Maridalen shines

Dedicated to Terje: a Goldfinch (stillits) in Maridalen

This morning I awoke before my alarm call and was at Svellet just after 5:30am. It was a windless morning and an overnight frost had left a layer of ice on the puddles on the mudflats. The water is still receding and there are now huge areas of mud available to the waders. Being such a vast location it was not easy to see all the waders but I estimated 400 Greenshank (gluttsnipe) and they have yet to reach their peak. No Wood Sandpipers (grønnstilk) but a Whimbrel (småspove) with some Curlew (storspove) and a single Ringed Plover (sandlo) were new. No raptors or ducks here.
 

I also dropped in at Snekkervika where there were 330 Teal (krikkand) and 54 Greenshank but nothing unusual and no warblers or chats to liven things up.
 

Two Whimbrel (småspove) were a nice early morning sighting in Maridalen, first feeding on the fields and then resting by the lake

It was only just after 7am and I was keen to give Maridalen a half decent go before breakfast so made my way there. The frost had resulted in the edges freezing over again but it was a lovely sunny morning with a good feel to it. The fields by the church ruins which have held so many birds the past days were now very quiet with just 3 Ring Ouzels (ringtrost) and 10 Meadow Pipits (heipiplerke) left although Twite (bergirisk) have increased to 6 and best of all two Whimbrel were feeding on the fields with a Redstart (rødstjert) in the same bushes as yesterday and a Wood Sandpiper (grønnstilk) in the bay.

The Wryneck (vendehals) has now become a pair and both were singing and engaging in courtship. Whilst watching them courting with one bird (the female?) swaying whilst the other sang, a male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (dvergspett) flew in and landed on the same branch. Somehow I only managed a couple of very poor pictures of them together - I think I forgot to press the button as I was watching in amazement. Later the woodpecker started singing at the same time as (in response to?) the Wrynecks. Hearing them singing together confirmed just how similar their songs are. The songs of the male and female Wryneck differ slightly and the Lesser Spot was very similar to the male Wryneck. I also think that the Lesser Spot got a bit confused...
 

Wryneck (vendehals)

The Wryneck pair courting. The male is I think on the left

The moment the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker arrives (obscured on the right)

exit Wryneck. The Lesser Spot can be glimpsed behind the branch sticking up on the right

the victor

When I got home I could hear the local Lesser Spot drumming and a male Brambling (bjørkefink) was in the garden. I did really need a coffee by now but what a way to start the day!

And the day continued in a good style. A family walk up to Dausjøen in Maridalen was also successful on the nature front. We saw frog spawn in the usual pond (not there a couple of days ago), our first Peacock (dagpåfugløye) and Brimstone (sitronsommerfugl) butterflies of the year plus a Small Tortoiseshell (neslesommerfugl). We also had a fox walking bold as you like over the ice at Dausjøen (thereby confirming that is must still be fairly thick). As it walked over the ice we could see in the background on the open water a pair of Black-throated Divers (storlom) and a single Whooper Swan (sangsvane) whose mate was already sitting on the nest. The young Whooper Swans disappeared a couple of years ago and it could well have been a fox that took them. Hopefully the adults will have learnt from their previous experiences.

this fox was an unexpected sighting on Dausjøen as it crossed the ice

Back by Maridalsvannet I saw the male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker who was also singing and drumming, one of the Wrynecks and also my first Common Lizard of the year.

This Willow Warbler (løvsanger) was feeding on insects in a ploughed field

In the garden I decided to check the nest boxes. After a lot of confrontations earlier in the spring it looked like the Great Tits (kjøttmeis) had seen off the Blue Tits (blåmeis) and I have seen them inspecting both nest boxes although not seen them with nesting material, I have however noticed Blue Tits carrying nesting material in the garden although destination unknown. I checked the camera nest box first and was surprised to see a new but unoccupied nest here. I then checked the other box and was even more surprised to see a Great Tit sitting on a nest and she didn’t budge whilst I looked. I’ve no idea who has built the nest in the camera nest box but the camera is now in operation so I will hopefully find out (although it could have been the Great Tits who then changed their mind and moved to the other nest box).

