Grasshopper Warbler up close

Before I get onto the delights of the mountains (and I still have rather a lot of images and video to go through) I also had a couple of good days in the Dale at the end of last week including guiding Josh as a birthday present.

The Grasshopper Warbler performed very well including singing from both 4-5m up in a tree and also down in the grass.

I also checked out some of the more exciting breeding birds. Red-throated Divers are present on last year’s breeding pool but I saw no sign of an active nest and there were two pairs present which seemed to cause problems. Two Goshawks nests that I visited had adult birds present whose behaviour suggested small young were in the nest although it is impossible to see them until they get larger.

I discovered a Bullfinch nest in a spruce tree by a path and only just over 2m above the ground which was a real surprise. Great Spotted Woodpeckers are feeding noisy young in their nests at the moment making the nests easy to find but I have still to locate a Three-toed ‘pecker nest although did find a female in the same area that they have been in this spring. Three-toeds breed later than Great Spots so it may be a week or so before noisy young help location of a nest.

Grasshopper Warbler (gresshoppesanger)

on the ground

4-5 m up a tree

Goshawk (hønsehauk) nest 1 with the female still on the nest but sitting high up as though young present

and nest 2 with the female off the nest

Great Spotted Woodpecker (flaggspett) nest

an array of insects being brought to the young

another nest

female Three-toed Woodpecker (tretåspett)

3 Red-throated Divers (smålom)

and a fourth flying over

female Whinchat (buskskvett)

male Bullfinch (dompap) with the nest and sitting female just under him

the nest jusr 2,5m above the ground in the lowest branches of a spruce

female Bullfinch on nest

Expected summer visitors all back

Rare arctic gulls are all well and good but Maridalen and its surrounding forests are where my heart is and where the real action occurs. This week has started well and appropriately on the official start of summer, 1^st June, all of the expected summer visitors are now back plus one unexpected one.

On the last day of May I added Honey Buzzard and Marsh Warbler to my Oslo year list which left just one species remaining which was Common Rosefinch and that fell today with a 1^st summer male singing in one of the favoured spots in Maridalen. This species has become much scarcer the last two years and I wonder if something is afoot. The unexpected species was Grasshopper Warbler which Stig JK found last night and which showed quite well for me this morning. Other scarce summer migrants that could turn up in the Dale are Corncrake, Quail, Blyth’s Reed Warbler and River Warbler but each summer is different so it will be interesting to see what 2022 brings.

On the Lapwing front there are still 2 birds sitting on nests at Skjerven farm although they are becoming difficult to see as the crops grows. I checked the muddy edges of the lake and found only 5 young (2+3) which was a halving of that I found last week with one whole brood vanishing. On the plus side a pair has laid 4 eggs on the mudflat at Kirkeby and have been incubating for a couple of days. This pair is, I assume, a pair from Skjerven that is relaying but will risk being flooded out if we have lots of rain.

A walk in the woods gave me my first Hazel Grouse in a while (I haven’t been looking) with a male that sang strongly and presumably had its mate close by on eggs.

First some videos where the birds are invisible but their songs can be heard loud and clear

Grasshopper Warbler (gresshoppesanger) only my third ever in Maridalen

1st summer Common Rosefinch (rosenfink) - a rather boring bird especially when you think how it will look in a years time

the new Lapwing (vipe) nest on a mudflat rather than an arable field

four eggs

I have twice walked past this very low vegetation and a female Yellowhammer (gulspurv) has flown out

and this is why!

The Black-headed Gulls (hettemåke) at Østensjøvannet are having yet another terrible breeding season with many nests abandoned and far fewer pairs than there were just a couple of years ago. This single nest though built in the new "wader scrape" (which has far too deep edges and consequently no waders) has two young which hopefully will fledge

a rare Oystercatcher (tjeld) at Maridalsvannet on 1 June. There were 7 species of wader and it will soon be the autumn passage and hopefully finally I will see a Dunlin

singing Icterine Warbler (gulsanger) which does seem numerous this year

the first Marsh Warbler of 2020 in Maridalen which turned up on the last day of spring

male Red-backed Shrike (tornskate)

my first Fritillary of the year, a Pearl-bordered (rødflekket perlemorvinge)

and my first dragonfly a White-faced Darter (småtorvlibelle)

the last spring migrant wader in Maridalen this year? A Wood Sandpiper (grønnstilk) with a Little Ringed Plover (dverglo) in the foreground. The LRPs do not seem to be breeding yet despite lots of display