Fog more fog and finally the golden globe

 My new favourite Maridalen fields were jinxed by my last post and have been almost empty since! Fog also covered the valley on Wednesday and until early afternoon on Thursday but today we had sun from the get go and I had sky high expectations. With a light southerly wind I was expecting Falsterbo heavy but had to wait a looooong time for my first raptor. In the meantime a number of small flocks of Pink-footed Geese headed north but I really thought there should be raptors. We have not had a raptor migration day yet this spring and by my reckoning there should be thermals full of Common Buzzards and Sparrowhawks waiting to head north. Well, my reckoning doesn’t seem to count for much.

There were NO Sparrowhawks, and none of the four Common Buzzards that eventually passed in front of my field glasses looked to be actively migrating. One of them, a very pale bird, looked to be the same as I have seen in previous years. There was one raptor highlight though that then brought a little rush. I picked up a young Golden Eagle heading very slowly west over the north of the valley whilst I was stood at Nes. I drove up to the north and did not find it but did pick up a Kestrel and a White-tailed Eagle heading north so there was some quality if no quantity. Along with Goshawk I had five species of raptor today and am already up to to nine for the year in Oslo.

 

The first Adders are also out showing themselves and my first butterfly, a Small Tortoiseshell was on the wing today so spring is springing!

a young Golden Eagle (kongeørn) at far too long range but you can see what it is

One of 4 Common Buzzards (musvåk) none of which was actively migrating. This very pale bird looks to be the same that has been in the valley in previous years

Goshawk (hønsehauk)

Goldcrests (fuglekonge) look to have really suffered due to the cold spell so it was nice to find this bird which was also singing

Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers (dvergspett) are making themselves known singing and drumming and I have seen a pair together. Here the male

and here the female who was reacting to the male in the next door tree

Pink-footed Geese (kortnebbgås) - one of a number of small flocks heading north today

pair of Teal (krikkand)

male Adder (hoggorm)

and a different individual

Maridalen continues to surprise

I have a new hotspot in Maridalen. The best fields for migrants have always been at Nes and Kirkeby but this year, so far, it is the fields at Nedre Vaggestein and adjoining Sørbråten. These fields have been often held Cranes and last autumn Whooper Swans but I have not noted too much more there although the grass field at Sørbråten has always been a good place for thrushes and Starlings and the first White Wagtails of the year. So far this spring though it is the muddy stubble fields at Nedre Vaggestein (NV) that have attracted the birds. This is where I previously published pictures of Whooper Swans and the Rock Pipit but it all started to take off yesterday - 23 Whooper Swans, a pair of Teal, a Lapwing (it would be great if they breed here), 30 Skylarks and best of all 25 Snow Buntings were a good haul.

Today though on a visit with Jack it felt exceptional. The swans and geese were gone and Snow Buntings represented by only 2 of their kind but Skylarks were now up to over 60 (and we had over 100 in the valley as a whole), over 100 Chaffinches, 20 Linnets, 4 Twite, 21 Mistle Thrush, 50 Starling, 20 Yellowhammer, 2 Reed Buntings plus Blackbirds, Fieldfares, Brambling, Greenfinch and Goldfinch all on the fields. And best of all a Woodlark heard singing. Only my second in Oslo and Jack’s first we were also able to get a couple of other birders on to it but it only sang distantly and we never managed to see it. This is a species which I am sure will become more regular on spring passage as its Norwegian population increases and with a lot of forestry work creating suitable breeding habitat I also expect it to breed in the not too distant future. The weather today was unpleasant with low cloud and temperature of only 2C so it was a surprise the bird sang at all. Tomorrow is forecast to be fog which may mean it hangs around and sun forecast for Thursday may mean it sings again. Fingers crossed for that and also for continuing increases in the number and variety of birds on these fields.

