To hang em or not to hang em?

 

Do you see anything hanging on that hook?

No?

That’s because today delivered big time 😊

 

Today really did feel like a make or break day for (my) Oslo bird year. If the forecast southerly winds, cloud and showers did not deliver on 9^th May then there would be no chance of this spring having a big day especially as the forecast for the next 10 days just looks to be sun. I had been thinking of playing away and seawatching at Brentetangen followed by Kurefjorden and then Dotterel searching but in the end decided, with Jack, to keep it local and stare at the fjord at Huk from sunrise. I have only done this once before but the efforts of Per Buertange a decade or so ago proved that there was potential in it. We got there at 0450 to see that there was a fairly low, and heavy, cloud base and a decent southerly wind blowing into our faces. Now we just had to sit down, keep warm and wait to find out what the bird gods had in store for us.

the view at 05:27

For the first hour or so I was thinking that I would be hanging my bins on that hook as apart from a large flock of Common Scoter resting on the sea and a Bar-tailed Godwit (Oslo #157) that had been roosting on the rocks when we arrived there was really no sign of any movement. But then things did move. First Jack picked up a skua and a dark phase Arctic (Oslo #158) passed at relatively close range. Then we heard a Greenshank calling above us and in our attempts to find it (there were 13 of them) we saw a large flock of Red-throated Divers (60) and then over the course of the next couple of hours we had a numbers of other flocks and ended up totalling 323 birds which absolutely blasts away any previous counts from south eastern Norway. We also had migrating flocks of Whimbrel which totalled 53, a huge flock of 200 Golden Plover which flew north before turning around, 70 Velvet Scoters, 3 Guillemots and an Arctic Tern (Oslo #159). Rarest though was a flyover Red-throated Pipit (Oslo #160) which we identified on call although our views did confirm it was a pipit.. and a Great Northern Diver (Oslo #161) which is an Oslo tick tick for me, #251.

One disappointing and really strange feature of the morning was the complete lack of passerine migration with not a single Yellow Wag or Wheatear for example.

 

We packed our bags after 5 hours and then headed to Maridalen. Here it was raining and with the low cloud expectations were not low but there was little to see although a singing Icterine Warbler (Oslo #162) and Hobby (Oslo #163) heading north were notable and new for the year.

There were 30 or so Swallows feeding over the lake so we thought Østensjøvannet could be a good call for hirundines and maybe terns or Little Gulls. There were a few Swallows and House Martins but 3 Swifts (Oslo #164) were the best we could conjure up.

So I had 8 Oslo year ticks today and I am now approaching the number of species I feel are guaranteed so if I am to have a record year I need a rush of scarce and rare birds.

Arctic Skua (tyvjo) heading towards us with Common Terns (makrellterne) behind

as close as it got and despite the gloom these are I think my best pics of the species close to Oslo

60 odd Red-throated Divers (smålom) @06.59

and part of an even larger flock @08.56. The flocks were flying high and didn't seem to be sure of where to go

some of the 400+ Common Scoter (svartand) that were offshore

and ca.200 Golden Plover (heilo) that first flew north and then turned and went back south

there were good numbers of Common Terns (makrellterne) and amongst them at least this one Arctic (rødnebbterne)

some of the 70 Velvet Scoter (sjøorre) we saw

a couple of the 53 Whimbrel (småspove) we saw stopped for a rest and here this one looks tiny next to a Great Black-backed Gull (svartbak)

an early singing Icterine Warbler (gulsanger) in Maridalen

and the first Hobby (lerkefalk) of the year

Waiting for the birds to come

Whilst at the cabin I received reports of both Pomarine and Long-tailed Skuas that should have been heading my way but without me managing to see them although I did find another Arctic Skua and a Black Guillemot (both rare in these parts).

On Sunday morning a male Surf Scoter was reported from further south and was heading north towards me. I had a hope of seeing it but no real expectation of actually succeeding. When a few hours later I found a flock of scoter resting on the sea I of course had to grill them. It was long range and terrible light and the birds were sleeping but then a porpoise surfaced right by them and they all stuck their heads up nervously and voila - one had big white areas on its head😊. This is a real blocker on the Akershus county list with just one prior single observor (but photographed) record which has now been supplemented by my single observor and NOT photographed record.

Butterflies are always a focus when we are staying here and I thought I had added Wood White to the area list but have retracted that observation as I didn’t get a photo and subsequently had some confusing small Green-veined Whites. Dingy and Grizzled Skipper and Green-underside Blue were the undoubted highlights with only 2 other species noted - Brimstone and Orange Tip.

I added Icterine Warbler to my year list and a Red-backed Shrike singing in a neighbouring garden was a true surprise as I failed to see any on the usual clearings (probably still too early).

A Spotted Flycatcher (gråfluesnapper) in the garden

An Arctic Skua (tyvjo) harrying a Common Gull (fiskemåke)

Red-backed Shrike (tornskate) singing in a neighbouring garden

We had many sightings of Porpoises (nise)

A Grizzled Skipper ( bakkesmyger)

A Dingy Skipper (tiriltungesmyger)

A couple of Slow Worms (stålorm) mating under a bush in the garden

This picture was supposed to document the Surf Scoter (brilleand)..

