Wader desperation

This week I have twice boarded the ferry to visit my two ladies of the Isles and both times it is Fru. Galteskjær that has delivered but the wares she puts on show are very meager. On Tuesday it was a single Oystercatcher... and on Wednesday a Redshank, 2 Ringed Plover and a Common Sandpiper.

In desperation today I abandoned Oslo and went to Årnestangen in the rain. There was more to see but it was hardly a succesful visit and there was such a turn around of birds that virtually every wader I saw either came or went in the time I was there. Checklist is here.

 

the view at Årnestangen this morning. Some nice areas with shallow water and mud/sand but disappointingly few birds

a Redshank on Fru. Galteskjær was my Oslo wader highlight this week

showing the luck involved in wader watching in Oslo the Redshank flew off soon after I found it and was joined by two Ringed Plovers (sandlo) that I had not previously seen

a pair of Common Terns (makrellterne) seem to be the only terns left in the Inner Oslofjord and this summer has I think been dire for breeding

this young bird at Maridalsvannet may well have hatched further inland at one of the few inland breeding sites

No new Oslo year ticks!

Since my last post I have not added any new species to #Oslo2024 but then again I have not been on a ferry or seen an island, in fact I haven’t even looked at a tide table. The birding I have done has been mostly in and around Maridalen where autumn is in full swing. The Bluethroat stayed in the same place for a couple more days, Meadow Pipits are increasing in numbers whilst Swifts are decreasing in numbers and raptors are becoming more obvious with seven species noted. On the lake two pairs of Red-throated Divers have both brought a single young from their smaller breeding ponds whilst Black-throated Divers have been in flocks of up to 9 birds but are all adults with no successful breeding this year.

A trip to Fornebu resulted in a juvenile Little Ringed Plover showing exceptionally by a puddle on a gravel car park and I also glimpsed a young Water Rail being shepherded through the reed bed by its anxious parents. There is also a Ruff hanging around which could do the decent thing and visit Gressholmen next time I do so.

here is my favourite pic of the juvenile Little Ringed Plover (dverglo) and there are a lot more at the end of this post

an adult Water Rail (vannrikse). Unfortunately I did not manage a shot of the young

female Honey Buzzard (vepsevåk) in Maridalen 12 Aug with a disk of wasps nest in her talons which is clearly to feed young in a nest. This is not the female from the nest I am following so shows there are at least two pairs in the Maridalen area

here the same bird 16 Aug

the juvenile Bluethroat (blåstrupe) has shown well at times

Common Buzzards (musvåk) are quite scarce and I have seen no evidence that they raised young in Maridalen this year so this juvenile has presumably come from elsewhere

a number of pairs of Ospreys (fiskeørn) must fish at Maridalen as scrutiny of photos shows a number of different individuals. This is a male from 12 aug. Male because the underwing coverts are nearly pure white and there is only a slight hint of a breast band

and this is another male from 12 Aug here with a perch

and this is a 3rd bird from the 12th which also appears to be a male

and here a bird from 16 Aug which must be a female due to the heavy breast band and well marked underwing coverts

Hobby (lerkefalk) juvenile

they really make a lot of noise when hungry

still at least 3 weeks before these are leaving the nest

more LRP

Curlew Sand in Oslo!

Intermittent rain showers yesterday evening and in the night, low cloud this morning and low tide at 0930 meant there was only one thing to do this morning - work on my hopeless, one-sided infatuation with the islands and my quest for Oslo waders.

I fell back into old habits and showed Fru. Gressholmen my affection first. But when will I let it sink in that she doesn’t have any feelings for me. There was a really good amount of mud showing and I actually let out a cry of yes when I saw it but what was on the mud? 4 Black-headed Gulls😂. I did see single Greenshank, Common Sandpiper and Oystercatcher whilst on the island but all were on the rocky shores which you find everywhere in the fjord whereas Gressholmen is supposed to be wader site #1 because of the muddy tidal bay…

Well would Fru. Galteskjær forgive my infidelity and show off her delights for some brief voyeurism? As the ferry sped past on the way to Nakkholmen I saw two small waders but both turned out to be Common Sandpipers. Had I burnt my bridges with her just when I seemed to be getting somewhere? The ferry continues to Lindøya and then gives another even briefer chance of voyeurism as it heads to Hovedøya. I scanned and scanned and a wader dropped in from the north, landed for a second and then flew west. Up with camera and shoot and pray. And what do you know my first ever Oslo Curlew Sandpiper and #oslo2024 species 194. A camera is vital for «birding» Galteskjær as the binocular views are so brief that it is necessary to review pictures to be sure of what you see (e.g Little Stint would have been impossible to ID without relatively decent pics). This appears to be only the 9th ever Curlew Sand reported in Oslo so is a true Oslo rarity.