A twitch in Maridalen!

My choice of where to go this morning in the rain was rather narrowed down by me sleeping in and missing a lift with Kjetil J. to Svellet. When I was finally in a position to get moving at 0830 I chose therefore Maridalen for a short pre-breakfast trip.

It was still raining heavily and sure enough there had been a fall of waders with new record counts. There were a minimum of 28 Redshank (rødstilk) and 40 Greenshank (gluttsnipe) resting where they could (there is no mud at the moment). As soon as the rain eased the birds started calling and began flying off – it pays to be there in the rain.

Redshanks (rødstilk) and Greenshanks (gluttsnipe) forced down by the rain. They flew off north as soon as the rain eased

The Shore Lark (fjellerke) was still on the fields – it seems to have a favourite spot right by the church ruins but is easily disturbed here and then flies up on to the ploughed fields. I reported it and during the course of the day a twitch occurred! This is rarer in Maridalen than any bird I have seen there. I went up again in the afternoon and took this picture – madness J

Rarer than the bird itself - a twitch, including one of Norways top ten listers

Also on the fields today a female Yellow Wagtail (gulerle) and a few Ring Ouzels (ringtrost) still. I also had a male Redstart (rødstjert) and a migrating flock of 60 Pink-footed Geese (kortnebbgås). No raptors today – it would be great to have a Pallid Harrier (steppehauk) hunting the flocks of Meadow Pipits (heipiplerke) or thrushes that are so numerous in Maridalen at the moment.

female Yellow Wagtail. This resembles the one I had at Svellet a couple of days ago and may also be a flava

crappy of picture of a great bird, Redstart (rødstjert). Note that it is ringed

At Svellet Kjetil had in increase in Greenshank to 150 and Wood Sandpipers (grønnstilk) to 12 along with 2 Ruff (brushane) and a few Ringed (sandlo) and Little Ringed Plovers (dverglo). It is surprising that the rain didn’t cause a larger fall here given the numbers at Maridalen but it is good to see the numbers building up.

Something good and not quite something cosmic

Back-throated Diver (storlom)

Today started without a hint of wind in the air. It was overcast and cold and with a threat of rain but the lack of wind made it pleasant – it also felt like there would be birds to be seen.

I had decided that I would go to Svellet again today as the weather would make for much better viewing conditions than I had yesterday (when there is sun the heat haze makes it very difficult scanning the vast mudflats). Something told me to visit Maridalen first though....

There were no new (or old) ducks on the water at Hammeren (the lake is still 95% frozen) but the pair of Black-throated Divers were there. So, no influx of diving ducks but perhaps not surprising with so little open water. I stopped at the church ruins to check the fields and also the bay here. On the ice were a lot of gulls but I could find nothing unusual (this time last year the Med Gull turned up on the ice). The fields of burnt stubble still held a lot of birds though with at least 7 Ring Ouzels (ringtrost) which are unusual here in May, 2 Twite (bergirisk) with the male having a particularly pink rump and a resting Golden Plover (heilo) amongst the commoner birds. As I walked along the path a lark flew up and circled over me. It didn’t call and against the sky I couldn’t noticed any plumage characters but it felt good. It landed behind a ridge in the field and I was able to approach closer. It then popped its black and yellow head up to confirm a Shore Lark (fjellerke)!

The sight that greeted me

Although this bird has its European breeding stronghold in Norway it is a great rarity in and around Oslo so this was a patch and county tick for me. It stayed loyal to the same small field and was seen by several others during the day.

Shore Lark (fjellerke) - a new species for me in Maridalen

In the beginning of May I would expect a field like this to be holding real heralds of spring such as Yellow Wagtails (gulerle) and Whinchats (buskskvett). It is a real sign of the late spring therefore that it is birds such as Ring Ouzel, Twite, Golden Plover and Shore Lark that are here – one could almost believe one was in the mountains in July!

Feeling torn as to whether to continue searching in Maridalen or go to Svellet I decided on the later although had to stop the car twice on the way out of Maridalen as two flocks of Pink-footed Geese (kortnebbgås) headed north. By the time I got to Svellet a southerly wind had started to pick up and with a lack of suitable clothes I started to feel bitterly cold and this could be the cause of my subsequent delusions.....