Green-underside Blue (kløverblåvinge)

Long weekend cabin stay

 We are spending a long weekend at the cabin south of Oslo where we are kucky enough to be once or twice every year and from where I can engage in sea gazing from the terrace. The view is rather limited but I do have access to fresh coffee, a toilet and warmth and shelter should I need it😊. A stay at around the same time in 2021 was very succesful and of course I hoped for a repeat this year. I awoke at 04:30 this morning to find the sea covered in fog and duly went back to sleep. Awaking again at 06:45 revealed it had lifted and I set up the scope and gazed. There was precious all moving despite southerly winds and it wasn’t until 10:45 (by which time everyone else had woken up and we had eaten breakfast) that a decent bird flew by, in the form of 3 Scaup and then at 11 a skua turned up. It turned out to be an Arctic rather than the hoped for Pomarine but any skua in these parts is worth a letter home. Here is my eBird list from the terrace this morning.

Jr and I went for a nightime drive yesterday but couldn’t turn up any Nightjars (probably still too early) although Woodcock and a Tawny Owl flying over the road were good value.

The view from the terrace at 0822 as the boat from Kiel entere the inner Oslo fjord

The houses on the other side are a good 3km away and the Arctic Skua (tyvjo) is probably half way out

Just about identifiable

The area has a healthy population of Wood Warblers (bøksanger)

Marsh Tits (løvmeis) also occur 

More from the Cabin

I’ve had a chance to got through some more pictures from the summer.

One morning I visited a bog where I have seen that Arctic Skuas breed and I hoped to ascertain whether they had young. I never actually saw any young but the fact that one adult did a distraction display whilst the other dive bombed me (causing me to fall to the ground) was a good enough confirmation 😉

 

most of the Arctic Skuas (tyvjo) I see around Bodø are dark morphs like this one

this one was heading for my head

whilst this one was playing injured

Here are also a couple of pictures and a video of the Surf Scoter from my final visit.

the male Surf Scoter (brilleand) showed really well in the scope but good pictures were not possible

a juvenile Wheatear (steinskvett)

Finally some seawatching

Yesterday was a day I had been waiting for all spring - finally some strong southerly winds and the chance of some seawatching. Usually I would head for Brentetangen in Østfold but instead I chose the slightly shorter journey to the Hulvik in Akershus but where numbers are usually lower.

It is a bit late in the spring for the best passage but the winds were from the south west at the bottom of Norway so I hoped that some bird that should have been in the North Sea had instead been pushed into the Oslofjord. My main hope was Pomarine and Long-tailed Skuas with maybe a White-billed Diver on the cards. It also looked good for a flock or two of Pale-bellied Brent Geese which migrate end May/beginning June from Denmark to their Arctic Breeding grounds.

What unfolded was not quite what I had expected but was an exceptional event. Pretty much the first birds I saw were a distant flock of geese. These had to be Brents and sure enough were. Over the course of the next 4 hours I had in total 10 flocks totalling 4710 birds (very rough estimates but one flock was of only 10 birds..) which not only smashes any previous counts in these parts it was also the highest count ever in Norway until another count from yesterday further south in Norway came in. I had to stop after 4 hours at 10:13 because I was shivering uncontrollably. Although not that cold, maybe 10C, and with 3 layers on I had underestimated how cold the wind would be. If I had held out then I think there would be many thousand more. By mid afternoon flocks were being seen over Oslo and I scored with a huge flock from the garden as I was making dinner. This was flock was seen at various places over Oslo and was estimated to be between 1000 and 1500 birds. I ended up in the middle with an estimate of 1250 but counting from pictures shows it to be over 2000 birds! This flock may well have contained birds that I saw in the early morning.

The flocks I had seen from Hulvik were very unsure of where to go. Normally they would fly up the west coast of Norway but the SW wind had led them up the wrong side of Norway. As the fjord got narrower and narrower they clearly became confused. Many of the flocks turned around a number of times and spent up to half an hour to work out where to go. The birds seen over Oslo in the afternoon were very unsure and spent hours flying around before eventually landing on the sea. They might even end up heading south and going around the coast rather than heading overland.

It wasn't just geese that were moving though. A male Garganey was in one of the flocks, 500 Common Scoter were resting on the sea, over 100 Red-throated Divers including a single flock of 54 were moving about, 4 each of Scaup and Velvet Scoter went north as did singles of Black and Common Guillemot. A Marsh Harrier heading south into the wind low over the water was a strange sight and a single dark phase Arctic Skua heading purposefully north at least gave me a skua.

After I had warmed up a bit in the car I thought I would take a detour on the way home to look for a Golden Oriole discovered 2 days ago. It was always going to be a long shot late in the day with it being chilly and windy and sure enough I did not see or hear it. I did have a new bird experience though with a rufous phase Cuckoo feeding high up in oak trees on caterpillars. Only females come in this colour phase which is supposedely rare and is the first time I can remember seeing one. Also the way it was feeding so high up is also new for me - I have normally seen them feeding on the ground.

They never came close for good photos but her their (sub-specific) ID as Pale-bellied Brent Geese (ringgås) is documented

one of the larger flocks at Hulvik heading south whilst working out what to do 

the flock of 2000 seen from the garden - you are welcome to count them!

map showing their movements. The green spot is Hulvik and the black line shows the directions most of the flocks followed. The red line shows the movements witnessed in the afternoon

Red-throated Divers (smålom). Quite a few were heading north but most were on the sea and got put up by passing boats

a dark phase Arctic Skua (tyvjo) - honestly

a rufous morph female Cuckoo (gjøk)