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During the Bird Race on Saturday we had a strange black & white duck. First seen asleep with Mallards we hoped it was a Shelduck which we needed for our list but when it eventually showed more of itself it clearly wasn’t. We dismissed it as a domestic duck type although when we saw it again on Monday I began to think that a hybrid Mallard x Common Eider was more likely and took some footage. There are not many people who share my interest in hybrid ducks and I don’t think anyone else has spent any time on it (I also suspect it has been around a while). 

A hybrid between Mallard and Common Eider sounds an unlikely combination and indeed it is with only one report of a possible female fromNorway (although I would say that bird is another hybrid combo) and just a few documented birds to find on the web although a male at Seahouses, Northumberland is well known.

Based on my photos I feel confident the bird is indeed this hybrid combo with body shape, head and bill shape matching other reported birds.

 

not a great photo but I am confident this is a male hybrid between Common Eider (ærfugl) and Mallard (stokkand). The jizz of the bird especially head shape and the rear end short wings are closer to Eider than Mallard and match photos on eBird. The bill pattern with a black nail also matches other birds as do the light grey tertials (visible in the video). Plumage varies greatly between hybrids but this birds plumage also looks good for a mix between the two species even though it does not match other birds. It would have been nice to document it in flight and also out of the water.

The Pallid Harrier we had was seen migrating past the lighthouse, first flying NE and later migrating out to the SSW. It was scope views only and wasn’t photographed but a hunting Hen Harrier was and this of course led to some confusion and suspicion…. Two Bird Theories are always good but as the Hen Harrier was seen again after the Pallid disappeared out to sea then I think it was a Two Bird Fact 😇. I managed some photos of the Hen.

 

Hen Harrier (myrhauk) -  a 1st year male if I am not mistaken

Back home I have looked for the Taiga Beans a couple of times. On Tuesday I found only 72 on a different field to previously (but again one that has been used in previous years) but on Wednesday found none so perhaps they have moved on already after only two weeks but if that is the case then it will be 2-3 weeks earlier than normal.

I counted 72 Taiga Beans but despite the field looking flat they were difficult to count and birds could disappear so there may have been more but definitely not 129

Water levels in Svellet are still low with lots of mud and shallow water and many thousands of ducks and geese. There were very few waders today but two Marsh Harriers and a White-tailed Eagle may have been responsible for that. A single juvenile Little Gull, 2 Arctic and 2 Common Terns were nice but I always feel there should be far more terns here.

this male Kingfisher (isfugl) was a nice surprise along the Glomma River

this colour ringed Common Sandpiper (strandsnipe) would appear to have been ringed in Norway as the combination of yellow flag on left leg and red ring on right is a Norwegian thing. Finding out more details though is proving hard work though... We also saw a Greenshank with the same red and yellow ring combo but were unable to read the code

we came a bit late to the lunar eclipse and missed the blood moon

part of a flock of 19 Nutcrackers (nøttekråke) that headed out to sea

some also landed in the bushes by the lighthouse. I am unsure whether they were of the slender-billed siberian subspecies or the resident thicker billed subspecies that we have around Oslo

distant Red Kite b(rødglente) being pursued by Hooded Crows (kråke)

we had a few Stonechats (svartstrupe) and the species has bred at Lista this year.

Local catch up

Migration is ending now in Oslo and nocturnal trips and breeding birds will be the focus.

Breeding waders seem to be having a reasonable season. In addition to the Ringed Plovers that I have previously detailed I have found a Little Ringed Plovers nest, a couple of Common Sandpiper nests, Snipe are displaying at 2 locations in Maridalen and Lapwings in Maridalen keep surprising and seem to be having a good season. They are difficult to keep track of as once the young hatch they move around and hide in grass but I am confident there are four broods of young but quite possibly five with the latest just a day old when I first saw them, a pair is still incubating and another pair have been displaying but not to my knowledge made a nesting attempt. Question now is how many young will fledge.

This is the oldest brood on 22 May when they were already half grown.

female Little Ringed Plover (dverglo) on her nest

LRP nest and eggs.

