Redpolls

Today was a good day to visit the Botanical Garden in Oslo. My reasoning (which differs to that of the majority of people) being that it was cloudy and sleeting and there would therefore be nobody else there and I could enjoy the birds on my own…

There was a nice flock of Redpolls at one of the feeders and amongst them was a nice 1^st winter / 2cy male of the northern clinal form, aka Arctic Redpoll. This bird stood out as a much colder, whiter bird and the large white rump and undertail coverts confirm the ID but in my pictures it looks a lot greyer although I put this down to the light and the poor quality of the photos. As usual there was a wide variety of plumages and sizes amongst the redpolls and there was at least one other bird that was probably of the arctic type but I only ever saw this bird above me in a tree and never noticed it on the ground so it might well be that it gave a different and less convincing impression when seen on the ground (all the birds were frequently coming down to feed on sunflower seeds). None of the birds conformed to the southern clinal form aka Lesser Redpoll.

There was the usual variety of other finches (9 species in total) but a single Blackbird was the only thrush I saw suggesting that all berries have now been eaten

On the Plaza hotel there are now two Peregrines: an adult and a 1^st winter/2cy. It is normally only an adult that winters in town with young birds migrating south to Europe and I think it is unusual for two birds to hang out together unless they are a pair. I would imagine therefore that these birds are a parent and young and for some reason the parent still has a bond to its offspring.

here the bird on the left is the same one in the other pictures. The bird on the right also looks to have a very large unmarked white rump but I never noticed this individual on the ground and believe that the rump has been make to look much larger and whiter due to the feathers being fluffed up. But it could well also be an arctic

the Arctic from different angles and looking decidedly different in each one

 

here the pointed outer tail feathers show it to be a 1st winter / 2cy bird

A redpoll that is difficult to place and may well be an arctic - note the small bill, fairly large white rump but the streaking on the undertail coverts may be too much and the ground colour on the back may not be light enough

despite a lot of white on the rump this is a Common Redpoll - large bill and streaking on the rump and too dark on the back

this bird was very striking. The bill was small and it was generally grey rather than brown but was very straked on the rump and flanks and undertail coverts. A Common Redpoll but from where?

a well marked male Common Redpoll

Despite the white rump this must be a Common Redpoll due to it being a male (red on breast) and a male arctic would have less flank streaking and greyer back

This bird was in the garden a couple of days ago on its own. Agian it has a small bill and a white rump (athough only a narrow area unstreaked). It could well be an arctic (and the first garden record) but not for sure

a small 2cy male Sparrowhawk was unpopular

Four species of finch (Chaffinch, Brambling, Greenfinch and Redpoll) are in this picture plus a possible arctic Redpoll. I also had Hawfinch, Bullfinch, Goldfinch and Siskin so quite a good finch day

Collared Dove

the two Peregrines on the top of the Plaza Hotel plus the reflection of one of the birds which has fooled more than one birder into thinking there were even more birds. The closer bird is a 2cy and and the further bird an adult. The noticeably larger size of the youngster suggests it is a female and the adult a male (daughter and father?)

Slogging it for an Arctic roly polly

Yesterday I paid a visit to the Drøbak area and notched up a couple of Great Grey Shrikes, Little Grebe and Rock Pipit for my troubles. Today I did my traditional Oslo New Year birding by public transport and foot outing. I visited the Botanical Gardens, the harbour seafront, Bygdøy and Frognerpark and walked 14km so have hopefully burnt off a few of those extra xmas calories.

The Botanical Gardens were good for finches with 3 species/forms of Redpoll with a white male Arctic the highlight, plus Hawfinch, Crossbill, Brambling, Chaffinch, Greenfinch and Goldfinch. A young male Goshawk also showed well, and I could make out a Peregrine sitting distantly on the top of Oslo’s tallest building.

The harbour was very quiet with hardly any gulls and Bygdøy and Frognerpark offered up the expected species but nothing too exciting.

Redpolls are as is well known a complete mess and the latest taxonomical status is that they should all be lumped together which suites me just fine. This year is a good redpoll year in Norway and a bird trapped recently in Denmark with a Chinese ring gives an indication that some of these birds have travelled great distances. We could realistically have birds from Greenland/Iceland, Southern and Northern Scandinavia and from the whole of Siberia all mingling at the moment. Certainly today there was a good variety in the Botanical Gardens and that was only in a flock of about 15 birds. The Arctic Redpoll was a fairly simple bird but there was also another bird that could have been an Arctic of the less obvious variety. There was a small warm coloured bird that fitted the bill for a Lesser(southern) and then amongst the rest there were small birds, large birds, cold grey birds and warmer browner birds. Treating them as a single clinal species does seem the most pragmatic thing to do!

one of those snowbal birds - an Arctic Redpoll 

look at the contrast! The bird on the right is probably a Lesser

the single black feather on the undertail coverts is rather obvious but OK

this bird never showed any better than this but was possibly also an Arctic

a Lesser Redpoll (brunsisik)

three Mealy/Common Redpolls

a few other birds in the Botanical Gardens

a 2cy male Goshawk (hønsehauk)

same bird in flight looking like a thrush

13 degrees temperature change

Yesterday we had a lot of snow and -6C and everything turned white and very wintery. Today we had rain and +7C which made everything very icy and slippery. There was also a lot of wind today which I had not noticed on the weather forecast. It was only when I walked outside that I realised how strong it was and it was coming right from the south – ie good for sea gazing.

