Same old, same old but mighty fine!

I had a very pleasant phone call yesterday from Stig Helge Basnes from Kjelle VGS. He wanted to tell me about the work he and his pupils are doing to improve the birding in the seasonal wetland which is right by their school and I which I have visited quite a few times. They have just finished a new viewing platform which looks over the best area which has traditionally been a bit difficult to see. He could also tell me that there were lots of birds in the area so my destination for today was set.

the northern end of the flooded fields at Kjelle

this ariel view shows where the new viewing platform has been put. The fields to the left are flooded now and teeming with waterfowl

I met Stig at the new viewing platform amongst some trees overlooking a flooded field full of birds. The light was fantastic and it was a joy to watch and listen to so many birds and chat with Stig who has a great job teaching conservation and having the chance to actually put teaching into practice.

Teal (krikkand) dominated and were calling and displaying but I soon spotted a pair of Pintail (stjertand) and surprisingly a pair of Bean Geese (sædgås) amongst some Greylags (grågås). Although perhaps not of the most classic variety these were pretty easy to identify as taiga (fabalis) Bean Geese due to the long bills with much orange although one did have a rather large base to the bill.

2 taiga (fabalis) Bean Geese (sædgjess)

pair of Pintail (stjertand)

I have still to find my own Garganey (knekkand) this year so set about going through the ducks one by one. There was some coming and going of the Teal from another area that I couldn’t see and I went through the ducks many times always with the feeling I was seeing something new. After an hour I decided to count the Teal. When I got to 198 I had to stop. Hadn't I seen this species a couple of times already this month? My third self found GREEN-WINGED TEAL (amerikakrikkand) of the year (of only eight seen in the whole of Norway so far)! A quick check revealed no sign of it being a hybrid and I could send out the news. I secured some photos and video and completely forgot to count the Teal but there were at least 400.

male Green-winged Teal (amerikakirkkand)

this picture shows a hint of a horizontal pale stripe. In the field this was not visible nor is it visible in any of my other photos. This is clearly a photo effect due to the bright light - the same effect as on the bird at Kurefjorden

After this excitement a stop at Hellesjøvannet was also high quality. The Marsh Harriers were displaying and I eventually saw at least three different males and three females. One male was seemingly paired with two females, there was a monogamous pair and an additional male who must have been wondering what his problem was.

Two female Marsh Harriers (sivhauk) interacting with the male flying away beneath.

pair displaying. Unfortunately I saw no talon grabbling and tumbling through the air

male Marsh Harrier (sivhauk)

female Marsh Harrier (sivhauk)

The lake was nearly ice free now and 13 Red-throated Divers were calling and 15 Great Crested Grebes were also back. It was a great atmosphere here with the calling divers and harriers plus a cacophony from the many gulls present.

Nearby Hemnessjøvannet was still frozen (at least at the northern end) which probably explains the high number of divers on Hellesjøvannet.

Coming home I stopped at Svellet and the ice has now broken up although there is a lot floating at the edges. There is quite a bit of mud exposed though and in a few days times there will, I am sure, be lots of waders here. Today though there were only 7 Curlew and 5 Oystercatchers.

Today was a really fantastic day with loads of birds and just so much noise from calling birds. I of course fired off loads of pictures and managed some record shots of the Teal and some OK pictures of the harriers although as usual I stuggle to get good flight pictures.

What will next week bring??

Frognerparken saves the day

"I'M STILL HERE!"

Migration seemed to really stop up today despite there being SW winds and a blue skies with scattered cloud. Per B and I were in Maridalen hoping maybe for some raptor migration but it wasn't happening today. In fact there was even less to see today than yesterday with the early migrants from yesterday now missing without a trace. A single Ring Ouzel (ringtrost) and drumming male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (dvergspett) were scant recompense.

