February no different

The first week of February is done and dusted and I cannot say that things have got better yet. A Wood Pigeon flying north may count as my first spring migrant of the year although could have just been an overwintering  bird moving between feeding sites and I did have a Greylag a couple of weeks ago that may also qualify for that distinction. Although why either of these birds would be heading north when temperatures are still constantly way below zero is anyone's guess.

A Black Woodpecker gave a nice performance on Thursday as both it and a Great Spotted were seemingly finding lots of food in some dead spruce trees. Otherwise it has really just been same old, same old. A trip to Tromsø this weekend to see Jr fills me with the promise of finding white-winged gulls and rare eiders but will probably be a failure judging by the lack of records of anything exciting on either eBird or Artsobservasjoner.

this Grey Heron (hegre) had found some open water but I don't think there were any fish for it

whereas this Water Rail (vannrikse) was happy to eat porridge oats that had been put out for it

adult male Goshawk (hønsehauk) back in a favoured tree in Maridalen suggests his mind is turning to the breeding season and we may soon see some display

And these are still easy to find and for the first time in sunshine:

Drumming Three-toed Woodpecker and salt licking Crossbills

A drive around Maridalen this morning revealed temperatures down to -19C. Perhaps because of this there was very little to see or hear and it is now four days since I last saw Hawkie and I expect (s)he has now moved on (or died). Common Crossbills are by far the commonest bird and have been down on the roads quite a lot in small groups of mostly males (females presumably being on eggs). They are known to take grains of sand from forest roads to help with their digestion but in this instance that does not seem to be the case. Rather they seem to be licking at the snow/ice and I am quite sure it is salts they are after which is a well known behaviour in crossbills. I have not seen them on the road in Maridalen which is liberally  salted (and where there is no snow or ice) but they are common on the side roads where I believe they are taking salt that arrives on the tyres of cars.

On Friday I also had a male Three-toed Woodpecker who drummed for a long time and allowed himself to be watched well including some interaction with a Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Great Spotted Woodpecker (flaggspett) and Three-toed Woodpecker (tretåspett). The Three-toed had been drumming and the GS came to investigate although did not drum itself

The male Crossbills (grankorsnebb) gather whilst their mates are already on eggs

they did not appear to be picking up grit/sand but rather licking salts

Mission accomplished, kind of, sort of, in a way

Back in the winter of 2012/13 when both Hawkie and Piney appeared simultaneously around Oslo I started have fairly damp dreams of getting a photo of Hawkie with a bloody Piney (preferably adult male) in its talons. As Hawk Owls only very rarely hunt birds this was always going to remain a dream and I soon realised that just seeing them together would be quite the feat and was pretty chuffed when I filmed both from the same spot as can be read in this 12 year old post.

This winter I have heard Grosbeaks whilst watching the owl on a couple of occasions and once had one fly over the owl but never captured it digitally - until yesterday!!

I had to take quite a few spaces backwards but just managed to fit them both in the same shot😊

and here it is the long dreamed of picture!

it was easier to take pictures of the two species when they were alone

Great Spotted Woodpeckers (flaggspett) seem to get quite stressed by the presence of the Hawk Owl and frequently mob it. Here the owl had had enough and was chasing the pecker away

the ow favoured an area around a house and I saw it plunge to the ground right by the wall of the house although it did not catch anything that time

here flying up after its unsuccessful plunge to the ground by the house

here the owl had flown close to 150m and plunged to the ground but again did not catch anything

the owl does not seem to be bothered by people, or horses

but he is bothered by Magpies (skjære) even if he tries to ignore them

there are still large numbers of Goldfinches (stillits) in Maridalen. Here they were finding something to eat on the road although I don't know what

on Monday morning there was an impressive display of mother-of-pearl clouds

Too sunny

Migration seems to have been put on pause again and with sun, blue skies and temperatures quickly reaching 20C it can feel quiet birdless at times which is strange for the first week of May. Butterflies like it though and I am now up to 7 species this year.

New species trickle in though. Yesterday Oslo #150 was added from my bed when a Lesser Whitethroat sang in the garden and then in Maridalen #151 was added with Wood Warbler. No new Oslo species today but a Red-backed Shrike at Nordre Øyeren was my earliest ever and a Thrush Nightingale was singing from leave less bushes and was unusually easy to see (hearing it is never a problem).

The male Three-toed Woodpecker was singing in the middle of the hot afternoon yesterday which is rather strange and I did not see the female. Today I saw neither bird and wonder whether something has gone wrong with (female predated?). The male and a male Great Spotted Woodpecker had a territorial fight though which was interesting to see. Previously these two species seem to, surprisingly, have coexisted in the same wood without any agro.

An update on the swan drama is that the Whoopers are still on the (Mute) nest and the new pair of Mute Swans were displaying today and chasing off Greylags so maybe they will make a nesting attempt.

Sunday’s weather forecast suggests southerly winds and rain in what is otherwise a period of dry sunny weather. If we are going to have a god day this May then I think it will be then.

Thrush Nightingale (nattergal). I don't think I've seen one this well before

my earliest ever Red-backed Shrike (tornskate)

territorial Great Spotted (flaggspett) and Three-toed Woodpeckers (tretåspett)

it was the Three-toed who went after the GS but the GS had the upper hand

Buzzard (musvåk) in Maridalen

a White Wagtail (linerle) was not happy with it flying so low over the fields

I checked Maridalen's Goshawk (hønsehauk) nests and both had sitting birds

the remains of a male Mallard (stokkand) were on a plucking post close to one of the nests

three male Whinchats (buskskvett) in a row

in Maridalen a pair of Wrynecks (vendehals) and a lone male are singing close to each other. This was the female from the pair

my first Peacock (dagpåfugløye)

and a Camberwell Beauty (sørgekåpe)

a toad (padde)

and Grass Snakes (buorm). I have loads of footage which will have to be shown in a separate post