Hazel Grouse

 Winter has regained its grip on the land and nighttime temperatures in Maridalen are falling to -13C and it remains negative in the day despite blue skies and sunshine. Many of the resident birds are very active singing and displaying but any hope of early migrants has been put on hold.

In the forest I spent some quality time with the male Hazel Grouse that we viewed last Tuesday when guiding but now I have been able to watch him in sunlight. He appears to be unpaired but has a good territory that has held Hazel Grouse in at least the two decades I have visited the area.

Hawfinches have returned to breeding areas in Maridalen and are banging out their squeaky “song” and I was able to see some quite well at a feeding station.

male Hazel Grouse (jerpe)

it doesn't seem right to see such a large bird clambering around on such thin branches

female Hawfinch (kjernebiter)

and a more colourful male

the male with a Greenfinch (grønnfink) that seems tiny in comparison

Crested Tit (toppmeis)

female Greenfinch

and male

female Siskin (grønnsisik)

and male

male Brambling (bjørkefink) - unusually many have wintered in and around Oslo

Bullfinch (dompap) and Bramblings

female Blackbird (svarttrost) - I don't remember so many wintering in Maridalen before

Jays (nøtteskrike) are starting to "sing" and can sound like Goshawk, Buzzard and Tawny Owl

Nuthatch (spettmeis)

Starling (stær)

Hawkie

and some arty shots

an ice butterfly

Weekend birding

We had a nice dump of snow on Friday night which has left Maridalen and the forests nice and white although in the city it has since melted so everything is grey, wet and frankly, not nice!

Even though the surroundings now look different the birds are pretty much the same and the exodus of thrushes is now more or less complete with the birds I see being, I believe, ones that will try to spend the winter and with there still being lots of berries in the urban areas then this may be possible for many of them. The Mistle Thrush remains but has stopped trying to defend his rowan trees and was today sharing them with Bullfinches, Blackbirds and Fieldfares in seeming harmony. It saves a lot of energy having to chase off all comers but means the berries will disappear much sooner so I doubt he will remain until January now.

Fieldfare (gråtrost)

the Mistle Thrush (duetrost)

a Blackbird (svarttrost)

and a late Redwing (rødvingetrost)

the Mistle again

a familiar silhouette

it is always a joy seeing Grozzas eating berries in the snow