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

February guiding

I was guiding yesterday and despite fog we had a good day. I took Tony who was visiting Oslo from Manchester to Maridalen and we trudged through snow and peered through the fog and were rewarded with Hawk Owl, Three-toed Woodpecker, Hazel Grouse, Dipper, Crossbill and Crested Tit amongst others.

I had been very anxious that the forecast fog was going to be so thick that we wouldn’t see beyond the tips of our noses but although it wasn’t that bad it did mean that for example scanning distant tree tops for anything interesting was out of the question. The Hawk Owl was located by walking around its recently favoured areas (we walked 9km in total during the day) and it was Tony’s very keen eyes that spotted it perched lowish down in a tree. We watched it for a good while and it changed perch twice and whilst clearly looking and listening for rodents it once again did not make an attempt to catch anything. It was in an area where Moose have been feeding and there was some bare ground exposed and I believe this may make hunting easier for the owl.

The ‘pecker that misses a toe and the Hazel Grouse were found in expected sites but we had precious little else in the forest with for example not a single tit of any species except at feeders.

Hawkie

after preening there appeared a hole which shows just how thick its feathers are but also hints at a real lack of body fat as a result of little food

male Hazel Grouse (jerpe) in a foggy forest

he moved to a birch and was eating catkins high up above our heads as can be seen in the video

male Three-toed Woodpecker (tretåspett). He can be heard drumming in the video

male Brambling (bjørkefink)

Crested Tit (toppmeis)

Dipper (fossekall)

Beautiful but bleak

The 40 odd centimetres of snow in Maridalen have certainly made it beautiful but birding wise it is now pretty bleak. There are very few birds to see at the moment even common ones and we are in that mid winter period when birding becomes a bit of a depressing hobby.

The Hawk Owl is still in Maridalen but the deep snow has caused him to search for food in the forest where I believe it is bank voles (klatremus) that are his target as these have more of a tendency to run on top of the snow. This makes finding him far more hit and miss but with a bit of work and luck he is still possible to find most days. Pine Grosbeaks though are now only to be found through luck with rowan berries pretty much finished off and the birds either having moved on (I had a flock of six flying south over Østensjøvannet) or else they are eating spruce buds in the huge forests surrounding Oslo.

The Snow caused a real influx of birds into my garden with upto 45 House Sparrows and 9 Blackbirds feeding on or under the feeders. A couple of hours of empty feeders though one afternoon was enough for 30 of the Sparrows to move on though to search for a more reliable food source and they are yet to return.

 

with there being so much snow I have had to content myself with watching the Hawk Owl from afar, if I manage to find him

although when they choose a electricity pylon as a lookout then they are a bit easier to find

the bird suddenly flew from the pylon and into the forest where I think it is doing most of its hunting now

Pine Grosbeaks (konglebit) may have gone awol but Bullfinches are still finding rowan seeds to feed on

Crested Tit (toppmeis)

Crossbills (grankorsnebb) are now the commonest bird in the forest and much song and courtship feeding suggests nesting is just around the corner

a male Three-toed Woodpecker (tretåspett) at a usual spot