Memories

I’ve long been itching for a seagaze. It didn’t need to be a particularly good one just as long as there were a steady passage of birds. Over 10 years ago I had for a few years the habit of driving the hour to Brentetangen, just south of Moss in Østfold and seawatching from there before visiting nearby Kurefjorden. I cut some of my Norwegian birding teeth doing this and had some good birds and company doing so. Brentetangen used to attract quite a gang on good days but these days seems to get little attention. Serious birders are become a scarce species not just in Oslo but it would seem all over Norway.

I’d been looking at Windy.com for a few days and had highish hopes that yesterday would deliver some north bound passage over the sea. After a long period of northerly winds they were finally going to swing south on Thursday afternoon so by Friday there should be loads of birds. The winds did not end up being quite so southerly as initially forecast and it was quite cold but I still think that I should have seen more than I did which in terms of migration was pretty much nothing. Gannet and Kittiwake were good birds for me and are both species that usually need a real southern storm to end up Akershus waters but just 20km further south are fairly regular no matter the weather.

the view from Brentetangen looking 10km across the fjord to Vestfold

 

Kurefjorden was also disappointing with 18 Dunlin being the only calidris waders although I was sure I heard a BbS.

and Kurefjorden. I was expecting waders to be dropping out of the skies

 

Question now is how many years will it be before I try the Østfold combo again?

 

Thursday was another of those religious public holidays that Norway loves «celebrating» but for which 90% of the population have no idea why - it was of course Ascension Day and if you also don’t know what that represents then I recommend Google…

The winds may have been from the north in the morning but finally it was raining and the clouds heavy and low. Surely this would draw all the remaining serious Oslo birders out of their warm beds? Fat chance but as there seemed to be little to find maybe they were just birding smart.

I decided to keep it local. Maridalen early doors was just wet but Østensjøvannet had ca.300 Swallows and martins. I promise I looked at every single one but a red rump was not to be seen. Such a large congregation was a joy to see as the last couple of years have not seen scenes like this and means the lake again must have good numbers of insects.

just a small fraction of the Swallows (låvesvale) and a single Sand Martin (sandsvale)

Back in the Dale around 11am there was a very brief period when the rain stopped and waders flew over: a flock of Wood Sands, a couple of Greenshank, 3 Whimbrel then 160 Golden Plovers. And then it was over.

most of the Golden Plover flock (heilo)

I allowed Jr Jr to have some driving practice and drive me to Svellet but despite water levels not having risen and rain having fallen there were hardly any waders. This is strange given the passage I had over Maridalen and also a fall of arctic bound waders reported at Øra but I have noted this before that when other places experience fall like numbers of waders that Svellet can be nearly empty of birds.

 

Maridalen has had some exceptional days in late April and May always when there is rain and heavy, low cloud but they are not happening with the regularity I remember although I am sure that they didn’t happen quite as much as rose tinted memory tells me. Looking at the numbers it is actually seven years since the last big day which was 10th May 2019 but that will perhaps be a day never to be repeated.

 

This morning’s pre breakfast Maridalen visit was no less uninspiring that the last few days except for one bird that was totally not on my radar - a Taiga Bean Goose. This was my first record in the Dale although there is a previous record (but I remember seeing that bird and choosing not to put it on my list as such).

I finally found nesting Black Woodpeckers although they were still excavating which is very late. Three Great Spots were also drumming which again is late - both these species should be on eggs by now. Two Wryneck singing in the same area were to be more expected at this time of the year but no less exciting for that.

I nearly didn't pay these geese any attention but with the nakes eye thought that the bird second left looked a bit like a young White-fronted Goose (tundragås) one of which was found yesterday at Østensjøvannet. Through the bins it proved to be a Greylag but I continued looking at the other geese and the one of the top was a Taiga Bean!!

here the head and bill shape leave me in no doubt

just based on this picture though I am sure you could rgue for both Tundra and Taiga although I think the bill shape can only match Taiga and the extensive orange is also a very pro Taiga feature

It was also a large bird with a swan like stature

I would not say this bird is a classic Taiga but believe that most features are pro Taiga. I also must say that I do hate single Bean Geese and it would be much more convenient if the two species were lumped again

in the river it was also upending which I also view as pro Taiga

I had been hearing Black Woodpeckers (svartspett) and was sure they were nesting so went looking for a suitable tree and hole. These huge splinters on the road! gave away where they were.