I decamped to Fornebu but had little here either and not even the sea could offer anything - I had hoped in vain that the wind would have blown in some terns at least.

this pipit at Fornebu had me thinking Tree (trepiplerke) but I have concluded it is a Meadow Pipit (heipiplerke) due primarily to the long rear claw and strong streaking on the flanks. Compare this bird to the Tree Pipit from yesterday which also showed a stronger bill and a more prominent white spot at the back of the ear coverts. The differences are very subtle though and it is much easier when they call which neither today's or yesterday's did.

this female Wheatear (steinskvett) was particularly photogenic

the white throat is particularly prominent on this bird and it looks like something far rarer

The day was saved by a trip to Frognerparken where the Iceland Gull has become a regular attraction again. It is now in a paler, more faded 1st summer plumage and looks very pale. It is also sporting some bling, so the ringers eventually succeeded in getting their hands on the poor creature. With it being so pale I had big problems getting the right exposure on my pictures.

2cy Iceland Gull (grønlandsmåke)

2cy Iceland Gull (grønlandsmåke) Frognerparken

hungry?

 Here's a short video. I think the quality of my videos is improving although there is the usual camera shake in the middle but I bring it back on centre quite quickly I think!

Another pale gull could well be the one I have seen and photographed a couple of times during the winter but looks even pale now. I did not see it side by side with any other large gulls but it looked structurally similar to the Iceland Gull and could lead ones thoughts towards Kumleini.

this pale 2cy gull had particularly faded tertials and chocolate brown primaries. I reckon also that the structure resembles Iceland Gull and the wings are long and the head small. It is not one of the possible Glaucous x Herring hybrids as the structure and size is all wrong. I reckon it is just a very pale (faded) Herring Gull and probably a female hence the small size

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Also here a pair of Oystercatchers (tjeld) that were feeding on the grass by the side of the lake were relatively unshy and a number of other common Oslo (summer) birds allowed themselves to be photographed.

Oystercatchers (tjeld)

Chaffinch (bokfink)

Fieldfare (gråtrost)

mating Black-headed Gulls (hettemåke)

Jackdaw (kaie)

Keeping it local

I decided to keep things local and low tempo today. I started in Maridalen where there were clear blue skies but a strong SW wind. This had clearly caused an exodus of thrushes and there were far fewer on the fields. I had hoped for some viz mig today but the passerines were presumably flying too fast with the headwind and too high for me to see them and there was no goose or raptor migration either. This didn’t stop new birds turning up though. I had a number of Oslo and Maridalen year ticks with singing Willow Warbler (løvsanger) and Chiffchaff (gransanger), two Wheatears (steinskvett), Linnet (tornirisk), Tree Pipit (trepiplerke) and a Black-throated Diver (storlom) that circled the area of open water at Hammeren a couple of times before deciding it wasn’t large enough yet and headed back out towards the fjord where it will presumably wait another day or so. An Osprey tried hunting over the same area of open water but I didn’t see it plunge.

Tree Pipit (trepiplerke) taken at Fornebu. This bird didn't call which is usually the best way to distinguish them from Meadow Pipits (heipiplerke). On this perched bird the distinguishing features are the small pale spot at the back of the ear coverts, weak streaking on the flanks and the strong bill amongst others. The fact that it perched up in trees is at best a supporting character as Meadow Pipits also do this.

Redwing (rødvingetrost) - I realised I hadn't taken a decent picture of this lovely bird which is now back in force after spending the winter further south in continental europe and the UK.

This 2nd calendar year male Goshawk landed in a bush as I parked the car in Maridalen and seemed to be interested in nearby thrushes

Bird of the day was a Golden Eagle. It was at quite some range but I immediately had a Golden Eagle feel to it with long wings but I could see no obvious colouring on it and also needed something to confirm size. When a small raptor (probably a Kestrel) came and mobbed it the size difference was obvious so see and ID as Golden Eagle confirmed.

