I bagged a Blyth’s on a night of acro

My negativity towards nocturnal outings didn’t even last a day and Wednesday night saw me out for more pain. It all started when a Great Reed Warbler turned up in a «what is this?» posting on Facebook. It was not in Oslo although it was close to Oslo Airport and normally I would not have gone for it. However, as it happened Mrs OB was landing there in the evening and Jr wanted to surprise her by picking her up and getting some driving practice in. So a little «5 minute» detour on the way home was in order?

 The bird could be heard from the car park and when I walked the 100m to where it was the song was so loud and so constant that I seriously considered the whole thing was a wind up and someone had placed a loud speaker in the reeds! This thought was only strengthened when I was able to walk to what must have been only 5 metres from the bird and it just carried on singing and remained invisible! Eventually though it did clearly change position and then finally flew into a bush where it could just about be seen.

It is a while since I have heard a GRW (this is my third in Norway) and I had forgotten just how loud their song is. In the video you first hear the song and then get a glimpse of the bird

Great Reed Warbler (trostesanger) - a screen shot from the video

Buoyed by this I then decided to do just one more Oslo night singer trip. Maridalen had nothing new to offer but in Sørkedalen the Blyth’s Reed, Oslo #186, that had been quiet in the afternoon was now singing his heart out in the garden of a farm at midnight. Add to that multiple Marsh Warblers and a Reed Warbler and I had a four acro night. I do think this will be my last trip though unless of course someone else finds something for me to twitch. 

 

the Reed Warbler (rørsanger) that is singing in the video above. As can be heard teh bird had a very varied song and I also do not think it looks completely right for a Reed. Could it have some Marsh genes?

In Maridalen I feel I must have found the Hobby nest although am still to see a bird on it (this was also the case for a long time last year).

Hobby (lerkefalk) presumably the male

I could only find two Lapwing young with their parents yesterday and saw no other birds although the crop has become so high that the incubating bird would be hidden if it still present.

mum Lapwing (vipe) on the left and what seem to be now the only two remaining young which as can be seen are soon fully grown and were both frequently flapping their wings

Birds are back, back gain, back again.....

On Tuesday and Wednesday I had a fantastic 24 hours of birding and butterflying and have a couple of thousand images to go through. I took my note-to-self to heart and remembered that there are a lot of good birds to see in mid June if you travel a bit away from Oslo. Pictures that Per Christian sent me of a displaying Mountain Marsh Runner he found at the weekend were all I needed for a spur of the moment trip. I planned on spending the night (and sleeping little) as I reckoned activity would be highest in the very early hours. As it happened the bird was far easier to find and I was left with a lot of time on my hands. 

Butterflies returned to my thoughts though as it was really hot and sunny and from previous research I reckoned there was potential to find 7 new species. I found 4 plus saw Apollo again and am very happy with that outcome. But birds did also figure and figure big time. I literally stumbled on nesting pairs of what must be Norway’s two rarest species of breeding birds. As far as I know these are the only pairs of these species discovered this year. Both species have long been written off as having a future in Norway but they seem to cling on by the skin of their teeth. As observer coverage is so thin and suitable habitat so extensive there is of course (many) more are out there.

I will come with blog posts with far more information on what I saw but for now here is a little update from Oslo:

Oslo also has its own share of interesting breeding birds. Honey Buzzards and Hobbies are back although actual nest sites are as yet unknown. Blyth’s Reed Warblers have turned up (late) at a few sites and checking out a reported singing bird today I found a nest building pair. This is the fifth time I have discovered breeding of this species and it amazes me that such thinly spread and very scarce birds so easily find each other. An Arctic Tern at Maridalsvannet yesterday was most likely a late spring migrant and mirrors a sighting I had on the exact same date in 2021.

In Maridalen a Lapwing is still sitting on a nest and if the eggs don’t hatch very soon then I think they must be infertile. The fate of all the broods that have hatched over the last 3-4 weeks remains a mystery to me as the birds, including adults, just disappear.

In the garden the Pied Flycatcher saga took a new turn. The male who sang for three weeks non stop eventually attracted a new female and with a fully furnished house awaiting her she got down to egg laying in record time. An egg a day was laid but yesterday I could see nesting material sticking out of the nest hole and the whole nest had been turned upside down with 4 eggs no hidden under material and in the opposite corner of the nest. I can only speculate what has happened but suspect a cat has got its claw through the hole (as has happened once before). I do not know the fate of the female but the male was singing outside and entering the nestbox which does not bode well.

