A very frustrating day

This post will not make me any friends and possibly some enemies but after sleeping on it and now having, if not ice cold, then luke warm blood in my veins I still want to publish it (although have now toned it down through many iterations...).

 

Yesterday was a day of high temperatures and not just the continued barmy weather.

 

First, I got very wound up and my piss stated to boil by the blingers at Fornebu. On a number of my visits this autumn I have, upon getting out of the car, been greeted by the sounds of a Best of Eastern Vagrants mix tape being played by a net which is a whole 250m away. This goes on for at least three hours whilst the blinger(s) hope they will pull a rarity from the nets and completely disturbs all other life (both bird and human) in the nature reserve. Raising my displeasure about it hasn’t resulted in any change in actions and nor have any rarities been pulled from the nets (far more is recorded here by birders with bins than blingers with bling). Well, the tape (or in these days digital recording) was playing again yesterday and my heart dropped and blood started to boil at the thought of another ruined visit. I found an area though where I could stand which was a bit sheltered from the noise by the lay of the land and actually found some birds. All this time I was able to observe that the net was not being checked (way over half an hour) and when I did eventually spy the blingers they were engaged in an extended selfie photo shoot with a scarce bird they had caught and then proceeded to parade it around. Everything I was observing was against the rules governing ringing in Norway and is why for a lot of us ringing has such a bad reputation – for far too many blingers it is a hunt for rarities and good times hiding behind the excuse of being an important scientific activity (that is the only legal reason that people are allowed to trap birds and put them through the inherent stress and discomfort this causes them).

Just so it is clear I am a big supporter of the serious Constant Effort Scheme ringing that is carried out at two Bird Observatories in Norway plus some other Observatories that take their work monitoring birds very seriously even if they do not have the resources to run CES schemes. I also fully support specific research with a conservation goal and cheer the use of modern technology that means a single tagged bird can answer more questions than 100 years and 10,000 birds worth of old fashioned ringing ever managed. But it's all the ad-hoc "let’s find a rarity" ringing that boils my piss. And further boiling occurs because many blingers don’t see the problem – birds are just objects to be (physically) exploited for their enjoyment. I think the problem is that the ringers get so caught up in the excitement of the catch (it triggers a basic human instinct) that they forget exactly what they are doing and why they are supposed to be doing it - it is the exact same instinct that drives photographers, twitchers and birders in general to chase birds and sometimes cross boundaries but the one important distinction is that only one of these requires a specific dispensation in law to be carried out.

For anyone interested, here is a summary of the laws/rules/guidelines for ringing in Norway (all in Norwegian of course).

There are very few explicit laws that govern ringing but two things that are stated very clearly are that trapped birds shall be ringed and released immediately and traps and nets should be continually watched (“Ved bruk av fangstredskap for å ringmerke fugl og merke flaggermus, skal fangede individer straks merkes og slippes fri. Fangstredskapet skal være under kontinuerlig tilsyn når det står til fangst.”)

These rules are almost impossible for single ringer to follow so the body charged with organising ringing in Norway has in its handbook decided to define continuous as meaning at least every 30 minutes and with ringed birds has allowed for there to be a 5 minute photo shoot after the bird has been processed and ringed.

Make of that what you will and also remember that if you ever witness ringing in action. How long is it really acceptable for a bird to hang in a net on damp morning right beside a loud speaker at full volume and in an area where cats prowl and humans walk with their dogs?

 

I had a long email exchange with the two bodies responsible for ringing in Norway way back in 2014. This was as a result of a young Great Grey Owl being found with a broken leg due to a twig having got stuck between its leg and the ring and the bird would have died a long, painful death had it not been found (although I suspect that it exchanged that for being put down). I contacted the authorities-that-be to hear what the consequences of this would be as clearly the ring had either not been attached properly or perhaps a wrong ring size was used. The reply I got was literally “shit happens” and I also found out that there was no reporting on how many birds that died during the course of ringing but was assured it's not a problem even though they had zero data to back that up. There was a data field for this in the reporting software but it was not active. I expressed my shock at the cowboy like state of affairs but have since then kept my feelings on ringing mostly to myself as I feel there are few birders here who share my concerns.

