The last week in Oslo

Before I bore most of you with a butterfly post it is about time with another catch up of local Oslo birding.

Hobbies are back in Maridalen and have clearly chosen a new but yet to be discovered nest. I have seen a single Honey Buzzard over Maridalen and the nest of the last two years has had green branches added to it although no birds are on the nest yet.

The last Lapwing nest in Maridalen is now empty and I think that the young have hatched due to the behaviour of the parents but the crop is now too high to see. One evening whilst the nest was still occupied a fox with Lapwing young on its mind walked through the field. I have a long video of the event and the adults were very effective at attacking the fox and also calling their young away.

The four Little Ringed Plover eggs have hatched and the parents are doing a great job keeping them alive. They deserve a separate post though as there is a lot to see with them.

Nocturnal singers are slowly increasing with at least 4 Marsh Warblers in Maridalen and a Nightjar in an unexpected location that showed very well.

Arctic Terns remain on the lake including the 3cy bird with the missing tail feather and it is fun watching them on every visit to the lake.

A video of the Nightjar (nattravn) to start with

adult Lapwings (vipe)trying to chase off a fox whose back is just visible amongst the buttercups

j

this young Lapwing is nearly fully grown and was flapping its wings

my only Oslo Honey Buzzard (vepsevåk) so far this year

this pair with the male on the left were in Østfold

the Honey Buzzard nest from the last two years with fresh spruce branches added

Arctic Tern (rødnebbterne) with a mayfly in its sights

and about to be caught

Hobby (lerkefalk)

spot the Red-backed Shrike (tornskate). There has still not been any major arrival and I have not located any breeding pairs yes

A Blue Tit (blåmeis) nest jut above ground level

when a Chiffchaff (gransanger) flew up from by my feet I knew there must be a nest nearby and here it was

with a few young in it

Svelling up

Since my last post I have seen quite a few good birds but have taken (thankfully?) very few photos so this post will be light on eye candy.

Svellet is once again showing its mightiness. Water levels have stabilised at a fantastic low level with enormous areas of wet mud and shallow water. Good numbers of waders are now arriving with ca.300 Wood Sandpipers and 100 Greenshank dominating. Distances and light are as always a challenge but conditions are not impossible. More spicy birds included 5 adult Little Gulls today, Spotted Redshank and Ruff. With no rain forecast in the next 10 days and little snow left to melt in the mountains we may have another 10 days, and possibly more, of ideal wader conditions. The lack of rain though is perhaps the only thing that will stop us getting amazing conditions as many birds will head straight over.

On Sunday the waders in Svellet were on the east side and relatively easy to see. Here amongst the Wood Sandpipers (grønnstilk) and Greenshank (gluttsnipe) is a single Spotted Redshank (sotsnipe). Today though all the waders were on the west side and are much more challenging to view

northern end of Svellet 5 May taken from the west side

and the southern end

A male Garganey was the result of a mini twitch (it is my favourite duck and in a poor spring for the species I was wondering whether I would see one) and a slightly longer driving trip with Jr (who takes her driving test in under a month) allowed me to check in on my GGO nest where the female was still sitting tight.

male Garganey (knekkand)

Great Grey Owl (lappugle) still incubating

In Maridalen there seems to be a Wryneck bonanza this year with two pairs and two to three additional males currently making themselves known. The Lapwing situation is that in addition to the three nesting pairs there is another pair on an adjoining field who have probably started nesting. Things have been rather disrupted though this weekend when the farmer ploughed the field. He is proud of his Lapwings and had marked the nests but I do not think he was particularly successful in avoiding them with the tractor and plough (as also happened last year) and today I could see none sitting.

the Lapwings (vipe) in Maridalen also have to deal with foxes

a week after I first saw a Wryneck (vendehals) pair prospecting this hole they were still looking at it although I am unsure they have made their minds up yet

this is I believe an unpaired male who was singing by this nest box

Otherwise Maridalen is not looking like it will have a particularly exciting May if this dry sunny weather continues. The fields are very dry and lifeless and for some reason water levels are very high in the lake and there are no muddy edges to attract waders. 

my first blue of the year, a Holly Blue (vårblåvinge) was an appetizer for next month when butterflies will really kick off

(Lesser) Redpoll (brunsisik) in Maridalen. It seems to be a good year for the species

Migrants and lingering Hawk Owl

We have now had two nights without frost and along with southerly winds I have been expecting a flood of migrants. Of course, that has not been the case and viz mig has been a particular disappointment with just a few flocks of Pink-footed Geese, 2 Cranes and a Kestrel. I had a real hope for a few raptors but it is clearly still too early still (and I have this “surprise” every year at this time….).

 

Despite the lack of viz mig there has been an arrival of new birds. Dunnocks and Redwings are suddenly back and singing from woodland, White and Grey Wagtail are suddenly wagging away and there are considerably more Lapwing, Mistle Thrushes, Chaffinches, Bramblings and a large Twite flock in Maridalen. Surprisingly though there are no Robins back yet but that must happen soon.

The Hawk Owl has been showing very well as it exploits a rich source of Bank Voles (klatremus) and I was very happy to be able to film it dismembering and then eating one.

 

A trip to Østensjøvannet was very birdy with lots of noisy gulls and various wildfowl with a pair of Smew being the absolute highlight.

The video I have long wanted to capture showing the beheading, entrails removing and swallowing of a vole

Hawkie on a wire

and on its way down for what ended up being an unsuccessful vole hunt

this video has a few sequences with it giving its call that I also heard frequently when it first turned up in November

male Smew (lappfiskand)

pair

and with a Grey Heron (gråhegre)

3 male Teal (krikkand)

and a close of up another bird

the Heron was not at all popular with the Black-headed Gulls (hettemåke)

Goosander (laksand) are also back

3 species of returning gulls on the ice and 2 male Goosander

Grey Wagtail (vintererle) is back in the Dale

as is Dunnock (jernspurv)

and Redwing (rødvingetrost)

and a large flock of Twite (bergirisk) is having a stop off on its migration

and the first White Wagtail (linerle) of the year

not in Maridalen and not a good picture but I cannot remember capturing Parrot (furukorsnebb) and Common Crossbill (grankorsnebb) together before

Canada and Greylag Geese in Maridalen suddenly became very alert when this fox appeared

A week of nothing

When it is mid May and I go a whole week without posting then I think you already understand that I am going to say it has been dire.

The hot, sunny weather continues and there just seem to be few birds. We have just a looong weekend with Friday being Norway’s national day and yesterday was a holiday in celebration of Pentecost (don’t ask me what that is…). We spent 3 days at the cabin at Hulvik which I had expected to provide loads of good birds but it didn’t for once. A nocturnal trip produced zero Nightjars or other interesting nocturnal birds (although it was a tad early in the spring there should have been more) and a sea gaze from before 5am in what were not bad conditions produced a single Red-throated Diver migrating north and that was it!!!!

I have added to my Oslo list with Reed Warbler #171, Redstart #172 and Common Rosefinch #173.

Rain that is forecast on Thursday night and Friday morning will if the bird gods are feeling generous produce floods of marsh terns, Little Gulls and hirundines….

3cy+ male Common Rosefinch (rosenfink)

finally Redstart (rødstjert)

male Red-backed Shrike (tornskate) in Maridalen

he had attracted a female and was dancing for her

male Whitethroat (tornsanger)

Hobby (lerkefalk) today

a Sparrowhawk (spurvehauk) trying to chase the Hobby away

an unexpected meeting with a Beaver in the middle of the day today

and even more unexpected was getting close to a fox that was feeding on a long dead Moose carcass in a river