Common Sandpiper (strandsnipe) nest again with 4 eggs. I found this nest when there were only 3 eggs

another Common Sand nest. As there are only 3 eggs I assume another will be laid. This nest was in a field whereas the other in woodland

Common Rosefinches seem to continue to decline with none recorded so far in Maridalen and just a couple in their stronghold of Sørkedalen. Surprisingly though a couple of brown, 1st summer, males are at Fornebu though and I managed to record them singing together.

Many species seem to have young early this year with broods of Long-tailed Tits and Starlings already on the wing.

I have only seen 3 Red-backed Shrikes tornskate) so far this year but they often don't come in force until June

young Starling (stær) with one of its parents

a young Long-tailed Tit (stjertmeis)

Wrynecks (vendehals) are now mostly silent -  the ones who have paired up at least - and difficult to find

Peak time

The end of May is probably the ultimate time to be birding in Oslo although there is never a bad time. The last spring breeding migrants are returning, migrants heading further north or for the mountains are coming through in peak numbers (although without rain they are likely to just fly over at great height) and the chance of rare birds is as high as it gets. The sunny weather we are having is not conducive to unusual birds but some rain is now forecast from Thursday evening onwards so one can hope.

The hot weather is causing the water level in Maridalsvannet to keep on falling and it is visibly lower each day. My belief that it was too little too late for waders has thankfully proven to be wrong. Even if I am still to see Greenshank and Whimbrel (which others report) I have seaw (or at least heard) 10 species yesterday which in these parts is defined as a wader bonanza. Temminck’s continue to be seen each day with Sunday’s five rising to six yesterday and falling to three today. Single Little Ringed and Ringed Plovers and Great Snipe were also migrants as were a few Wood Sandpipers but Lapwing, Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Woodcock and Snipe are breeders.

The Great Snipe was a displaying bird that I heard on my first nocturnal singer trip of the year. It was a warm, windless night but it is still very early in the season. I did have Great Snipe in mind but the birds I thought were most likely were Nightjar and the begging calls of Tawny and possibly Long-eared Owl. It was marvelous to hear the Great Snipe and also the bleating of a displaying Common Snipe but I’ll have to wait for another trip to hear Nightjars. The only owl I had was a singing Tawny which was the same unmated bird that sang all through the spring. After hearing no begging juvenile owls it was therefore a huge surprise today when in the heat of the afternoon I heard and then saw 3 large young in a nestbox that I would never have expected to be used by Tawnies and in an area where I have frequently stopped but not heard them earlier this year. I will write a post on these a later stage.

The muddy edges to the lake will hopefully be good news for the breeding Lapwings in Maridalen which continue to surprise me. Yesterday I saw there two broods of young – one of 4 newly hatched on the field and three larger ones (from the first nest?) on the mud. There were still three birds sitting so I am at a loss as to where the brood of 4 came from and t was an additional pair displaying and which today looked like they may have started egg laying. So six pairs when I originally thought there were only three and that these had all failed due to the plough.

My first Icterine Warbler and Rosefinch of the year mean that Marsh Warbler and Red-backed Shrike are the only regular breeders I am waiting for.

Temminck's Stint

Ringed Plover (sandlo) with the orange legs behind a Little Ringed Plover (dverglo)

Lapwings (vipe) in Oslo. 3 young on the left and a single on the right with 3 adults. At the time I assumed it was one brood and another adult that was getting involved for some reason. Another possibility is that there are two separate broods of 3 and 1 but then we would be up to 6 confirmed nests plus another pair which does not seem possible

here we the three adults having some sort of argument and the single youngster

male Common Rosefinch (rosenfink)

singing Icterine Warbler (gulsanger)

if a Common Sandpiper (strandsnipe) flies up in front of you when you away from water it may mean there is a nest as was the case today

3 eggs

I saw a Great Tit (kjøttmeis) disappear into a crack in this stump

and found a nest with young that were at ground level

On the eve of

I write this on the last day of April and therefore the day before my favourite birding day of the year – 1 May. This day may not statistically prove to be that great but it is a national holiday and I will always be in Maridalen from dawn following the migration. What will turn up tomorrow? Red Kite? Black-shouldered Kite?? Pygmy Cormorant???.

