Only 3 to go!

My dream of seeing 200 species in #Oslo2024 has taken a major step towards being reality over the last four days and I am now just three species away with four months to go. Starting on Friday afternoon we have had strong southerly winds with gusts of up to 25m/s and this is what you hope for if you want to add seabirds to your Oslo list. A message on Friday evening of a Fulmar was just the excuse I needed to take the scenic route back from dropping Jr Jr off at a friend. I had an hour at Huk before it got dark and although I did not see the Fulmar I did experience some impressive waves and two adult Little Gulls which were species #195.

During the weekend it remained windy but nothing exceptional but this morning gusts of over 20m/s were again forecast so I headed for Huk again. There were white tops to the waves and although there were not lots of birds it was definitely a case of being in it to win it with time put in being rewarded – it was also warm and dry which is unusual when seawatching. A Kittiwake was a good bird although not new for the year but a Fulmar was and became #196. Eventually I saw 2 Fulmars and 3 Kittiwakes. A young Arctic Tern showed really well and some waders headed south low over the waves with a Golden Plover being a very decent Oslo bird but two Sanderling were Oslo gold with in addition to being #197 were also a full fat Oslo tick for me and my species #253 in #Osloever. Amazingly enough it also looks to be the first ever record in Oslo and the 296^th species recorded in the capital city!! So a pretty good session! It could have been even better if I had seen the Ruff that was reported just 9 minutes after I left but that would have just been greedy.

 

With only three species left to reach #200 I will need luck, good friends and to put in the hours. There are a lot of likely species though including Ruff, Long-tailed Duck, Jack Snipe, Water Rail, Capercaille, Tengmalm’s Owl, Mediterranean Gull, one or more of Glaucous, Iceland, Caspian or Yellow-legged Gulls and then hopefully an invasion species like Pine Grosbeak or Hawk Owl. Maybe I should be going for 210 😊

my first view of a Fulmar (havhest) was at surprisingly close range although flying away from me

it did do some proper shearwater like flying

here it is seemingly flyinh over an unidentified birder who was watching from Rolfstangen on the Fornebu side of the fjord

a 1cy Kittiwake (krykkje) with the offices of Equinor at Fornebu as a backdrop

a 1cy Arctic Tern (rødnebbterne) that came ridiculously close

it was also windy in Maridalen but there were some raptors on show. This male Honey Buzzard (vepsevåk) is of the same plumage type as the breeding male I am following but has no missing feathers showing him to be a different bird

a very funky Common Buzzard (musvåk) of the type that gets mistaken for Rough-legged Buzzard (fjellvåk)

the view from today's chosen spot at Huk which gave shelter from the wind

Værøy 2023 Day 5

So that’s it - Værøy 2023 is over. Did it live up to expectations? Yes it did but perhaps because I intentionally don’t build them up too high. Good weather, good company, good food, sufficient beer and a smattering of decent birds is more than enough for me.

The trip finished with 2 hours birding in the morning in the north of the island where an Olive-backed Pipit that flew up from my feet a few times in dense vegetation was the highlight along with a few flocks of Barnacle Geese heading south and a young Pomarine Skua harrying Kittiwakes out at sea.

I had been looking forward to the 3 hour ferry ride back to Bodø and it didn’t disappoint at all. If it had been a seawatch in the Oslofjord then it woulf have been described as epic! I had 2 Sooty Shearwaters, 1 Manx, a Storm Petrel, a White-billed Diver plus quite a few Fulmars. Full eBird checklist is here.

Barnacle Geese (hvitkinngås) heading south along the eastern side of Værøy with the mainland just visible on the horizon

Sunrise

My seawatching site from a comfy seat inside on the ferry

White-billed Diver (gulnebblom)

A few Fulmars (havhest) flew along the side of the boat whereas the shearwaters unfortunately flew south very fast past the front of the boat

Surprisingly good photos through a dirty window

Arriving in Bodø

Gannet

Yesterday’s wind died off during the night and today was a very calm and warm day. I thought that a trip out to the islands could pay dividends with hopefully there being left over seabirds hanging around plus the chance of an interesting passerine or two (the southerly winds should bring something with them).

There were far fewer seabirds than I expected with most having probably left at first light (or overnight) and a report of 3 Great Skuas heading south (including a great photo of one) from Drøbak confirms this. My trip was not in vain though.

I got good views of Lesser Spotted and Green Woodpeckers, saw the long staying 2cy male King Eider again and now in a much smarter plumage that is starting to warrant the noble name. I also had a Red-necked Grebe in the same place as the bird I found at the end of August and which was last reported on 18 September, but this bird was in winter plumage and with no signs of juvenile features and therefore a new bird. A single Fulmar on the sea was swimming quite strongly but the complete lack of wind probably meant it had no real desire to fly. Bird of the day was an adult Gannet which I stumbled upon on land. Cleary sick or injured its wings were hanging but it could flap them. I thought I would try to capture it and take it to the water where I thought it would have a better chance of surviving. I was worried about the bill though and decided I would throw my jacket over the bird to hopefully calm it down and also allow me to hold the bill. I did not feel entirely confident with this strategy but as I moved towards the bird it showed that it still had quite a bit of energy left and flapped its way towards the water. It did first become stuck in a bush! but freed itself and then made it to the water. To be honest I don’t rate its chances but I view things like this as the way of nature and do not think there is any point in calling people who offer help with injured birds. I saw no obvious injuries and there was no plastic around the bill, wings or legs so the bird could just have been ill for natural reasons.

close up of a Gannets (havsule) eye 

this is where I found the bird

although it had droopy wings at times it did seem strong and made a lot of noise when I got too close. I am not sure whether it is oil or other much on its breast

here it is sitting with its wings properly folded

there was no obvious injury or plastic/fishing line impeding the bird 

once it was on the water it looked to be in better shape although if it cannot fly then it will have problems feeding

