Still too nice

Cloudless nights mean that there are fewer and fewer birds every day, or at least that is how it seems.

Encounters with Jack Snipe, Bearded Tit and Siberian tristis Chiffchaffs have been the highlights of the last few days as a wing bar or two continues to elude me.

Singe pairs of Bearded Tits are in two reedbeds at Fornebu but are for the most past very low down and are I believe still feeding on insects. They call loudly only very occasionally and it seems to be when they have lost contact with each other. Today I had a pair feeding in reeds just 3-4 metres from me for a good 15 minutes and it was possible to hear very, very quiet calls which I assume were to make sure they stayed together but they were incredibly difficult to see until they perched on a reed just over the ground for a couple of minutes and preened. They were only two metres away but were almost impossible to see let alone photograph.

I have had upto two Jack Snipe but lack of observations from day to day suggests to me that these are new birds that are moving through and just stopping for a day before continuing.

My best views of Beardies were on Wednesday when there was thick fog

a Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin) in the open

droppings and bill marks in mud are a good sign that snipe are around

this Jack was much better hidden. Can you see him?

should be easier in this picture

there are a lot of Long-tailed Tits (stjertmeis) around this autumn and flocks move through very quickly

a ringed Siberian tristis Chiffchaff at Fornebu yesterday. A quite classic individual that was also heard calling

it was together with this unblinged bird

the lone 1cy Whooper Swan (sangsvane) is still at Fornebu. It loosely associates with Mute Swans but is often alone

And a trip to Østensjøvannet gave some photographic birds

male Mallard (stokkand)

young Moorhen (sivhøne)

female Pintail (stjertand)

Shoveler (skjeand)

side by side with a Mallard

and a late Adder (hoggorm). This was very small and I believe hatched this year

MUCH too nice weather

 Sunshine, 14C and no wind is fantastic weather for the middle of October but is much too nice for birding. All birds that were here seem to have migrated south and hardly anything new has taken their place with the exception of my first Waxwings of the autumn today which flew south over me in Maridalen.

My hopes of finding a wing bar or two are fading big time and today I couldn’t even find a Chiffchaff.

A confiding Three-toed Woodpecker livened up a mushroom picking trip on Sunday when we also found lots of funnel chanterelle (traktkanterell) so both me and Mrs OB were happy with the walk in the woods. Fornebu has only has a Jack Snipe to liven things up and in Maridalen the presence of two Whooper Swan families and an additional adult (or more likely a 2^nd winter) is the only, and rather underwhelming, highlight.

Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin)

Whooper Swans (sangsvane) in Maridalen. On the left is the family of 4 which must be the local breeding birds and on the right is a family of 5 with an additional older bird. This is the closest I have seen the two groups and I assume that the breeding pair have been their usual aggressive, territorial selves

the family of 4

and the alert adult on the left which must be the male

the family of 5 with the additional bird at the front

the additional bird is not pure white and I don't think this is muck (although the bill looks to have mud on it) but rather a sign of immaturity. No young were raised last year in the Dale so if it a 2cy then it is from elsewhere but if it is a 3cy then it could be from the Dale as 3 young fledged

Turtle Dove

It was an easy decision to go to Fornebu again this morning. The Turtle Dove wasn’t seen after 13:05 yesterday but I felt fairly confident that it would be back exactly where I found it yesterday and sure enough it was. There seem to be quite a lot of food (seeds) for it in the area and one can wonder how long it has been there, and how long it will stay. Other birders were clearly hoping it would be refound as a mini twitch quickly developed and everyone seemed happy 😊.

Otherwise there were notably fewer birds today than yesterday and the Beardies seem to have quickly moved on.

Turtle Dove (turteldue)

well camouflaged