Oslo's first ever Steller's Eider!

Funny how things can be. When I was guiding Ivor on Friday he told me he had been on a tourist boat trip in the Oslo fjord the previous day and that he had been hoping to see Glaucous or Iceland Gull and King or Stellers Eider and was going to go through the many photos he had taken hoping to see if he had seen any. I informed Ivor that none of those species was possible.....

Well it is always good to be proven wrong. First Ivor sent me a photo that undeniably shows a bleached 2cy Glaucous Gull and second I was on a family trip out to Gressholmen today and found Oslo's first ever STELLER's EIDER!!!  

I was 95% certain I saw it on the way out but it was snorkelling and I didn't see the head and didn't have my camera ready. I informed Mrs OB of my suspicions but she showed no interest what so ever. Three hours later I positioned myself on the right side of the crowded boat and got ready. YES there it was but taking photos at range with the superzoom from a rocking boat ain't easy. I did manage 2 that count as record shots but wanted more. I left the family to go home and took the boat out again. On the way out I couldn't see it...... On the return I got myself on the right side of the boat but suddenly realised we were going past the small island on the other side!!! The boat was too packed for me to move but I was able to get some photos through the crowd although this time he was asleep. I feel the need to charter a boat!!

Other good birds on the trip were Hobby and Pintail although sadly Ringed Plovers were absent from the island where they have bred for a number of years.

These are the best photos I managed:

male Steller's Eider (stellerand) in Oslo!

NSKF in Tangen

Friday to Sunday was spent at Tangen, Kjell Mjølsnes’s house which (as I have written many times before) must be the best birding house in Norway. The occasion was the spring NSKF meeting and as usual the meeting was scheduled for a time of the year when the birding would be so poor that we would manage to do NSKF work instead of being out birding. And it worked – we were very hard working and on Saturday did not even leave the house although there is always something to see from the windows….

What we can see from the windows is fascinating though. Two Woodcock were often to be seen feeding on the lawn (something I have only ever observed from Kjell’s living room), Hen Harriers flew by, a male Smew and Scaup could be seen from the viewing platform on Kjell’s barn and very close by were flocks of geese and swans.

We did manage some other birding on the way to and from the airport and Black-throated Thrush and male Steller’s Eider were twitched. I had hoped to finally see Stonechat in Norway but a pair of birds that had been wintering in the area were not to be found and had probably perished as the Europe wide cold spell had left its mark even here although surprisingly there was no snow. Passerines of any kind were incredibly scarce and Lapwings that had previously been in the area had also disappeared and there were no signs of spring. Woodcocks were also seen in a number of places other than Kjell’s garden which is a sure sign of how difficult conditions had become for them and desperate they were.

Here are videos of Woodcock (rugde) , Black-throated Thrush (svartstrupetrost) and Steller's Eider (stellerand):

male Black-throated Thrush - this bird has been hanging out on this manure pile for a few months and seems very at home

Long-tailed Duck (havelle)

arctic conditions

Orrevatnet as viewed from Kjell's barn had just a few small area of open water where this male Smew (lappfiskand) had sought refuge

this male Steller's Eider is a rare bird in SW Norway and was a big surprise 

 Tundra (rossicus) Bean Goose (sædgås) with Greylags

one of two Woodcock forced into looking for worms on Kjell's lawn in the middle of the day. The large eye is because this bird is normally nocturnal. Here it had been scared by an oerflying Sparrowhawk and had frozen

they feed very actively and are constanly digging into the ground looking for worms

The inevitable downturn

It was inevitable after so many great days that today would be very quiet. With blue skies to start with and it clouding up in the afternoon I hoped for some raptors but apart from a couple of obviously migrating Kestrels during the day there was nothing special to see. In Maridalen the farmer has ploughed the main Lapwing field. This has probably ruined the initial breeding attempt of some pairs but I think they will try again as it is still early in the season (and the pair at Kirkeby are still mating and have yet to start nesting) and I also think that after it is seeded that the field will be better for them but only time will tell.

 

I’ve made a start on my video editing from yesterday and first out is the Steller’s Eider:

 

Also more pictures of said bird

the black spot is a strange plumage trait of Steller's Eider

what is the point of the green growth on the nape?

The day of days

What day! Three great birds (well actually five birds of three species) and I didn’t find a single one of them! My daily ablutions were interrupted by a text message telling me about two Shore Larks in Maridalen (and that just after I had ruminated over what bird I had a chance of fining today and concluded with just that species). I later saw these birds really well, and then watched some bird porno when I followed up on the Kingfisher report and had them mating at close range. And then for lunch I had the male Steller’s Eider also at close range.

 

The Shore Larks were only Maridalen’s (and Oslo’s?) second record and to be honest if I didn’t know they were there I’m not sure I would have found them as they feeding very anonymously in furrows on the edge of the field – so a big thanks to Halvard H for his second big find in Maridalen this year.

