Tawny Owl

After spending so much time this winter watching Great Grey Owls it was a very pleasant surprise to see a Tawny Owl well today and be reminded that it too is a pretty cool bird.

I used to have a couple of nest sites for Tawny Owl in Maridalen but after the long and cold winter of 2017/18 when many Tawny Owls died I only had a single record of the species in 2018 and two in 2019 and these were sound records only. This year it has therefore been very satisfying to discover two nest boxes in use and a singing bird at a third site although I have still had no birds at my previous two reliable sites. It is surprising that things seems to be going well for Tawny Owl whereas there is no sign that the Great Grey Owls have even thought of breeding. It will therefore be interesting to see whether any young Tawny Owls fledge later in the spring.

All the nesting Tawny Owls that I have ever found in Maridalen are in nest boxes. There are MANY nest boxes of all sizes in Maridalen including a number that are suitable for Tawny Owl/Goldeneye/Goosander. I have no idea who it is who has done this wonderful and important job of first making and then putting up so many boxes but they deserve praise. From the different ages and designs of the various boxes there must be at least 4 different people who deserve recognition. I applaud you whoever you are 👏👏

Yesterday there were a few flocks of Pink-footed Geese migrating north but I saw none today. There are very few other signs of migration despite the winds being from the south but a flock of 25 Starlings on a field today was the first time I have seen them in double figures and they also contained a single Mistle Thrush and 8 Fieldfare which gave a small taste of things to come.

It is not often one gets to see a Tawny Owl (kattugle) so well. Note the black eyes which are so different to the yellow eyes of Great Grey Owl.

Mistle Thrush (duetrost)

Starling (stær) flock which also contains the Mistle Thrush and Fieldfare. All fields in Maridalen are still very brown and unappealing but this will change once we have some rain but there is unfortunately none being forecast

Mari Madness

Another day in the Dale with three different trips. First a short birding trip in the morning which was not as successful as it could have been due to far too many people within my 1.5 meter Corona Free personal space and a lack of battery in the bazooka which meant that a rather nice encounter with the Smew went digitally to waste. I did have the superzoom with me and took some video of the bird. A few flocks of Pink-footed Geese and a single Common Buzzard went north but I expected more viz mig as there was quite a healthy southerly wind blowing.

The second trip was with family and Beast and was disappointingly bird free despite my attempts to cover as much GG habitat as possible.

The third trip was with Mrs OB and the Beast after sunset and resulted in my first Woodcock of the year (a roding bird), calling Tawny Owl (probably the third territory I have found so far this year) and I heard a flock of Pink-feet heading north.

I was more successful on the virtual birding front. I noticed that the tagged Taiga Beans had already headed north to their next staging site in Hedmark (record early I think) and asked a local birder Per Olav Skaaret to check them out. He only managed to see 21 Beans and was unable to check for collars as they spooked on his arrival. If this was all the birds present then it would have included all 4 of the GPS collars that have visited Norway this spring (2 in Sweden) as all of these called in from the Hedmark location today – interesting that all of the collared birds travelled in such a small subgroup. The virtual excitement though came when Per Olav sent me a picture and asked me to confirm his suspicions that he had found a Bewick’s Swan! Indeed he had and this species is on course to becoming a national rarity as the global population is in decline and records in Norway now average only a handful a year. This is a species I have looked for this spring (as I do every spring) amongst Whooper Swan flocks and it would be fairly likely that this bird had passed along the Glomma River valley in Akershus which I have been checking.

One-toe Three-toe still going strong

In these Corona times it is difficult to avoid people when in the Dale. Everyone seems to be fleeing the city to walk in the countryside and there are traffic jams on the dead-end road into the Dale. I luckily know of some “off the beaten track” areas and myself, Mrs OB and the Beast had a very enjoyable walk today. We failed to bump into any GGs as I had hoped but did hear and see a drumming Three-toed Woodpecker which turned out to be the famous One-toe Three-toe female who has been here the last two years. Will she attract and hold on to a mate this year and raise young as she did in 2018?

A single Crane (I assume yesterday’s bird) flew over calling. Being so early back I would assume that this is one of the pair that has been in the Dale for the last few summers (but which is yet to breed successfully). That it has arrived on its own is not a good sign as I believe the pair sticks together through the winter. Time will tell.

A flock of 90 Pink-footed Geese heading north was a surprise as they have a head wind now and it looked like they also had second thoughts as they turned round and I lost them heading south again.

One-toed Three-toed Woodpecker

Crane 

Pink-footed Geese (kortnebbgås)

Continuing signs of spring

Small signs of spring continue to show themselves although it is pretty quite generally. Yesterday the first flocks of Pink-footed Geese migrated north over the Dale and were a very welcome sight indeed and today there was also a small group feeding with Greylag Geese on one of the fields. The first Barnacle Goose of the year was also on the lake and along with Canada Geese meant there were 4 species of geese in the Dale. In the afternoon a low flying Crane was also my first of the year in the Dale.

I have been seeing butterflies/moths this week but have not been able to identify them although have suspected that all have been Orange Underwing / bjørkevårmåler and today I found one sunning itself and was able to confirm species.

Here is my eBird report from Maridalsvannet today: 

https://ebird.org/checklist/S65998077

Orange Underwing

this photo shows ca.200 (I reckon) Pink-footed Geese

and this definitely shows 19

Crane (trane)

Canada Goose with Whooper Swans 

Tudted Duck (toppand)

Whooper Swans (sangsvane)

In quarantine in the Dale

In these Corona times I think my birding will be limited to dog and child walking in the Dale but that suits me quite fine to be honest as it will allow me to document the arrivals of summer migrants in more detail.