I have previously said Fru. Galteskjær has given me two new species for Oslo (Little Stint and Turnstone) but I was forgetting she also gave me my first Shag and Great Skua in Oslo and Gressholmen my first Red-necked Grebe). Anyways, the Curlew Sand is the fifth that Galty has shown me (3 to Gressy) and my #Osloever species #252.

This is my 11th visit to the islands in the last month so I have put in the effort but today’s sighting shows just how important luck is.

Curlew Sandpiper (tundrasnipe). the pictures won't be winning any prizes but the wing bar and distinctive white rump are visible and rule out any other species. The bill also looks suitably long and perhaps downcurved

 

these picture are even worse but show the colours better and suit a juv Curlew Sandpiper

the view of exposed mud at Gressholmen that prompted me to exclaim "yes". To be followed a few minutes later by a depression when I could not find a single wader

the two Common Sandpipers on Galteskjær

The Book of Thrushes and Chats

^{Verse 12}    :“...and on the 225rd day of #Oslo2024 the Bird Gods looked down and proclaimed “thou shall see a Bluethroat today” and their word became reality in the Dale”

an early juvenile Bluethroat (blåstrupe) but one I had been expecting to turn up as the first migrating birds had already been reported at other sites in southern Norway

it was in a field of rape seed oil which has loads of "weeds" and insects and has already attracted a number of Whinchats

my 193rd species putting already 2 above my 2019 total

Islands - what are they good for?

Islands are a mystery to me. You think you have a good thing going on and you try to treat them well but they just blank you.

There had been a bit of rain last night and a lot is forecast tonight and low tide was at 2pm so I thought why not. I gave Fru Galteskjær the focus of my attention and did not get off the ferry when it stopped at my ex, Fru Gressholmen - true devotion! Instead I stayed on the top deck and studied Galty as we sailed past. What fancies was she revealing today? Two Common Sandpipers…..

I tried to keep faithful though and disembarked at Lindøya which gave me Rb Shrike, Whinchat, Wheatear and Yellow Wag but not Bluethroat which I thought might be around now.

Now I had the option to go home or to sail past Fru. Galt one more time and also get off at Fru. Gressholmen to see if she had a sudden change on feelings. Well Fru. Gress only held 2 Greenshank and Fru. Galt only a single Common Sand this time so I am being rejected by both of them!

 

Islands - you can’t live with them, you can’t live without them!

Fru Galteskjær - I realised this little giver of joy probably hasn't been pictured before - I'm sure you can see why I like her!

 

no picture of waders but Whinchats (buskskett) are also nice

a couple of singing Stock Doves (skogdue) were a surprise as they are early breeders

Wall Brown (sørringvinge) may well be the last addition to my butterfly list this year unless there is an arrival of Painted Ladies

The day that kept on giving

4^th August, was a particularly good Oslo birding day. After my successful shift of romantic allegiances to Fru. Galteskjær gave me a Little Stint I did not expect to have any more birding of note. When the rain stopped in the early afternoon though I decided to have a quick trip to Maridalen primarily to follow the progress of the breeding Hobbies but also of course to see if anything had turned up on the lake. Heavy rain in early autumn is the type of weather that may produce an interesting tern or gull and with water levels now having fallen enough to expose a tiny bit of mud in places maybe a wader.

First stop was as always at Hammeren and as I got out of the car my Band app plinged telling me a scarce bird had been sighted somewhere (I am a member of many county groups so it was not necessarily a local bird). I did not immediately check the message but instead scanned the lake without seeing much. It was only then that I checked the message and there was a Black Tern at Kirkeby!!! The finder was of course Knut Waagen who found the previous one here and has a solid track record of rares and scarces.

I made my way there quickly and there it was - a juvenile Black Tern and only my second ever in both Oslo and Maridalen and #oslo2024 species number 192!! This makes this year my best ever and only eight away from the 200 that I have always previously considered a flying pig type of goal.

 

An attentive reader of this blog will have noticed that I went from #oslo2024 189 (Turnstone) to 191 (Little Stint) without mentioning #190. Well that was no less than a Golden Eagle with an adult seen distantly from Maridalen thermalling over Lillomarka on Friday. Histrorically this would be a very strange record but with a pair now established in Nordmarka it must be expected that there will be occasional sightings of adults at any time of the year close to the city.

a nice fresh juvenile Black Tern (svartterne). The closest breeders are in Sweden but it may have come from further afield

2 images of same bird. It's appearance changed a lot dependent on the light and at a distance in the bright sunlight it looked almost white

Halvard sent me this image that he took from his balcony at a range of nearly 4km!! I am wearing the red T shirt. Although Halvard was able to twitch me I think the tern proved just a bit too small