay the Hazel Grouse a visit again in the hope that the light in the forest
would be a bit better than previously. Of course, the forecast was wrong and it
was cloudy but as a someone else pointed out to me, it was sunny above the
clouds…
The male again showed well (is he paired yet?) and
even sang briefly in profile but I left him after a short while as I worry that
he will grow tired of my presence and make him harder to find in the future.
In Maridalen a Grey-headed Woodpecker and the Great
Grey Shrike both showed are avoiding the radar for a week or so and a Starling
that briefly stopped before heading north was a very late and confused bird.
Reports of Great Grey Owls to the north and south
east of Oslo give a slight hope that this species is wandering in search of
food and just might grace us with its presence again this winter, the Bird Gods
willing.
male Hazel Grouse (jerpe) on a snowy forest floor. He is still bale to eat the buds and shoots on blueberry plants but once the snow becomes too deep he will start feeding on catkins in the alder and birch trees
I managed to sneak up to him when he was in profile and singing but it only last a few seconds
the Great Grey Shrike (varsler) was hunting right by farm buildings and caught a mouse whilst I was watching
Grey-headed Woodpecker (gråspett). This was the female without any red in the crown and she spent a lot of time feeding (unseen) on the ground
most unexpected bird of the day and one I initially failed to identify was a Starling (stær)
It is getting very quiet now. Temperatures are
sticking below zero although we have not had any new snow. It seems that all
migrants have now moved through and I am not noticing any new arrivals now
although experience tells us that there could still be some major surprises in
store.
Yesterday
I went searching for some noise and my Hazel Grouse provided me with the
entertainment I was looking for. I was able to sit just 5 metres from him and
the only sign he made to acknowledge my presence was to turn his back to me.
This seems the wrong behaviour when in the presence of a potential predator but
maybe after three years of visiting him he doesn’t see me as a predator.
At
one stage he even walked towards me and then hopped up onto a branch. I
believed I had filmed all this with my mobile phone but in typical style I only
managed to film the inside of my pocket as I turned it on when I thought I was
turning it off. I could blame cold fingers but this happens far too often that
I can blame anything other than my own inattentiveness.
male Haze Grouse (jerpe) using the inbuilt flash
and no flash
notice the pile of droppings suggesting it had been in that spot for quite a while before I found it
this shot taken with the thermal imager hardly reveals any heat from the bird despite the air temperature being -4C and the ground being frozen, The tiny bright white spot is from the face
the reason it gives off no heat is that it has such thick feathering. It frequently blew out the feathers on its back which may have been to trap air inside and increase the insulation
a close up using the flash
I managed to read the ring on the male Wigeon (brunnakke) at Østensjøvannet and he is an old friend who was first ringed at Frognerparken as a 1cy M. He has been seen at various places since then including the summer and clearly thinks he is a Mallard. He is often seen seemingly paired to a female Mallard and may well be the farther of the hybrid seen at Østensjøvannet a few years ago. Only once has he been seen away from Oslo and that 3.2.21 when he was seen in Denmark 320km away
a walk around the waterfront in Oslo yesterday afternoon armed only with my mobile phone revealed a very late adult Lesser Black-backed Gull (sildemåke) by the Opera
and also a Shag (toppskarv) which has been hanging around here for a while
This weekend I was in Amsterdam on a strictly non
birding trip but one that did result in a lifer in the form of a flock
Alexandrine Parakeets which have established themselves in the city alongside
the far more numerous Ring-necked Parakeet. I also had Firecrest and Short-toed
Treeceeper so not bad for a no bins or camera weekend.
Whilst I was away a Dusky Warbler was found at Fornebu
which I looked for yesterday but it seemed to have done a bunk. Like the bird I
found at Østensjøvannet last autumn this bird was also apparently super skulky
and despite being seen (and heard) by 4 people did not allow itself to be photographed.
Fornebu did give me a new Norwegian bird in the form
of a Ring-necked Parakeet but this species is not yet established in the
country and all birds are believed to be recent escapes and are therefore untickable
but the frequency of observations is increasing so there may be something else
going on. Otherwise there were a few Bearded Tits.
Maridalen has revealed Pygmy Owl and today a very late
flock of migrating Pink-footed Geese. Temperatures have now fallen below zero
both day and night and with the ground frozen it was perhaps not surprising
that a thermalling trip last night did not reveal any Woodcock. A trip last
Thursday revealed 7 birds though which was a huge increase over previous counts
and probably represented birds from further north making there way south ahead
of the coming freezing conditions. A House Sparrow today suggests that they are establishing themselves and I look forwards to seeing if I can prove breeding next spring.
I visited Østensjøvannet today which I expected to be frozen but there was only a bit of ice on the edges and in the south. There were very few birds but a couple of Great Crested Grebes had surprisingly returned after the ice had melted following the previous complete ice over last week.
male Bearded Tit (skjeggmeis)
female
and another male
a young male House Sparrow (gråspurv) in Maridalen. Perhaps the best picture I've ever taken of a species I normally spend little time on
ca.300 Pink-footed Geese (kortnebbgås) heading south over Grefsenkollen
Pygmy Owl (spurveugle)
this male Wigeon (brunnakke) at Østensjøvannet thinks he is a Mallard
whereas this (young?) female seemed to know who she was
one of the Grey-headed 'peckers in Maridalen on Friday
and a video from last Thursday with the thermal imager of a Woodcock seemingly not bothered by a runner and 2 dogs passing no more than 7 meters away
Birding and Maridalen never fail to surprise. Today
I had agreed to meet Jack in the Dale to help him get a lifer in the form of a
Grey-headed Woodpecker. I got there an hour before it turned out JD would be
arriving so set about finding out what was around. At Nes I heard a call that I
could not place and Meadow Pipit was the only thing I could think and saw a
small bird on top of the red barn which had been favoured by the Grey-headed
peckers on Monday. It was the right size for a Mipit but through the bins I
could see it wasn’t and it took a few seconds for my brain to process the image
and realise it was a Black Redstart! Only the fourth record in the Dale and the
first in autumn this was a real surprise. It was calling a lot (a call I do not
recall having heard before) and was clearly recently arrived and wondering what
to do with itself. It soon disappeared but I heard a Gh Wood and decided to
stay in that area until JD arrived.