I got to see the birds VERY well and would have been happy for the birding day to end there. Maridalen had little else to offer anyway. There was no sign today of the Med Gull. There was a report of it yesterday later afternoon. If this report is correct (many other observers were there during the day and didn’t see it) then it raises the question as to whether the bird in Hamar is the same bird. I think it could well be the same bird that has taken a day trip to Hamar, didn’t like what it saw and returned to Maridalen. I often see flocks of gulls gaining great height over Maridalen and heading north but I have also frequently seen flocks arriving from the north (also in the spring at the same time other flocks are heading north) and it could well be that these gulls make long distance feeding/reconnaissance trips during the course of a day.

 I took the trip down to look for the Kingfishers not quite sure what I would find. I arrived at the footbridge where the instructions were to watch from (and not from anywhere else to avoid disturbance) and expected to see flocks of photographers but was all alone. I did see the bird flying along the river almost immediately though. Another couple of birders/photographers arrived and we had to wait over 40 minutes but then a bird flew noisily in. Incredibly it landed very close to us on the bridge rather than further upstream which is where the nest was supposed to be. It then did fly upstream with a fish in its bill before turning and landing again only 20 metres from us and there were two birds!! This was clearly the nest sight on a small vertical bit of the river bank under a fallen tree. I couldn’t see the actual nest but the male disappeared a couple of times under the overturned tree roots and my pictures show he had a muddy bill when he returned so was clearly excavating the nest. The two birds then sat on branches by the nesting bank and showed incredibly well. I was torn between taking pictures and video and this is when I really c*cked up. I had just finished a video sequence by panning out to show the surroundings and was changing back to still pictures when one of my co-observers shouted that they were mating. Unfortunately, I wasn’t quick enough with the camera to capture it though. Hanging around another hour a lot of people walked past us on the bridge and wondered what we were watching and showed a lot of interest. One interesting thing was that few knew what “isfugl” was but many knew what a “Kingfisher” was.

After this the pair sat together for a long time, the male disappeared into the nest and the female called quite excitedly so I expected we would see more mating but it didn’t happen and then the male flew off. The female remained for a long time before herself flying up river. When the male returned calling with a fish in his beak he was clearly confused that his mate was not there and flew around calling for about 5 minutes before she flew in. I was ready to film them getting it on but it didn’t happen. They sat together, he gave her the fish, they called a lot but unless they mated during a short period when they moved and I lost sight of them then I don’t think he got his regard that time. News spread whilst I was there with people phoning others and I expect that in the days to come these birds will become a media sensation.

Leaving with many memories recorded digitally I went looking for the Steller’s Eider. With the initial interest having died down he is not reported very regularly but seems to have settled down in a small bay/marina with a pair of Common Eiders. He was there when I arrived and I was able to watch the three birds closely. There might be a male and a female Common Eider but the dynamics of the three birds suggest that the male Steller’s is the one who has pulled the female Common. I saw him trying to chase away the male Common Eider and it was him who swam closest to the female. She however showed no particular interest in either of them.

 I took loads of video and photos today but that will just show off a few shots now and will have to come back with more later.

Shore Larks (fjelllerke)

 

male Stellers Eider (stellerand) with male Common Eider (ærfgul)

pair of Kingfishers (isfugl). Female on left with red on her lower mandible

 

Steller's Eider

Not often that I write two posts on the same day but after finishing my earlier post I come over all weird and had a strange twitchy feeling that I can’t remember having had for decades. I willed Mrs OsloBirder to get home from work and at 1745 I was in the car. Leaving a bit later meant I missed the worst of the afternoon traffic but I still felt that everyone else was driving far too quickly. But I still managed to get there quicker than the GPS predicted ;-)

Three others including Messrs Gullberg and Zakariassen were already staking out the bird but it wasn’t a difficult one to pick out. It was with a handful of Common Eider less than 100m offshore and it looked like they wanted to come close into shore presumably to feed on mussels so I would imagine that there are some very good photo opportunities waiting to be had if the bird hangs around and the weather brightens up. But what a bird. OK, I’ve seen them before in Varanger in large flocks, in great light and in amazing landscapes but an adult male a stones throw from Oslo Centre was not something I was expecting.

It gave me another opportunity to put the new camera through its paces but that jury is still out....

taken with 65x optical zoom uncropped



65x optical zoom and cropped slightly

uncropped using digital zoom (not sure what is was but over 100x)

65x optical zoom uncropped

 

The still pictures might need some perfecting but the video seems to be very good

Steller's Eider video

Here is a video I took of a flock of Steller's Eider in Kiberg Harbour.

 Unfortunately I didn't get to film them diving which is quite a sight. The whole flock normally dives as one and they resurface at great speed and pop out of the water like a cork. Steller's Eider really is a marvelous bird. It is an incredible looker and occurs in remote areas of outstanding natural beauty - surely a candidate for my favourite bird.