It was therefore very pleasing to see in the Ringers Handbook (in the link above) published in 2025 (but seemingly written in 2021 and promised in 2017…) that ringers now have to report dead birds in the now activated data field and it actually says that anyone who deliberately neglects to do so will see the removal of their ringing licence (en bevisst neglisjering av dette [dead birds] vil medføre at merkelisensen blir inndratt eller ikke fornyet) so it looks like when I thought I was banging my head against a wall that I may have actually brought about some change for the good. Maybe I will have to recharge my attempt to make Norwegian Ringing Ethical Again.

 

The second annoyance of the day was that a Pallid Swift was found and I didn’t see it. As I arrived to look over the fjord from Fornebu a message came through that a Pallid Swift was at Nesoddtangen. I could see Nesoddtangen from where I was standing and through the scope could see the person who had sent the message at a range of 3.5km. But the persons (there were actually 3 of them) did not look like they were actually watching a swift. It transpired that the bird had been seen for half an hour and the finder had managed to inform local birders who managed to get there and see it but by the time the rest of us were informed that bird had disappeared not to be seen again. Just as well probably because I would then have had to decide whether the views would have been “tickable” or not. I did however have to answer that conundrum today after the bird was refound this morning but my decision will have to wait until my next blog post. 

 

Did I see any birds though? I had three Bearded Tits and three Chiffchaff in the reedbed at Storøykilen and one of the chiffies was a tristis with a ring on. While looking for the Pallid Swift I was informed that the long staying but not often seen King Eider was on the fjord off of Nesoddtangen and sure enough on a mirror flat sea I could make it out at a range of 3.5km and those views were just about tickable.

In Maridalen all the Whooper Swans and the Pink-footed Geese have left and Jack saw a family of 4 Whoopers and a Pink-foot flying over Sørkedalen which were surely from the Dale. A single Pygmy Owl revealed it self to me in the same place as before and has presumably found a good hunting ground although I have yet to see it catch anything.

female Bearded Tit (skjeggmeis)

pair

a ringed tristis Chiffchaff. In addition to looking right it also had the right call

this unringed bird also looks like a tristis (in fact looks pretty much identical to the ringed bird above) but did not give the right call when I was watching it although that doesn't rule it out from being a tristis

Pygmy Owl (spurveugle) - one of at least 3 birds that have been discovered in Maridalen this autumn

where I was stood, where the Pallid Swift was seen and where the King Eider was swimming. Birding as it should be ;-)

Værøy 2023 Day 4

As it turned out Day 3 was not over when I blogged yesterday evening. I decided to go out with the thermal imager at 2130 and didn’t get back until 0030!!

First I found feeding Common Snipe, Jack Snipe and Golden Plover. Then I noticed the northern lights above me, then I started hearing nocmig (Redwing, Song Thrush, Snow Bunting and Reed Bunting) and then I joined in Storm Petrel ringing. It was a very succesful session with me seeing what I thought was an impressive 13 birds but the session carried on until 5am with 44 caught including 4 with Norwegian rings from before.

I was then buzzing a bit too much and couldn’t sleep until gone 2am and was awake at 7 so am rather tired now. BUT today m, or at least the early morning, has been a good day. When you walk out the door and the first bird that greets you is a clearly newly arrived Yellow-browed then you know the day has potential. New birds were discovered in quick succession with a Little Bunting, an Olive-backed Pipit and then a Red-flanked Bluetail all before breakfast. It felt natural to assume that once we searched more of the island as the day wore on that we would find something big. But in fact there was precious little to see after that. Two Grey-headed Woodpeckers were decent enough but not of the calibre that the morning glory had promised.

Red-flanked Bluetail (blåstjert). As can be seen this bird was caught and ringed (in a mist nest). Not quite as cool as finding one in the field but a great chance to see it up close

Look at that tail!