Since my last post I have added the following to Oslo 2024: Greenshank #145, Pied Flycatcher #146 and Whinchat #147. So, 150 is definitely a possibility before the end of April. When I first started noting my Oslo list I thought 150 for the whole year was a good result!

Migration is delayed this year so we could have some good days ahead of us but unfortunately there is no rain forecast and just lots of sun so there will be no big falls of migrants.

In the Dale the swan drama has now settled down with the Whooper Swans on the nest and presumably incubating whilst the Mutes are on the other side of the lake. I cannot wait (a month) to see if the eggs hatch.

The male Three-toed pecker was still excavating the nest hole today and hasn’t come very yet. The entire chamber will probably take him a couple of weeks.

Svellet is looking scrumptious and now the birds just need to come. 25 Greenshank today was a 400% increase on the day before so it can just keep on going like that for a few days and we will all be happy.

variety in the Dale - Common Sand (strandsnipe), Green Sand (skogsnipe) and White Wag (linerle)

Golden Plovers (heilo) at Årnestangen

my first Oslo Greenshank (gluttsnipe) of the year!

I was as surprised as the Snipe (enkeltbekkasin) when I came around a corner and we made eye contanct

the male Three-toed Woodpecker (tretåspett) has not come that much further with his nest hole building

my first toad of the year

first Whinchat (buskskvett)

and first Yellow Wag (gulerle) although not in Oslo yet. A male thunbergii

and I bumped into this beauty

Time for another good day in the Dale

Cold northerly winds both here and, I believe, further south in Europe mean that migration has nearly dried up and until today this week has been slow going. I have, however, added 5 species to my Oslo year list and with three from today being ones I would classify as not guaranteed. Best of all though Maridalen has recorded a new species thanks to Halvard’s keen eyes and I of course duly twitched it although it took a bit of finding. Water levels are also falling such that we may have a decent wader passage in Maridalen (everything is relative…) and also at Svellet (up there amongst the best in Europe) so the next couple of weeks look to be promising.

So the new Maridalen new species was Little Grebe (Maridalen’s 225 species and my 206^th there). Although a relatively common species I had not seen this coming as I never thought Maridalsvannet suitable for the species. Birds can of course turn up on migration but it was a real surprise that it has spent two days – it is clearly finding food but hugs the shoreline and hides behind stones instead of disappearing into thick vegetation which it would do elsewhere. Other common birds missing from the Maridalen list are Moorhen and Pochard and we need to be looking out for these now.

The Oslo year birds have been Willow Warbler #139, Common Sandpiper #140, Whimbrel #141, Little Ringed Plover #142 and Slavonian Grebe #143. The Slav Grebes were particularly pleasing to see and today was clearly the day that species was on the move as there were a number of other records around Oslo.

Of the little migration that has materialised then ducks have been the most obvious with the first Common Scoter, Wigeon and Red-breasted Merganser appearing on the lake.

My eBird checklist from Maridalen today is here.

The Mute Swan pair is nesting on an island in Maridalsvannet but have as in previous years attracted the attention of the Whooper Swans who spend their time beating up the Mutes. The male Mute tries to stand up to the male Whooper but doesn’t seem to have a chance and I fear that the Mute Swans will fail but also that the Whoopers will not breed as they will spend all their time fighting the Mutes.

Close to the house a pair of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers have enlivened morning dog walks with drumming and “singing” and hopefully they will stay to breed although based on previous experiences they will move on.

 

I also took far too much video which I have yet to go through. If there is anything that evades the trash can then I will publish it later.

adult Little Grebe (dvergdykker) - not often I see them in this plumage in Norway

not often I see them in flight either and have never noticed this "speculum" before

Slavonian Grebes (horndykker) in breeding plumage are surely one of the best birds we have

here there was some display

dwarfed by a Whooper Swan (sangsvane)

part of a flock of 10 Curlew (storspove) that briefly landed on their way north

the swan drama. Here the male Mute Swan is getting a beating from the male Whooper

who then chased him around the island and then up onto it

my first Common Sandpiper (strandsnipe) of the year in Oslo

and a male Common Scoter (svartand) - I have never appreciated their impressive tail before

male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

this young male Marsh Harrier (sivhauk) headed north today and had me hoping for a good raptor day. But of course it didn't happen

2 males Adders (hoggorm)