I have always been a bit wary of birding here as had been told a tale that suggested the farmer was very suspicious of, and confrontational to, birders near his farm. I met the farmer yesterday though and he was very pleasant but most interestingly also very interested in making his land better for nature. He has planted different crops to give seeds, he manages his forest selectively and is not bothered about draining every wet corner of his fields which very unfortunately seems to be a bit of a thing amongst other farmers in the Dale. His work is definitely having a positive effect so well done him!

This video from yesterday shows the farm, the fields, Whooper Swans, Teal and the Snow Buntings.

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The Snow Buntings were particularly nice to see. They were not a species I saw in the early years of my visits to Maridalen but are now a species I expect to see annually but they can come through in a very narrow time period early in the spring so you have to be lucky and be out on the right days. They are now my 4th S in Maridalen this spring with the first Starling a few days ago in addition to the previously reported Skylark and Stock Dove

Snow Buntings (snøspurv) in a muddy field

these were particularly white birds for a bird that is always particularly white and had me wondering about subspecies

Mallard (stokkand) and Teal (krikkand) with Whooper Swans (sangsvane))

most of the 23 Whoopers on Monday

Farewell January you will not be missed

The last week of January has been quite like the preceding three, i.e uninspiring, with the exception of reacquainting myself with my Hazel Grouse. We can now look forward to February with hopefully some cloudless, freezing cold, nocturnal trips interrupted only by the sound of trees cracking in the cold, owls of various sightings hooting and northern lights flickering overhead. By the end of the month the very first spring migrants will also with luck have arrived and then we can really look forward to the spring and all the bounties it brings.

I have had a few walks in the forest but it is incredibly quiet there with, other than the HG, hardly a bird to see or hear. There are ZERO finches in the forest and even in more suburban areas with feeders there are hardly any so a flock of 18 Hawfinches that I came across at Østensjøvannet one day was quite a surprise.

A noisy Nutcracker (nøttekråke) was one of only a handfull of birds seen on my forest walks but it is always a good bird to see.

the Pygmy Owl (spurveugle) has become harder to see again and when it does give itself up it is usually high up as here with a Magpie (skjære)

Mallards (stokkand) at Østensjøvannet

where this female Teal (krikkand) is still hanging around

and where with some patience Water Rails (vannrike) can be seen

an unusually large flock of Hawfinch (kjernebiter)

Woodpeckers are not really making themselves known yet although I have heard a drumming Great Spotted and this female Black Woodpecker was making a lot of noise hacking away at a dead tree trunk

these are still entertaining me

Three weeks in

This week hasn’t been so cold with temperatures around zero or just below but it has also been cloudy meaning it is dull whilst out birding and at night we have missed the fantastic show of Northern Lights that many others, and not least Jr in Tromsø, have seen.

The Pygmy Owl has been quite easy to find every day except of course on Saturday when I was guiding. It often sits high and exposed before suddenly disappearing into woodland where it can then disappear for a couple of hours before popping up on a tree top again. I believe it is now eating the rodents and birds that it spent the autumn storing in nest boxes and old woodpecker holes and is catching little new food although I have seen it clearly looking for rodents. Water Rails have also showed well including a bird feeding very out in the open and Jack Snipe have bobbed away for Norway but bird, if not photo, of the week goes to a Greylag Goose flying north over Maridalen on Thursday. Quite where it thought it was going is a mystery to me and whilst it is the only Greylag reported in Oslo this winter I was a bit surprised that when I did see an anser goose that it was not a Tundra Bean or White-front a few of which have turned up further south as a result of cold weather movements around the North Sea.

After having seen footprints and droppings in the snow for a few days it was also nice to see my first Moose of the winter in Maridalen. If the cold weather continues and especially if we get more snow then Moose should become quite reliable in the Dale.

Pygmy Owl (spurveugle) on Tuesday

changing angle - attempts at arty photos..

this female Teal (krikkand) is hanging out with the Mallards (stokkand) at Østensjøvannet but remains shy and doesn't come to bread so I wonder what she does eat

the Pygmy Owl on Wednesday

Water Rail feeding in the open

bird of the week - a Greylag (grågås) heading north

Moose

And there will be lots more of this in a later post:

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