Fulmar (havhest)

2cy male King Eider (praktærfugl) that is now looking a lot smarter

female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (dvergspett)

Red-necked Grebe (gråstrupedykker) looks to be an adult

juvenile Red-throated Diver (smålom)

Green Woodpecker - the grey feathers on the head show it to be a 1cy and the black moustache a female

Some birds on the sea to see today

I was in two minds as to whether I should sea gaze from Krokstrand today but after my lack of joy yesterday and the fact that the weather forecast was for less strong winds today I decided on a trip to Fornebu today. I had plans of finding Cattle Egret, Hoopoe, Richards’s Pipit or if they eluded me then Shore Lark, Lapland Bunting or Bearded Tit. Before I went looking for those though I had a short gaze at the sea at around 9am and 10 minutes or so confirmed that there was nothing happening. I then walked around the inland areas and found none of the birds on my wish list and very little else otherwise. Just after 1030 Bjørn Olav sent out a message that he was seagazing at Fornebu and over the last hour had seen 15 Kittiwakes and a Fulmar. So, there was something to see on the sea and I decided to head over to him. The wind was not particularly strong but there were clearly birds moving now and especially Kittiwakes which were coming in flocks of upto 30 birds. We had over 150 Kittiwakes!!, 12 Fulmars and  200 Guillemots until 1330. Best of all was a Puffin, a 1 cy Little Gull and a dark juvenile Skua which flew north at some height and didn’t allow itself to be identified other than as an Arctic/Long-tailed. Almost all birds were flying north with very few attempting to fly south out of the inner fjord. Of the birds we followed most went into Lysakerfjord but there were not to be seen there later and we also had a flock of 30 Kittiwakes that started circling over Bygdøy and gained a lot of height, but we didn’t see where they eventually went (we chad even rarer birds to find…).

I left at 1330 and headed for Maridalen thinking there may be some Kittiwakes on the lake (there weren’t) but a Long-tailed Duck was a good find.

I did wonder what I would have seen today had I gone to Krokstrand but a 5 and a half hour seawatch from Brentetangen by 2 observors produced only 6 Kittiwakes!! and only 20 auks. I cannot understand how we had so much more from Fornebu.

I did manage to document some of the birds we saw today but a lot of the pictures were a lot worse than they needed to be after I had pushed up the exposure compensation when taking pictures of the skua and then forgot to adjust it back afterwards.

Fulmar (havhest) - we had a minimum of 12 which was a very high number especially given the relatively weak winds (no white horses) 

flock of Kittiwakes (krykkje)

the same Kittiwakes circlingover Bygdøy. We did not see where they headed to after this

1cy Kittiwake. There were a number of birds that needed a lot of grilling after initial poor views suggested they were something rarer

1cy Little Gull (dvergmåke) with adult Kittiwake. Thi birds small size in comparison to the Kittiwake made ID easy

the unidentified Skua. I reckon it was most likely a Long-tailed but views were not good enough to make a positive ID

This Long-tailed Duck (havelle) was the only duck I saw on Maridalsvannet

Better seawatching

The winds became even more favourable yesterday afternoon with them being pure southerly and up to storm force. I positioned myself at Krokstrand for nearly six hours using the car as a base to seek cover during the frequent deluges. Things started well with the first rain storm bringing with it a load of Gannets and Fulmars with both of these species then being seen regularly after this with a single group of 38 Gannets and 8 Fulmar seen on a single sweep although estimating the total numbers was very difficult because I think I was seeing the same birds circling around during the whole period (others take a far less conservative approach though and would have probably reported at least twice the numbers I did).

With Gannets and Fulmars being such proper seabirds then I was expecting other species, but a single Kittiwake and a few auks was it!! This is clearly a sign that there were very few birds in the outer Oslofjord in the first place and sites further south had a bit more variety but no large numbers with especially Kittiwake being surprisingly scarce. The winds continued until around midnight before becoming more westerly and this must have pushed in more birds because people who were watching from dawn in Østfold today had Cory’s, Sooty and Manx Shearwaters all heading south and out of the fjord.

I leave for Værøy on Monday but I have to be honest and say that expectations are not high. With the current weather forecast I am not even sure I will see Yellow-browed Warbler and our sights are set more on seabirds and a yankee or two.

Fulmar (havhest) - there was areal swell today and the Fulmars were shearing around

13 or so Gannets (havsuler) from a single group of 38

some closer Gannets

and the days only Kittiwake (krykkje)

Fulmar

Seawatching, or at least the form of it that I occasionally engage in, must be a sign of madness. You sit there for hours on end, getting cold, staring at the sea, staring at more sea, drinking some coffee to stay awake and warm and if you are lucky you see a couple of seabirds. Such was it today when strong southerly winds had me scurrying to Krokstrand early in the morning where I found Øyvind H and Jerry S were already staring through their scopes at…….a birdless sea….

There was wind though and white tops to the waves so hope lived on. Three and half hours of watching though gave only 3 Fulmars, 15 or so Guillemots going in both directions and strangest of all a young Hobby flying south, into the wind, in the middle of the fjord only a couple of metres over the water. At one stage I had the Hobby and a Fulmar in the same scope view which cannot have been seen by many others before.

One of the Fulmars stayed in the area all the time and was often sitting on the water. This was a sure sign that the bird was weak (possibly with a stomach full of plastic) and at one stage we had it over the water only 15 or so metres from us. I can’t remember having seen a Fulmar so close before but despite this intimacy I really struggled to get sharp and well exposed pictures – I still have to get used to the new camera and which settings I need to use.

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