Olive-backed Pipit (sibirpiplerke)

Little Bunting (dvergspurv)

A glimpse of one of the six Yellow-browed Warblers (gulbrynsanger) I saw today

Arctic Redpoll (polarsisik)

Merlin (dvergfalk)

Waxwing (sidensvans)

Sedge Warbler (sivsanger) breeds on the island but is less than annual for us in September

A tristis Siberian Chiffchaff

The first Grey-headed Woodpecker (gråspett) hid in a rowan tree

Whilst the second was calling from the top of a hill

Storm Petrel (havsvale) caught for ringing

So much to share! It is worth scrolling all the way down - honest :-)

It is four days since I last posted and I have so much to tell and pictures to show you that I really should have blogged more often but time in front of the computer is not my favourite past time.

Temperatures have been constantly under zero, most of the time under -10C and bottoming out at -16C and Maridalsvannet has finally frozen over but it took a while. The lake here is always one of the very last to freeze due to it being so deep and always freezes after the salt-water bays in the fjord and also after waterfalls have frozen over on streams and rivers.

Despite the cold though there are always some streams that for mysterious (pollution) reasons do not freeze over and I have of course checked all I come over and found a couple of Jack Snipe and a single Common Snipe so far this week.

I was tempted out of the city to get my dose of Hawkie on Wednesday. Amazingly enough I have not seen one since July last year and when a bird turned up only a half hour drive away the temptation was too great and I filled my boots. The bird was looking for food in a small copse in the middle of an arable field which is a real sign that there are no rodents within the forests which would be its normal habitat.

The rest of my time has been unsurprisingly spent at Fornebu where there are enough interesting birds to keep even the most demanding birder (and photographer) busy and there have been a lot of people there. Never a man for the big crowds (two’s company, three’s a crowd as the saying goes) I have tried to do my own birding but find myself often being followed….

The Bearded Tits are still present and have perhaps been the main focus for the photographers but the warblers are also still present and popular. Every morning when I have arrived it has been with the wonder as to whether they have survived the night and it has been a joy everytime I have discovered them. The Hume’s normally gives itself away by calling but the two tristis Chiffchaffs have never called when I have been there and are found by looking for them flitting around on the sunny side of bushes. The sun seems to have been very welcome to these birds that should be in India and yesterday when it was -15C I saw the Humes and one of the tristis sitting huddled up together enjoying whatever warmth the sun was giving. It amazes me that they are finding food but in fact there seems to be no shortage of insect matter for them to find but they only 6 hours to look for food and then have to survive 18 hours of extreme cold. It has also snowed heavily tonight which will cover the trees and bushes making searching for food much more difficult so I really don’t think they have many days left amongst us. A week ago the Humes was aggressive towards the Chiffchaffs but seems to have realised that is a waste of energy and there is more to be gained (shared heat at night?) by being friends with its phylloscopus cousins.

I will start with pics of hawkie but it is the pictures of the warblers that I most excited about 😁

Hawk Owl (haukugle)

Pictures of the Hume's Warbler (blekbrynsanger) and one of the tristis together. An incredible experience to see them together and for once I feel my pictures do justice to it

the tristis seemed to be struggling more than the Humes and frequently had its eyes closed

it also flicked its wings

The Humes on it own

it often hovered under branches or leaves as a Goldcrest does

looking for food in the snow😀😀

it did come very close

just think what a better camera or perhaps just a better photographer could have done here... ;-)

I have noted on a few occasions that the Hume's cocks its tail and assumes a banana postion ala Blyth's Reed

And the tristis Chiffchaffs (sibirgransanger). I am not sure if these pictures show both of the birds or just one

here it is resting just before it was joined by the Hume's

look at all the insects on the branch!

here it has its tongue out with an insect stuck to the end!

same insect in focus

Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin)

it was -16C and no ice

but there is ice forming on the feathers

Mute Swans (knoppsvane) on salt water. The over 100 birds that were on Østensjøvannet have now moved to the fjord

Bearded Tits (skjeggmeis)

when there is snow on the reed heads then you always hope to get a magic photo of snow flakes falling over the feeding birds but the pictures never end up as I have pictured them

how many do you see? I reckon there are 10 birds visible

and some Waxwings (sidensvans)

there are a lot of Long-tailed Tits (stjertmeis) but I have resisted the temptation to photograph them but this Willow Tit (granmeis) was begging for it

as was this Blue Tit (blåmeis)

I haven't spent much time in Maridalen but this distant Pygmy Owl (spurveugle) showed

Where the warblers were