Today, back in Oslo, I only had time for a quick trip to Maridalen but quite productive it was too. A flock of 55 Pink-footed Geese flying north was incredibly early although the migration actually started on Thursday when the first flocks were reported on their way north from Denmark.
My first Mistle Thrushes of the year included a flock of 10 flying north and one singing. The local male Goshawk was displaying over the area and an early Buzzard didn't necessarily look like he was passing through. A flyover Green Sandpiper appears to be only the second record so far this year in Norway and a Grey Wagtail was also a year tick. At least 4 Hawfinches were around the farmhouse at Nes with much song.
There is still little open water but the Whooper Swan pair is still present, 10 Goldeneyes were in full display and a male Goosander looked resplendent. Chaffinches are now common and I also had my first Brambling of the year for Maridalen. Still no flocks of Fieldfare or Redwing though.

Now that I am getting the hang of You Tube I have also uploaded a highlights video from my trip to Finnmark last year:

Day 3 Finnmark March 2012

Another long day. Up at 0430 and in the field from 0500 until 1730. Were we rewarded? Not really. Two adult Iceland Gulls, a very early Rock Pipit, over 50 Glaucous Gulls, finally some satisfying pictures of Steller’s Eider and another White-billed Diver were the highlights apart from more hybirds and subspecies (see blow). Very surprising was a complete lack of raptors, not even a single White-tailed Eagle.

Male Steller's Eider

Flock of Steller's Eider

Viewing conditions were very good with little wind such that it was easy to see what was on the sea and also good light for studying the birds. We spent most time on gulls particularly the two sand beaches near Svartnes (on the mainland looking over to Vardø) where streams provide fresh water for bathing/preening gulls. There is much movement of gulls here with many hundreds of gulls passing through. At any one time there were around 400 Herrings Gulls with upto 20 Glaucous Gulls. By looking at the ages of the Glaucous Gulls present at any one time it was easy to see that there was much movement of birds. It was here we faced our most interesting identification challenges.

 Firstly with a couple of adult Common Gulls one of which we was ringed and we had first seen on Vardø. The ringed bird at least was a very good candidate for Heinei with a pale iris, long yellow bill and yellow legs. It also looked different to normal Common Gulls with a bit of Ring-billed Gull look about it. The other bird had a dark eye and a more normal jizz but did also have noticeably yellow bill and legs.

Adult Common Gull showing characters of Russian subspecies Heinei. Although the eye looks dark in this picture it was pale in real life (see next picture). Also note yellow bill and legs. The white eye lids of this bird helped give it a special appearance

Note pale iris visible in this picture

2 adult Common Gulls. The right hand bird which was ringed is shown in the other photos and showed Heinei characters. Notice in this picture it is slightly darker on the wings than the other bird which had a dark eye.

Wing pattern of the right-hand bird

We also spent some time with a 2nd winter gull that initially looked like a Glaucous but on closer inspection was probably too dark with a dark tail, dark secondary bar and primaries that were not quite pale enough. We discussed Glaucous Winged Gull and the bird appeared to have a dark eye but did not get conclusive views or good photos (see the best below which are hugely cropped) due to distance and in the end veered towards it perhaps being a hybrid between Glaucous and Herring.

Mystery Gull. Hybrid Glaucous x Herring? Dark Glaucous? or something rarer

Another 3^rd winter bird in the flock was also a probable hybrid but we got no photos of this bird. It was a far more intermediate bird with a Glaucous like bill, pale grey scapulars, creamy coloured coverts and tertials and brown primaries. It was also a large bird at the top end for Herring Gull.

It was interesting looking at the Glaucous Gulls and noting the large difference in size with some birds smaller than the largest Herring Gulls and others the size of Great Black-backed. The 2 Iceland Gulls we had we both very small birds, notably smaller than adjacent Herring Gulls and therefore likely to be females.

The day ended with a vindaloo in Vadsø – the world’s most northerly curry house?

Day 1 of Finnmark March 2012

A quick summary of today’s sightings:

We landed at Kirkenes to fantastic weather, blue skies and hardly a breath of wind. Making our way towards Varanger there were surprisingly few birds to see and incredibly few gulls, just small numbers of Herring, Great Black-backed and Kittiwakes. Every now and again the fjord held some seaduck with Eider the commonest (ca. 500 seen), then Long-tailed Duck (ca.100), King Eider (ca.50), Mallard (ca.50), Red-breasted Merganser (20), Velvet Scoter (4) and Goldeneye (1). We also had Steller’s Eider at 2 sites: Nesseby (50) and Vadsø Harbour (16). Just 3 White-tailed Eagles and no other raptors or owls. Passerines were of course very few and far between but we did have House Sparrow, Greenfinch, Great Tit, a single Willow Tit calling in a way I have never heard before and 2 Arctic Redpolls.

Mammal wise we had a few Reindeer, a single Bearded Seal (mammal tick), 2 Grey Seals, some other seals which were probably Common Seals and some small cetaceans that may have been White-beaked Dolphins.

The days are quite long already but the sun doesn’t rise very high so the evenings are long. Light-wise it started to be evening before 4pm but it didn’t get dark until after 6pm.

 

Today’s pictures were rather poor but here are the best of them:

Steller's Eider, Vadsø Harbour

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Purple Sandpipers

Steller's Eider

Bearded Seal, the beard being very visible

Arctic Redpoll. Crappy picture but you can at least see how white they should be