I searched a bit for the Grey-headed Woodpecker (gråspett) that has now been reported twice from the same place near Nes. I have only heard the species singing once before but have listened a lot to recordings and to my (poor) ear it is very like Green Woodpecker (grønnspett) such that I wouldn’t dare to claim one just on the call. I heard a Grey-headed/Green calling from exactly the right spot and went to investigate. To my ears it sounded exactly like the Green Woodpeckers I am used to hearing but I wanted to see it to be sure. I played the call of Grey-headed and got an immediate response. Now it was get interesting.... but it really did sound like a Green. I managed to find it and indeed it was a Green. Disappointing that I didn’t find the Grey-headed but heartening to know that it is not only me that thinks the two species sound similar – Green Woodpeckers clearly also get confused!

The male and female Kestrel (tårnfalk) were both hunting but I did not see them together and saw no more sign that they are thinking of breeding. At Fornebu which I visited in the afternoon the Kestrel pair seem to be well on their way with breeding with the male sitting quietly by the nest box where I assume the female is already sitting on eggs although I didn’t see her.

female Kestrel (tårnfalk) in Maridalen

At Fornebu the strong wind made viewing difficult but I had my first Wheatears of the spring here, a Swallow (låvesvale), Osprey and a pair of Little Ringed Plovers in the same place as on Sunday. I used some time to get good pictures including crawling on my belly and was quite pleased with the results.

male Little Ringed Plover (dverglo)

having a yawn - if only the picture was sharper and I didn't have an obstruction blurring the bottom left corner...

 

Jump jets

Strong southerly winds had me sea gazing from Brentetangen again this morning. The big movement didn't happen today either but I was kept busy for two hours before deciding to move onto Kurefjorden. There were some seabirds to see with 3 Kittiwakes (krykkje), 3+ Gannets (havsule) and single Common (Makrellterne) and Arctic Terns (rødnebbterne) the highlights. Only one raptor today - a Peregrine (vandrefalk), whose presence I was alerted to by alarm calling passerines behind me, which then flew over my head and hovered in the wind a few hundred metres offshore where it plucked and ate a small bird it had caught.
 

On my way to Kurefjorden i heard my first singing Wryneck (vandrefalk) of the year which is relatively early. In Rosnesbukta a low tide and wind right in the face made viewing difficult with two Bar-talied Godwits (lappspove) the best birds and very few ducks. I had been hoping to refind the Green-winged Teal (amerikakrikkand) to give it a good grilling but there were only 12 Teal (krikkand) in the bay. Moving onto Ovnbukta though there was a flock of 290 Teal but after going through them four or five times I felt confident it was no longer here. Nearby a pair of Shoveler (skjeand) were feeding on a flooded field.
 

With the day still young I decided to head for the wetlands of inner Østfold and Akershus. Although there is still a lot of ice on the inland lakes it is starting to melt on the edges and there are birds to find. At Hærsetsjøen and Kallaksjøen I had a male and female Marsh Harrier (sivhauk) and moving into Akershus I had a fine male Hen Harrier (myrhauk) by Hemnessjøvannet and six hours later it is still a hen Harrier ;-)
 

At Hellesjøvannet I had a male Marsh Harrier just to the south of the lake and at the lake a pair were over the reedbeds with the female seemingly searching for a nest site.
 

Around Bjørkelangen the floodwaters have receeded a bit and I had the first Greenshank (gluttsnipe) of the year for Akershus. There were still lots of Teal at Kjelle but a bit too distant to grill for something rarer and there also 30 odd Cranes (trane) in the area
 

Passerines were a bit thin on the ground today with fewer thrush and finch flocks but I did have my first Tree Pipits (trepiplerke) of the year migrating over Brentetangen.

Whilst I was "doing" Østfold today Per B was in Maridalen from before dawn with a fine male Marsh Harrier as his reward. Others had a singing Grey-headed Woodpecker (gråspett) so it looks like it is still around and maybe will give itself up for me soon.

I really struggled to take any decent pictures today but here at least are some images of birds seen by me on this day:

Greenshank (gluttsnipe)

male Hen Harrier (myrhauk)

male Marsh Harrier (sivhauk)

Peregrine with prey