Back to dire

The lack of daily updates is of course because things didn’t continue as hoped…

Despite being at the start of prime time Oslo birding there is still only a trickle of new birds. Greenshank numbers fell again yesterday at Svellet to a dire 15 although the first (3) Wood Sandpipers hinted, hopefully, at things to come. Today though was a tad better, as of course it should be as it is 1^st May and what should by rights be THE best day of the year if only because it is a national holiday and every self-respecting birder has no excuse but to be out finding something. Well either most birders lack self-respect or there was nothing to find..

But, back to Svellet and today. Jack and I had agreed to have our now annual early doors visit to Huk, Bygdøy to record the awesome spring migration that we proved can occur on our 9^th May visit in 2024. 1^st May is too early though and we know it but we have to give it a go…. Fog put a real dampner on things although we could see perhaps 500m. There was however nothing happening either to be seen or perhaps most importantly given the condition to hear with just two Meadow Pipits flying in giving any impression of active migration although a Reed Bunting clearly felt the same as us and was heading south to escape these DIRE conditions. Five Purple Sandpipers were still “wintering” on the rocks although are now in breeding plumage and we did hear a migrant wader when a Little Ringed Plover flew unseen past us.

Huk this morning where a bloody big cruise boat is just visible in the fog

We gave it an hour and then headed to Svellet where even though we arrived before 8am there was already heat haze to contend with. There were however waders with now 43 Greenshank and 24 Wood Sandpiper and 6 male Ruff and 2 Golden Plover provided some variety. Curlew numbers however had fallen to just 13 so total wader numbers did not reach three figures let alone the four figures I am hoping for. Rain tomorrow afternoon may make, and I really pray for, a difference. Water levels are still falling slightly – today down 3.62m - so we can’t ask for much more on that score.

one of the trickle of new birds - my first Whinchat (buskskvett) of the year arrived in Maridalen on the last day of April

a Wryneck (vendehals) in the Dale

a trip to Hellesjøvannet yesterday gave precious little on the exciting bird front but this Brown Hare (sørhare) was only my second sighting of this recent colonist whose numbers took off around 2015 and it is steadily hopping north from Sweden. It was introduced to southern Sweden in the early 1800 so is considered an invasive introduced species in Norway and is an undesirable as it out competes the native Mountain Hares.

The big lull

It’s been a long while since my last post and it has been an infuriating time but I’m sure I’ve written something similar many times before at this time of the year. We have entered what a lull with sunny, dry weather meaning no meaningful arrivals of birds and also difficult viewing conditions especially at Årnestangen and Svellet where long distances and hear haze become a real issue.

It is spring though and of course new birds are arriving but it is a trickle and there is no volume of birds. Slavonian Grebes have made their annual visit to Maridalsvannet, a visit that seems to come earlier and earlier each year. Other species that have arrived early are Wryneck, Pied Flycatcher, House Martin and Willow Warbler but raptor migration is still a dream despite me trying from a variety of places – I have yet to see a Hen Harrier let alone a Pallid..

I have just had two good days of guiding with Margie and Greg from Wisconsin where we racked up 85 species with Wryneck, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Ring Ouzel and Rough-legged Buzzard amongst them. Despite us starting the day early it became quite hard going after around noon with the sunny weather causing a real decline in activity. This sunny weather is forecast for at least the next 10 days so I fear that the magical Svellet spring that I was predicting may already be unlikely. The day we do get some rain though could end up being one of those days though.

 

After guiding and drop off at the airport I continued north for an evening in owl land. I twitched a Great White Egret on the way which I actually managed to see from the motorway at 110km/h but did also stop to admire a bit better.

Owls are a mixed picture. Ural Owls are giving me my best ever joy with the species with two nest boxes that I have checked now being occupied - this amounts to nearly 10% of the known Norwegian population!

Great Grey Owl though is a different story. I again visited the two nests from last year and found no birds by the natural nest. By the platform the female was still present but not on eggs. She is a strange one though and gave herself away by bill clicking when I was still close to 50m away and had not yet seen her. She is clearly territorial. 

