Forced to twitch to get a feeling of spring

The progression of spring has not met my always high expectations. Lots of fog and temperatures only just over zero seem to be holding birds back with ice still on all water other than some streams and rivers, snow still covering most fields and the chance of a large spring flood seeming to be reduced.

Trips to the Glomma and Aurskog-Høland have revealed lots of Whooper Swans which are definitely on the move but there are not may other waterfowl moving yet. If the main flock of Taiga Beans have arrived then they are hiding themselves very well and I have only found four on two visits with one pair flying around calling and clearly not managing to find any kin. I have managed to twitch a Bewick’s Swan and a flock of White-fronted Geese but have not found my bird finding boots so far this year and a visit to a foggy Østensjøvannet today resulted in me twitching others finds in the terms of a male Stonechat and a nice adult Rook.

Maridalen is just white with ice, snow and fog and there is no evidence of spring migrants other than three Whooper Swans which are back. The bird I feel is most notably missing so far this spring is Mistle Thrush which was a very absentee on trips out east. I assume there is some cold weather further south that is holding them, and a number of other species, back.

Bewick's Swan (dvergsavne). This is the only bird to be seen in Norway so far this year and is a species that I think is a good candidate to become a national rarity not so much as it is difficult to identify but more because it has now become a genuinely rare species in the country. Many records now are, such as this one, of birds mixed up with spring flocks of Whooper Swans and turn up in similar areas each spring suggesting they are returning birds. This one is in the same area as a pair in 2023 and upto three birds last year. I should look at the bill markings to see if it is a bird from a previous year.

The bird was found on Friday amongst 300 Whoopers. I had been there on Thursday when there were only 130 Whoopers and despite it being top of mind did not see anything smaller amongst them.

Lapwings (vipe) have not come to Maridalen or fields by Glomma but there was a big concentration by Hellesjøvannet yesterday with 70 birds considered a very high count nowadays

a pair of Taiga Beans. There was another pair about 50m away but no big flock yet. I wonder if the 12 I had last week were part of the regular flock or perhaps from another population and were just passing through.

White-fronted Geese (tundragås) with Greylags and Canada Geese. The flapping bird has particularly impressive belly barring

there are 10 White-fronts in this shot

today's Rook (kornkråke) with a Hooded Crow (kråke) at Østensjøvannet. A number of records in the Oslo area in the last few days show that the very small spring passage of the species is occuring now

and a nice male Stonechat (svartstrupe) which was in exactly the same area as a bird 3 years ago

these large hairy caterpillars seem to be a very important part of the diet of the early returning Stonchats. That no other insect eating species seem to feed on them quite so much makes me wonder if they are a poisonous species and only Stonechats have developed the ability to eat them

Woodlark anno 2025

Different species are sending very conflicting signs as to how far spring has sprung. The Taiga Beans (or at least the GPS tagged bird) have moved on to their next staging ground record early and this despite there still being overnight frosts but at the same time only a few Pink-footed Geese have moved through and there have been no significant arrivals of thrushes or finches.

The first Woodlarks arrived at the weekend at their breeding grounds near Gardermoen airport and I paid them homage on Monday although only a single bird showed for me but it showed very well. I would normally combine this trip with a search for the Taigas but I knew they had already moved on so contented myself with the perhaps even more frustrating search for a Bewick’s. I did find one bird after over 30 minutes of searching but as a reward I did get my best views so far.

Maridalen has been very quiet with next to no signs of any new migrants. The Pink-footed Goose flock has finally moved on and a regularly drumming Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is perhaps the only scarce bird around. In the evenings there is still loads of activity from Tawny Owls with a single male constantly singing only a couple of hundred metres from a pair who I don’t think have started mating yet and the female of this pair calls a lot whilst the male sings occasionally.

Woodlark (trelerke)

Bewick's Swan (dvergsvane)

the bill pattern looks to be the same as the third bird from my previous post

Bewicks leading the way and its smaller size is very apparent

Lapwing (vipe) in Maridalen. I have again only seen three the last couple of days

my first Reed Bunting (sivspurv) of the year was the reward of another futile search to find a Stonechat

the pair of White-fronted Geese (tundragås) have reappeared at Bygdøy (the pattern of black barring shows them to be the same) although presumably have never left

Bewick's Swan and Stonechat - early spring highlights

It is getting cold again and we have had snow so migration has pretty much stopped up although there are of course always some new birds turning up.

In early spring there are a handful of scarce species I always hope to find such as Red Kite, Bewick’s Swan and Stonechat. I always have them in mind and scan the skies, fence posts and Whooper Swan flocks with the hope of striking gold (or perhaps silver is more accurate). I have not found any of them so far this spring but have gone to see both Bewick’s and Stonechat at places where I have already this spring trying in vain to find just these birds.

The Bewick’s was found on the same fields as “my” Taiga Beans are amongst a now very large Whooper Swan herd. I went the next day and the undulating field, sheer number of birds (>500 Whoopers) plus the fact that birds had their heads down feeding made finding the smaller Bewick’s very hard work. I did eventually succeed and to my surprise found two birds in the flock although they were not together. The next day the Whooper herd had grown even more and it took me over an hour to locate a Bewick’s but judging by the bill pattern this looks to be a third individual….! A trip today (two days later) revealed again two birds, not together, and not including the third individual whose bill pattern is quite distinctive. The sheer difficulty in finding these Bewick’s when you know they are there has highlighted to me how perfunctory many of my previous attempts to find the species have been where I have just swept over a large flock of Whoopers a couple of times and left happy there were no Bewick’s amongst them. Note to self -must work harder in the future.

The Taiga Beans have now increased to 87 birds and I have found four ringed individuals. I do not expect any more birds to arrive and this total is the lowest ever recorded but is in line with the downward trend that has been apparent the last decade. Whether the breeding sub population is in decline or more birds are choosing to migrate via Sweden is unknown (to me).

I saw the Stonechat today, a nice male, and although not at my beloved Maridalen, or even Fornebu it was at Nordre Øyeren and represents a new species for me there (and only the third ever record at the site of which the second was a week ago..).

Bewick's Swan (dvergsvane) 1 on Tuesday

same bird

Bewick's 2 also on Tuesday

same bird

the single bird I saw on Wednesday amongst around 650 Whoopers. The pattern of black on the ridge of the bill where it meets the white feathers looks to be different to the birds the previous day

same bird

Bewick's 1 today (Friday)

Bewick's 2 today

my first Cranes (trane) of the year

a displaying male Goshawk (hønsehauk) in Maridalen

a snowy Maridalen with the first Pink-footed Geese (kortnebbgås) of the year

Taiga Beans

ringed bird 7V

and 7Y

a meeting with a Three-toed Woodpecker in Maridalen

some of the many Whooper Swans (sangsvane)

Stonechat (svartstrupe)

In Maridalen Crossbill chicks have already hatched and seem to be thriving despite the cold. The parents only come ever 45 minutes or so and regurgitate spruce seeds into the mouths of their young.