Q1

The first quarter of the year is now complete and an ice free Østensjøvannet is sure sign that spring is here as was the sound of singing Chiffchaff today. The ice has gone very quickly at Østensjøvannet – on Wednesday when I saw the Smew there was just a small ice free area where all the birds were concentrated but by Saturday all the ice was gone. The period when there is just a small ice free area is a good time to be at Østensjøvannet because it is possible to get good views of many species so it is a shame that it was so short this year. The Saturday visit was to see a Pochard that had been found and another visit today revealed both the Pochard and Smew to still be present. There must be a lot of small fish as there are good numbers of Goosander but there are few dabbling ducks and unfortunately the Black-headed Gulls look like they have already decided they are not nesting here for yet another year. The lake has previously had up to 2000 breeding pairs and lots of work has been done to ensure there are suitable nesting sites but something else, which I believe is a lack of food, has put the gulls off the lake.

In Maridalen the first Meadow Pipits have arrived and Twite remain in very good numbers but there is little else and definitely no raptor passage which I hope to see each day with sun….

female Pochard (taffeland) at Østensjøvannet

and a male Tufted Duck (toppand)

I scanned all the gulls for something rare but reading colour rings was the most exciting thing in the end. Here three different types of colour ring on Black-headed Gulls. The white and green are Norwegian and the red is from the UK (I have yet to receive details on it)

J88E was the oldest bird and was ringed as an adult female at Østensjøvannet 31st May 2015. It has been seen many time since but only in the Oslo area and it wintering grounds are unknown

J0280 is the bird that has travelled most. Ringed in Oslo 9 June 2022 it has been seen in Milton Keynes, England in January of both 2023 and 2025

Whooper Swans (sangsvane) are still moving through and this group was in Maridalen yesterday

Adders can be found sunning themselves in the same places each (sunny) day and it is still only males that are out

Black Woodpeckers (svartspett) are excavating a new hole after using the same one for the last 3 years

Goosander (laksand)

Great Crested Grebes (toppdykker)

spot the Meadow Pipit (heipiplerke)

and an easier to see Skylark (sanglerke)

Lapwings (and more) are back

A week or so of plus temperatures and some rain has now made Maridalen suitable for the first migrants although a lot of snow remains and in places is still knee deep. The forecast for the coming week though is for overnight frosts so the pace of the thaw will slow down.

Yesterday there were multiple Skylarks and 3 Stock Doves in The Dale and today the first Lapwings, Snow Buntings and Mistle Thrush plus even more larks including quite bit of song, displaying Goshawks and drumming Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. The Great Grey Shrike also performed impeccably.

Skjerven today where there were 2 Lapwing (vipe) and a number of Skylarks despite all that snow

there seems a definite trend for the Lapwings to arrive earlier and 5 March is the second earliest date I have recorded

Lapwing #1

#2

#1 with a Skylark

The fields at Nes yesterday (4 March) which already held Skylarks

singing Skylark

displaying adult male Goshawk (hønsehauk)

male Lesser Spttoed Woodpecker (dvergspett) which was drumming quietly

first Mistle Thrush (duetrost) of the year

3 Stocks Doves (skogdue) in Maridalen is I think a record count

Starlings (stær) have not arrived in Maridalen yet but these were at Fornebu yesterday and were clearly finding insects to eat

quite different plumages here - a male in summer plumage on the left and a bird (unsure of sex) still in winter plumage

with a Norwegian ring although I could not see the whole code

Great Grey Shrike (varsler)

it flew down to the ground

where it seemed to find something to eat

Don’t believe the hype

May 1^st 2023 was obviously the exception to prove the rule. I did not see any sign of new birds having arrived and that despite the night starting with clear skies before clouding over early this morning before snow and sleet started falling. That, in my book, should have resulted in lots of grounded migrants. My expectations were so high that I was in Maridalen by 05:45 but had left an hour and a half later and visits to Fornebu, Bygdøy, Østensjøvannet and Maridalen again could not dispel the unmistakeable reality that this May 1^st was a damp (and cold) squid.

Mammals were perhaps the highlight of the day with a massive 6 species recorded: Roe Deer, Beaver, Fox, Common Porpoise, Harbour Seal and Water Vole.

looking out over the bay at Kirkeby at 06:56 - the amount of ice free water is expanding slowly but over 90% of the lake is still frozen which is as far as I remember a record for 1 May

looking the other way and snow was falling over a decidedly brown landscape

the female Smew (lappfiskand) at Østensjøvannet

I had 5 Ringed Plovers at Fornebu today. A group of three were feeding and displaying and a pair had a nest! Here the female is running towards the nest - the eggs can be seen just to the right of her head

about to sit on the eggs

snuggly incubating

urban birds

the simple nest and eggs after I discovered it. The adult returned to the nest just a minute after I discovered them

Skylarks (sanglerke) are also hanging on my the skin of their teeth at Fornebu with 3 birds seen including a singing male

and some dodgy mammal shots:

Beaver

Fox

Water Vole

Water Vole (same animal)