Wader numbers had noticeably increased from yesterday and there were now at least 60 Greenshank (gluttsnipe) plus 4 Wood Sandpipers (grønnstilk). Also on the mud a male Yellow Wagtail of the Scandinavian race thunbergi and my first Sand Martin (sandsvale) of the year was hunting for (non exsistent) insects.

Whilst going through the waders hoping to pick out something rarer I found a smaller, pale wader with a distant group of Greenshanks wading in the water.

Doesn't that look like an exciting wader?

I really wasn’t sure what it was and made my way laboriously towards it through the oozing mud. It looked very exciting and my thoughts started drifting towards its being a Stilt Sandpiper (sytlesnipe). It appeared long billed and long necked with a prominent supercilium and the way it was wading with the Greenshank started getting me convinced this is what it was. Still I wasn’t quite sure which luckily stopped me from sending out any foolish messages!

strong supercilium, long (?) black bill

can that really "only" be a Knot (polarsnipe)?

I saw it in flight and the wing bar and grey rump didn’t add up but I still didn't know what I was looking at.

the flight shot reveals no doubt - there is no other species than Knot with the obvious wing bar and pale grey rump

It then landed beside the Wood Sandpipers and was noticeably bigger. This wasn’t right for Stilt Sand but what was it then? Per Buertange then called me and I was able to get him to go through a bird book quoting measurements to me. It was only then that things started to fall into place and the wing and rump/tail pattern made sense. It was a Knot! But why wasn’t it red, what was it doing with Greenshank and wasn’t that bill too long?

It must be a 2cy bird moulting into 1^st summer plumage which explains the lack of red in the plumage and the otherwise pale faded feathers but I still cannot quite get the bill and neck to fit with Knot but that flight shot doesn’t leave any doubt. Also I understand that the most birds in their first year usually stay in winter quarters and do not migrate north. Just one of those birds I guess.

Tonight and tomorrow there is forecast continued strong southerly winds and rain which should cause a good fall of waders plus others. Where to go?

First skua

Migration seems to have ground to a temporary halt again. Although it is sunny it is still cold and a lack of green leaves and insects is holding back the second wave of migration. That doesn't stop me though.
 

After the first skuas were reported from Brentetangen yesterday I thought I would get there early this morning as strong southerlies were forecast overnight moving to south westerlies in the morning. After arriving at 0555 I had a very cold three hours with little happening. I decided though that I wouldn't leave until I had seen a skua. At 0830 I changed tactics and decided I would stay until 0855 to make it a round 3 hours and as usually happens I was rewarded with a dark phase Arctic Skua (tyvjo) heading north at 0845. Otherwise there were three Common Terns (makrellterne) and a few divers and Kittiwakes and a pair of Gadwall (snadderand) heading north.

Kurefjorden had little to offer with fewer ducks and waders than on recent visits. The flooded fields at Grindholmen held my first Wood Sandpiper (grønnstilk) of the year.

Heading back into Akershus I visited Hemnessjøen and Hellesjøvannet. Hemnessjøen had a large flock of Pink-footed Geese (kortnebbgås) and a few ducks. At Hellesjøvannet I only had one Marsh Harrier (sivhauk) this time with the others probably off hunting.

At Kjelle the waters are receding and there were only 120 Teal (krikkand) left, down from 600 reported yesterday and the Green-winged Teal (amerikakrikkand) has left with the rest of the Teal. Although it looks good for waders now there were only 8 Green Sandpipers (skognsipe) although I expect good numbers of Wood Sandpipers to arrive next week. Another site that will soon host many Woodies is Svellet and here the water levels are also receding creating vast mudflats. Today there were 10 Redshank (rødstilk) and 13 Greenshank (gluttsnipe) but soon there will be hundreds if not thousands of waders here. Also here my first Yellow Wagtail of the year.

Yellow Wagtail (gulerle). I reckon this is a female flava as opposed to the normal scandinavian thunbergi. Females without the company of a male are not the easiest to ID to subspecies.