Gressholmen

The car has been in the garage for a couple of days and I used the chance to bird Oslo by public transport including on the boat out to Gressholmen. Despite damp, grey weather there was lots of life on Gressholmen with displaying Shelduck, Red-breasted Mergansers, Oystercatchers and Black-headed Gulls making lots of noise. 11 Ringed Plover was a very high count and may well be the entire local breeding population. The coastal breeding birds return early where as the birds that breed in the mountains or tundra do not pass through mid May. Chaffinches were also back and singing and it was pure heaven to hear them 😊. I was hoping for some more unusual migrants such as Rock Pipit or Snow Bunting but it was very quiet on the passerine front except for my first Grey Wagtail of the year.

With the car back I paid a visit to Fornebu today and could add Snow Bunting to my year list and in Maridalen I finally added Black Woodpecker plus had my first Mistle Thrush and Buzzard there.

The Oslo area is still very much in the grips of winter whereas places to the south but also inland to the north east have far less snow cover. We are forecast to have temperatures below zero again next week so there will not be any big arrivals of migrants for a bit.

here the male Shelduck (gravand) seem to be making the moves

but here it is a female chasing off another female

this video has displaying Shelduck and Red-breasted Mergansers (siland)

And this video has a sound I had not heard for over half a year

3 of the 11 Ringed Plovers (sandlo)

the Little Grebe (dvergdykker) at Frognerkilen now in near full summer plumage. Look how small it is compared to the (not very large) Goldeneyes (kvinand)

this gull caught my eye and had a definite Caspi vibe to it. It was ringed in Oslo on 26 July 2020 as a 2cy Herring Gull but the ringer also wondered whether it was a hybrid. Since being ringed it has been reported from exactly the same place year round

my first Maridalen Buzzard (musvåk) of 2023

Spring has sprung

There has been some good birding since my last post and signs of the changing seasons are springing up all over the place. In Maridalen the first Lapwing has appeared, the first migrating Pink-footed Geese have cackled over, the first flock of thrushes is on the fields alongside Snow Buntings, Bramblings and Chaffinches (also singing) and an early Woodcock flew up from a field edge.

Also in Maridalen the Pygmy Owl has showed well a couple of times (although a dusk trip revealed no singing owls) as have both male and female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.

Last weekend Jr Jr was competing in a drill competition at Jessheim which allowed me to go looking nearby for Woodlarks (seemingly too early) and Taiga Bean Goose which I saw in flight (the GPS positions have not updated for over a week so I do not know which fields they are favouring although they landed on the east side of the river which is very unusual for them).

We have now entered the most exciting time of the year 😊

Finally this winter I had a close encounter with a Pygmy Owl (spurveugle)

being mobbed by a Great Tit (kjøttmeis)

the pattern on the back of the head is supposed to look like eyes such that a Goshawk doesn't think it is worth attacking it as it doesn't haven the element of surprise

and being mobbed by a male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (dvergspett)

a Great Spott (flaggspett) also joined the Lesser Spot to give the owl grief

as did this Crested Tit (toppmeis) which perched next to me calling very angrily as I looked at the owl

a displaying male Goldeneye (kvinand)

and a ringed Tufted Duck (toppand) at Østensjøvannet which was ringed 304km to the west on a lake in Stavanger 19.11.2017

Lapwing (vipe) is back in Maridalen with a fairly averge arrival date

and the bird itself

Snow Buntings (snøspurv) are always a joy

Bramblings (bjørkefink) and Chaffinches (bokfink) are starting to flock on the fields and both birds can also be heard singing

Mistle Thrushes (duetrost) have also arrived

as have Redwing (rødvingetrost)

although Starlings (stær) have been back a couple of weeks

my first Pink-footed Geese (kortnebbgås) which were actually heading south after having encountered low cloud over Maridalen

a trip to Huk revealed Purple Sandpipers (fjæreplytt) at close range

Stock Doves (skogdue) are also back at Bygdøy and singing

young Whooper Swans (sangsvane) presumably from lasy years brood in Maridalen

Great Grey Shrike (varsler)

Guillemots (lomvi) are still around in good numbers on the Oslofjord. Nearly all are young/immature birds but there is the odd adult in breeding plumage

some of the Taiga Bean Geese (taigasædgjess) including 6U and a GPS bird

the GPS bird had a loose and damaged feather sticking out of its left wing

female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

Rain but no birds

Yesterday saw my best ever encounter with Hazel Grouse. I have probably written that a number of times now and even though I never think it can get better it does! I had the male singing at head height less than 5 metres from me 😊 and at times he was clearly only 2 metres away as I could not focus the camera! I have an enormous number of photos and videos to go through so will have to come back to them later, but not too much later.

Otherwise, the day was rather disappointing. With southerly winds and rain in the afternoon I had a hope that a number of birds would arrive but that wasn’t the case. Tomorrow though could be very good. 8 Wigeon on the lake were the first of the year and there had clearly been an arrival of Willow Warblers but raptors were completely absent and there were no new waders (in addition to Lapwing I just had a couple each of Green and Common Sandpiper).

Unfortunately the farmer at Skjerven has ploughed the Lapwing field without seeming to have found and protected the Lapwings nests. This is the first time I can remember him not doing so and a few years of this could be the end for the species in the Dale. The ploughed field did provide an abundance of worms though which the Lapwings and many gulls were feasting on.

Black-throated Divers (storlom)

Brambling (bjørkefink)

there is still a hige flock of Chaffinches (bokfink) in Maridalen - in total close to 1000 birds

male Chaffinch

frog (buttsnutefrosk)

Green Sandpiper (skogsnipe)

Lapwing (vipe) with worm

Lapwing portrait

Osprey (fiskeørn) with a european whitefish (sik)