 

One person who knows a lot more about owls than me reckons it is just still early in the season and that birds will nest and lay eggs whereas another reckons the rodent population has collapsed. Time will tell but unless they lay eggs in the next week or two it will be too late. In the Facebook group Ugler i Norden there are updates from a platform that has a camera watching over it. Here birds were first seen coming to the platform already 22 Feb and mating was observed from 7 April but the first, and so far only?, egg was not laid until 2 months later on 21 April. This to me suggests a pair who want to breed but are finding the food situation very borderline.

When in the forests a roadside female Capercaille was a treat and I continue with my tree scratching whenever I see a suitable hole. This time I did get a bird but and a Stock Dove was very unexpected given where I was but why oh why couldn’t it have been a Tengmalm’s?

Six Slav Grebes (horndykker) on Maridalsvannet - an Oslo record count!

a single bird two days later may well have been in addition to the six

Two Ring Ouzels (ringtrost) - it always feel like a big relief when I see these in the spring as it is a species I never feel guaranteed to see in Oslo (but do)

female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (dvergspett) whilst guiding. This bird was making a lot of noise and was I reckon unpaired and getting desperate

my first Wryneck (vendehals) of the year and another good bird to see whilst guiding

a great looking old Black Woodpecker hole that I was sure would reveal a Tengmalm's Owl (perleugle) but instead and for me very surprisingly revealed a Stock Dove (skogdue). At least my tree scratching skills seem to be OK now.

roadside female Caper (storfugl)

Great White Egret (egretthegre)

Great Grey Owl (lappugle) - the same bird as in my previous owl post

Ural Owl (slagugle) - also the same bird as in my last owl post

but he she is with her mate (on the left). I have rarely encountered the male at a nest site and then they are normally much shyer than this bird seemed to be. He flew in after the female called and maybe felt he had a job to do

and Ural Owl nest #2. This box is old and the bottom starting to fall out perhaps suggesting that whoever put it up no longer checks it and I hope it survives the season

Maridalsvannet on Monday morning. Lovely weather but no many birds

a very long, straight road in Hedmark's deep forests

A pair of Ringed Plover (sandlo) is clinging on at Fornebu and here, and in the video, the male is creating nest scrapes for the females approval. The area they were doing it in was very close to paths and roads so I suspect they will struggle.

I finally managed to read the rings on the Mute Swan (knoppsvane) pair that is visiting Maridalsvannet this spring. Surprisingly they are not the same pair that bred last year which have established themselves at Fornebu now. This pair have  been seen together since March 2025 when they were at Østensjøvannet but did not breed . The female P576 was ringed as an adult in 28km away in March 2017 so is a mature lady. She bred in 2022 with another mate but did not raise young whilst the male was ringed as a juvenile in November 2023 11km away and is so young that he wouldn't have been expected to breed before now

I have also seen Long-eared Owls (hornugle). They were a pair by an old Crow's nest but it did not appear that eggs had been laid yet

Local catch up

Migration is ending now in Oslo and nocturnal trips and breeding birds will be the focus.

Breeding waders seem to be having a reasonable season. In addition to the Ringed Plovers that I have previously detailed I have found a Little Ringed Plovers nest, a couple of Common Sandpiper nests, Snipe are displaying at 2 locations in Maridalen and Lapwings in Maridalen keep surprising and seem to be having a good season. They are difficult to keep track of as once the young hatch they move around and hide in grass but I am confident there are four broods of young but quite possibly five with the latest just a day old when I first saw them, a pair is still incubating and another pair have been displaying but not to my knowledge made a nesting attempt. Question now is how many young will fledge.

This is the oldest brood on 22 May when they were already half grown.

female Little Ringed Plover (dverglo) on her nest

LRP nest and eggs.

Common Sandpiper (strandsnipe) nest again with 4 eggs. I found this nest when there were only 3 eggs

another Common Sand nest. As there are only 3 eggs I assume another will be laid. This nest was in a field whereas the other in woodland

Common Rosefinches seem to continue to decline with none recorded so far in Maridalen and just a couple in their stronghold of Sørkedalen. Surprisingly though a couple of brown, 1st summer, males are at Fornebu though and I managed to record them singing together.

Many species seem to have young early this year with broods of Long-tailed Tits and Starlings already on the wing.

I have only seen 3 Red-backed Shrikes tornskate) so far this year but they often don't come in force until June

young Starling (stær) with one of its parents

a young Long-tailed Tit (stjertmeis)

Wrynecks (vendehals) are now mostly silent -  the ones who have paired up at least - and difficult to find

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