Soon after though I spoke with Jr Jr who
was not feeling well (first day back at school after a covid like cold) and
agreed to go collect her. Driving out of Maridalen passing the bay at Kirkeby I
glimpsed a large white bird in flight over the water. Whooper Swan would be the
default bird but it was in a gliding flight coming into land on bowed wings and
I had an idea it might be something far more interesting. Stopping the car where
I could look over the bay my suspicions were confirmed – a Great White Egret! I
only had time for a couple of pictures and to share the news as I couldn’t be
late. Unfortunately though the bird did a quick bunk and only two others saw it
before it headed north less than 5 minutes later.
I returned after I had been a good dad and met up
with Jack who was not particularly impressed that I could show him none of the
interesting birds I had seen before he got there. We hung around Nes hoping
that a pecker would show but after a long time when I was starting to freeze (I
never have the right clothing on despite living here for 20 years) we decided
to get in the car and drive around a bit. Stopping at Kirkeby to see if the
egret had returned – it hadn’t – we checked the area which has held two of Maridalen’s
previous three Black Reds and sure enough it had eventually also attracted the
fourth. A few other birders were able to connect with it and the Great Grey
Shrike also showed. JD stayed in the Dale until quite late without seeing the pecker
although others did and the rumour that a Jack a day keeps the birds away is
gaining traction 😉
A trip out with the thermal camera last night
revealed a Woodcock and a Common Snipe plus what I believe was a Jack Snipe but
it flew off before I got to see it properly (which does count against it being
a Jack though..) Also there were over 60 Mallard feeding on flooded stubble
fields. During the day you are lucky to see a handful of Mallards in Maridalen
and I believe the birds at night spend their daytimes on Akerselva in the city.
Great White Egrey (egretthegre) only the second record in the Dale and the best picture I could manage before having to hurry off
I did stop to snap this picture from the other side of the lake at a distance of about 1km
my first view of the Black Redstart (svartrødstjert) before I was really sure what it was
a bit closer and its identity became clear
it showed better later in the day at Kirkeby
photoshopped picture showing it from both sides
I am not confident to age/sex this bird but think the flight feathers look fresh which would suggest an adult female I think
in habitat
the Dale's Great Grey Shrike. It would be nice if the other Great Grey bird paid us a visit this winter
Common Snipe (enkeltbekkasin) from last nights thermalling
a Kingfisher (isfugl) from an otherwise uneventful visit to Fornebu yesterday
Grey-headed Woodpecker (gråspett) in Maridalen yesterday afternoon again favouring houses
notice its long tongue and that it has some debris on its bill afterwards. We can also just about see this is the bird with the red feathers in the crown
The weather has improved now with little wind and
rain but it is still cloudy which means that we have not been witness to the
fantastic display of Northern Lights that many people have seen elsewhere, and
further south, in Europe.
In Maridalen one of the Pygmy Owls put on a real
show on Saturday (when I wasn’t there) right by the road and in front of many
photographers caught 5 mice in the course of an hour and stowed them away in a
woodpecker hole. Just look at this picture!
Yesterday when I was in Maridalen I discovered
probably the same owl a few hundred metres away and this time (s)he was sticking
her head out of a nestbox with a gang of tits outside alarm calling. I believe
she had probably just taken a mouse in there. After this she spent quite a bit
of time looking out of the hole seemingly in hunting mode before flying out and
perching nearby and then definitely looking down for food. She did not catch
anything whilst I watched but once a number of photographers had discovered me
and the owl I thought it time to move on and of course I heard she did catch a
mouse later on
Moving on did pay dividends though as I got to see
the Grey-headed Woodpecker but it wasn’t just a single bird but two! They were
often together and at first I thought both were females but one of them had a
tiny red spot on the crown which I believed makes it a 1cy male (but after reading BWP this seems to be possible on adult females and a young male should have more red). They spent a
lot if time feeding on old farm buildings and clearly found a lot of food.
It was generally quite birdy in the Dale with for example a very late flock of 11 Meadow Pipits (although, and unsurprisingly, I could not refind the Tree Pipit) and I
picked out an Arctic Redpoll again but most surprising sighting was a pair of
Long-tailed Ducks flying north – has the change in weather made them think it
is spring?
the worst picture first but it documents the most surprising observation - a pair of Long-tailed Ducks (havelle) heading north
Grey-headed Woodpecker (gråspett) from this angle it is probably not possible to see if it has the red feathers on the crown
both birds
on a roof..
here is the bird with red crown feathers (1cy male or adult F?)
here the female with no red on the crown
Grey-headed are not like other woodpeckers!
I know this was the male (see video) but the red is not visible from this angle
red feathers
red feathers
and the definite female
Pygmy Owl (spurveugle) and the Blue Tits (blåmeis) that gave her away
here it appeared to be hunting from the nest box
when it left the nest box it seemed to be very alert and flicked its tail a lot as though it was a Wren!
Arctic Redpoll (polarsisik)
a White Wagtail (linerle) seen on Sunday which is my latest record in Oslo