I chose not to go down to Krokstrand but instead went to Fornebu where I was able to find a viewing spot out of the wind. Initially there was not really anything to see but after 45 minutes a flock of 8 Long-tailed Ducks including 5 adult males flew past. Then a few auks went past and Common and Velvet Scoters. There were very few gulls, but I grilled everyone and a nice adult Little Gull went past and then a Puffin! Not bad at all J

At noon after an hour and 45 minutes my teeth were chattering so much that I had to retreat to the car and turn the heating on max. I drove to another site where I could view from the car and had two Kittiwakes going past. The wind was if anything blowing stronger now so there was a chance that new birds would turn up but I was so cold to the core that I had to throw in the towel. This time of the year is good for a Leaches Petrel to turn up and that was my hope for the day once I realised how strong the wind was but I’ll have to keep waiting to see that species in Norway.

Yesterday in the snow I visited the Botanical Gardens in Norway. Despite there still being a lot of berries on some of the trees there were few birds (no Waxwings for example and only 1 Hawfinch) but there were 4 Nutcrackers feeding on cones from the same Weymouth Pine which also hosted three Common Crossbills. It was very interesting to see how one single tree could be so important but remined me of how the single larch right next to this pine has in previous winters held numbers of Two-barred Crossbill, Goldfinch, Siskin and various tits which seemed to spend their whole day just feeding on the cones of this one single tree.

In Maridalen I noted some interesting behaviour from two Great Spotted Woodpeckers in response to playing the song of Pygmy Owl which can be seen in one of the videos.

Nutcracker (nøttekråke) extracting the seeds from a Weymouth Pine cone

8 Long-tailed Ducks (havelle) an unsual sight off Fornebu

and even more unusual that there were 5 adult males - normally it is young birds we see

Urban birding

I am at risk of doing too much exercise! After yesterday’s tramp through the forest in search of Hazel Grouse I had one of my irregular Oslo by foot and public transport days although must admit there was a lower percentage of foot than normal.

One reason I chose to concentrate on urban Oslo today was that it has snowed all day so I thought there might be some concentrations of birds in the parks and I also had little desire to be out in the car.

My first stop Frognerpark where I thought there might be some signs of spring with an expectation of Greylag Geese, summer plumaged Black-headed Gulls and maybe some Starlings. Well none of those were present. The lake was nearly completely frozen and held just the expected ducks: 200 Mallards, 9 Tufted, 6 Teal and a female Goldeneye. The only gulls were four Herring and it is difficult to understand why there have been so few gulls here all winter.

Down on Bygdøy I was surprised to find that quite a few Greylags have now arrived with 82 on the fields of the Kings Farm. No other geese species amongst them but I expect something exciting to turn up before the end of the month.

By the grain storage facility at Vippetangen there were as usual a number of Goldeneye diving for spilt grain but amongst 400 of them I could only find 5 Tufted Ducks and a few Mallards.

By the Opera there were a lot of gulls resting and amongst them I saw a couple of ringed birds that I have also seen up at the Alna rubbish dump but found no Caspians or white-winged gulls. A Mute Swan family here with 7 youngsters was an unusual sight at this time of the year as the parents have normally sent the kids packing which was the case with another group of 4 youngsters who were looking a bit lost.

In the Botanic Gardens the Brambling flock has grown in size and added quite a bit of colour but I didn’t see any Blackbirds or Fieldfares which have presumably eaten up all fruit and berries in the park and have been forced to look for food elsewhere.

the snowy scene today with newly arrived Greylag Geese (grågås) on Bygdøy

there is only one male amongst the 6 Teal (krikkand) that have spent the winter at Frognerparken

a very smart bird

 

he was calling quite a bit but I didn't see him displaying and it didn't look like he was actually paired with one of the 5 females

three of the four duck species that were present at Frognerpark: Teal, Tufted Duck and Mallard

here is the long staying tame and ringed Teal who often keeps to herself and doesn't mix with the other Teal. I was unable to read the ring but see that it is from Stavanger Museum, Norway and starts with 62 and ends with 61

male and female Teal but I don't think they were paired. Note how the females speculum which should be green actually looks blue at this angle

an "intersex" Mallard. These birds which are probably females with an overdose of male hormones can resemble hybrids and I have previously mistaken a similar bird for a Mallard x Wigeon hybrid

Tufted Ducks (toppand) might boast fewer colours than Teal but are also pretty cool



This large swan family was still togther

but these 4 youngsters have been left to look after themselves. They won't find much food out there!

part of the Goldeneye (kvinand) flock at Vippetangen. Adult males are in a majority

Bramblings (bjørkefink), Tree Sparrows (pilfink) and a single Chaffich (bokfink) at the Botanical Gardens

a very large 2cy Great Black-backed Gull (svartbak) dwarfing an adult Herring Gull (gråmåke)

a ringed 2cy Great Black-back. Not many of this species are ringed in Oslo as they do not come to bread as readily as Herring Gulls. This one received his bling on 19 August 2015 in the same spot and has since been seen just a handful of times in Oslo. This bird is probably the one I photographed at Alna Dump on 9 Feb

one of the pale Herring Gulls that you occasionally see and wonder if they have a bit of Glaucous Gull (polarmåke) blood in them. This one is standing in front of the ringed GBBG

The red ringed Herring Gull that I have seen twice previously but have had major problems reading correctly. The code is X4DT but even with this view I have problems. This bird was ringed at Rainham on 30 Nov 2013

Greylag Geese are now back and despite being feral as f**k are quite smart