Today I had my first Mistle Thrush for the year plus my first Common Buzzard for the Dale. A Stock Dove was the second time I have observed one in the Dale this year and is a species which is I think trying to establish itself as a breeding bird. The Smew was also still present but the only owl I had was a Tawny. This species suffered after a cold and long winter a couple of years ago and I have not located any breeding birds the last two years. It was therefore a good sign when one flew out of a nest box when I scratched on the tree trunk although I would have preferred it to just stick its head out before returning to the eggs or quite possibly young in the box.

my first Common Buzzard (musvåk) of the year in Maridalen. The bird was on territory and calling

it is a dark bird and was I think one of last years breeders

the female Smew (lappfiskand) still present. The white wing bar and trailing edge should make it a 1st winter bird. It could possibly be a male still in juvenile plumage but I would expect to see some white feathers coming through on the head

Stock Dove (skogdue)

this Common Crossbill (grankorsbebb) was singing which you would expect to make it a male however the plumage is female like and according to the literature females do also sing  

Life in the Dale

Despite the lake now being nearly ice free the fields in Maridalen are still very brown and unappealing. Despite this I had the first 2 Meadow Pipits of the year this morning alongside singing Skylarks, 3 Starlings, Yellowhammers and a single Reed Bunting. No migrant thrushes have returned yet but there a few Chaffinches and Bramblings around. Very little viz mig to note but I did have a single Grey Wagtail and 9 Waxwings heading north. I also say my first butterfly or moth but too distantly to identify.

Seven Lapwings have now returned which might end up being the entire breeding population - fingers crossed for a succesful breeding season and that none get shot by French hunters next winter.

Amazingly enough I saw a third GG today (turns out to be the original bird I found on 15 Dec and one not documented since 24 Feb). I would love to know the reason behind the long absences between sightings. Have the birds gone for a pre-breeding season wander looking for areas with more rodents where they could try to breed but have not succeeded and returned to the one area whey they know there is some food? Or have I/we just not been looking hard enough?

I saw the owl at 10am and watched it for 15 minutes and it was still on the same well-hidden branch when I walked past at 4pm but had unfortunately been found by a small group of toggers. A bit later the bird had moved out ready to hunt but was now encircled. Respect to them for finding it but it really doesn’t help the owl if you stand in the area it clearly wants to hunt in…

Adder

the male Goshawk from one of the 2 pairs in the Dale flew low over me in a display flight

quite probably the entire Oslo breeding population of Lapwing (vipe). How many more years will they hang on?

this GG was alert because the dog was with me and had the jizz of a Long-eared Owl 

Lapping it up!

Norway is in a near total lock down due to the Corona virus and the government here is choosing to deal with the pandemic in a far more severe way than for example Sweden, the UK and USA. Almost everything is closed and companies are going bankrupt but luckily only three people have died so far. All schools were closed from Friday and in addition all pupils, staff and any parents who visited the school of Jr Jr (luckily not me or Mrs OB) are in home quarantine for 2 weeks after one person at the school has tested positive. One visible side effect of all this is that people are going walking in the countryside when they have nothing else to do and Maridalen on Saturday had more people than I can ever remember seeing before.

The Birds Gods are obviously feeling generous in this otherwise testing time and have instructed that GG should be made freely available. Two different individuals have been selling their wares on the streets of Oslo this weekend and we have just stumbled upon them whilst our walking ourselves and the Beast. Which brings me to LAPPING it up.

Today in quite horrible weather: rain, strong winds and temperatures only a few degrees over zero we were in Maridalen where we drove a few LAPs of the Dale, bumped into a LAPpugle (Great Grey Owl), saw a LAPfiskand (Smew) and had our Finnish LAPphund (The Beast) with us. I just need to have a LAPdance to complete the set 😊 (unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately?, Mrs OB is not a regular reader of this drivel).

I also had my first Lesser Black-backed Gull and the first Great Crested Grebe in Oslo for the year today so more signs of Spring.

My two favourite birds - on Saturday

and Sunday's GG with Jr Jr and The Beast. A LAPpugle and a LAPphund

Jr Jr, Jr and LAPpugle

today's GG

I had previously thought I could use the spiky haircut to individually identify these owls but realise now that it is just something that happens when they get wet

yesterday's GG

LAPpfiskand (Smew) - only my third record in Maridalen

look how small it is compared to a male Goldeneye (kvinand)

this Adder (hoggorm) was sunning yesterday but I hope was well hidden and warm today

An acceptable GG flight shot?

The Taiga Trio gave me an unprecedented level of winter guiding but when the 3 species inevitably became harder to find as the spring wore on then fewer people were willing to take the risk of flying over for them and then when the GG stopped playing ball the business dried up completely. Now the GG is definitely playing ball again and has been very straightforward to find and enjoy for hours on end the last three days but Corona virus restrictions mean no one can come come over anymore... Everyone arriving in Norway has to go into 14 days self isolation and schools and ski resorts have closed down across the country. If this madness continues into the spring and summer then there will be no one holidaying in Norway and the whole Norwegian trourist business will suffer bloodily.

I at least have the opportunity to indulge myself with high quality GG and have been able to follow it hunting and get some of those flight shots I have been talking about. When I look at the shots on the PC they are still not what I had thought I would get despite me having got a better hang of the camera settings I should use but I am getting there.

my usual standard 😉

when it is windy then you really see how thick the feathering is

the wind also caused the bird to struggle with its balance 

here it had just swallowed a vole