I have also had loads of Oslo bug action but will have to leave that for a separate post. I feel now that I have too many photos t go through, too many exciting observations to share and not enough time (or patience) to do so...

Male and female Honey Buzzard (vepsevåk), the female is at the bottom

now the female is at the top

and here at the bottom again

note the difference in shape with the female having broader wings

and here the male is being divebombed by a Common Buzzard (usvåk)

pair of Blyth's Reed Warblers (busksanger)

with nesting material

this was clearly the male as he sang at the same time

Arctic Tern (rødnebbterne) - presumably a late spring migrant

Lapwing (vipe) still on the nest in 30C. She seemed to be crouching with her wings out and I wondered if she was trying to cool the eggs down

while walking in the woods I heard a sound that reminded me of a chicken. I had a good idea what it must be but seeing this chick didn't quite seal the ID

although seeing mum did. There were at least 5 young Hazel Grouse (jerpe) and mum was calling quite a lot to keep them all together. Only the third time I can remember coming across a family party

Hobby (lerkefalk)

male Pied Flycatcher (svarthvit fluesnapper). Not the garden bird but a nice photo me thinks

Tawny Owl (kattugle) whose presence was given away by the scolding Fieldfare (gråtrost) to its left

after giving up last year the Whooper Swan (sangsvane) have 4 young this year (one was on the other side of mum)

Icterine Warblers (gulsanger) came quite late to Maridalen this year but I think there are way more that normal although the fact that many are still singing suggests not many are paired up. This one sang from an unusually exposed perch

I find the song of Iccy to be very variable and must admit to often having problems ID'ing them with me on more than one occasion thinking I have found a Blyth's Reed or Marsh Warbler but to then realise it was "only" an Icterine

Good Birds & Guiding & stuff

My lack of recent blog activity does not reflect a lack of birding activity, to the contrary I have been busy with both guiding and good birding. On Sunday I again had the company of local photographer Eirik and despite rain and wind we had a successful day around Nordre Øyeren. Today I was guiding David and Jaye again and this time with a focus on the nocturnal singers. With a desire to see rather than just hear the birds I chose not to go nocturnal (I also like my bed) but rather visit known birds and hope to see them early in the morning. The day started disappointingly with Corncrake and Grasshopper Warbler that had both been heard during the night deciding not to make themselves known. The Corncrake was particularly annoying because I have heard and seen the bird each of the last three days and even managed to take good photos of it. Time will tell whether the birds had moved on to pastures new at the end of the night or whether we were just unlucky. The morning definitely ended on a high though with Blyth’s Reed and River Warblers heard and seen REALLY well and then a visit to the Tengmalm’s Owl nest (thx Rune for the tip) revealed a youngster ready to leave the nest. We also had many Marsh Warblers, Wryneck and Rosefinch during the day. We will have a nocturnal trip later in the week to look for Nightjar which you really have no chance of finding otherwise.

Yesterday, whilst reccying for today’s trip I found a tatty 1^st summer Little Gull at Maridalsvannet which is only my third record there.

There are lot of pictures and videos to enjoy here so I suggest pouring a glass of wine, sitting back and enjoying. Don't drink too much wine though or you might think some of the videos have been taken without a tripod... 😂

Corncrake (åkerrikse)

River Warbler (elvesanger)  my best ever views

and pretty good views of Blyth's Reed Warbler (busksanger)

young Tengmalm's Owl (perleugle) close to leaving the nest 

Little Gull (dvergmåke) and Swift (tårnseiler)

and some videos taken with my phone recording the sounds





in this video in addition to the BRW can you hear Marsh Warbler and Common Rosefinch (which the BRW also mimicked)

cropped close up of Corncrake

more River Warbler

compare the mouth colour with the BRW lower down

when seen like this I doubt many would get the ID right

Blyth's Reed Warbler

as with other acro warblers it has a much more orange mouth

Tengmalm's Owl

Little Gull

picking insects off the water surface

with Black-headed Gull (hettemåke)

the weather has not been great for butterflies or dragonflies nor have I had much time for them but today I saw my first Large Skipper and Swallowtail

Large Skipper (engsmyger)

this Swallowtail (svalestjert) is only the second I can remember seeing in Maridalen and was in a real hurry and disappeared quite quickly