Tomorrow or bust

It is dire at the moment and if things don’t change tomorrow when the weather forecast looks very good then I think I may just hang up my binoculars for the spring.

The weather the last two days has been really good to be out birding but there just hasn’t been anything on the move. It has not helped that water levels in Nordre Øyeren have risen really fast such that there are no mud banks left and therefore hardly any waders or dabbling ducks remain. Maridalen is also equally quiet although four Whimbrel feeding on a field today was a welcome sight.

In Maridalen employees of the water company were on their annual boat trip to remove eggs from geese eggs. This is a practice that is supposed to help reduce organic pollution of the drinking water but is a completely futile exercise. Today whilst it looked like they removed eggs from a handful of Greylag and Canada Geese nests there was a flock of 170 Pink-feet resting on the lake and a similar number of gulls many of whom have probably come from the recycling plant and are now washing themselves in the drinking water. Most worrying for me though was that I think they have taken the eggs from the swan nest. The swans were definitely not on the lake and I later found a (the) pair of Whoopers feeding on a field away from the lake. Edit: at 1915 the Whoopers were back on the nest..

Highlights have come in the form of Blue-headed Wagtail(s) and really good views of a stoat at Årnestangen.

a classic male Blue-headed (yellow) Wagtail ssp flava (sørlig gulerle) at Årnestangen. This was in exactly the same spot as last years bird and is, I assume, the same

same bird

a second bird. This one has a much more reduced sub ocular patch but I believe still ticks the boxes for a (near) pure flava although in southern Norway there are probably more intergrades with thunbergi than pure flava

the first bird with his mate

the dark necklace suggests this is a thunbergi. She seems to lack any yellow in her plumage which is odd for any race though

the curious stoat (røyskatt). It is a long time since I have seen one so this was a real pleasure

the dark tip to the tail which seperates it from weasel is very obvious from behind

a male I believe

a Green-veined White (rapssommerfugl)

keeping the drinking water clean (apparantly) by removing geese eggs

at the same time 170 resting Pink-feet are undoubtedly lightening the load

two of four Whimbrel (småspove) on the deck in the Dale

and here is a video of the male Three-toed Woodpecker from 30 April when he was on his own (before my last sighting on 2 May)

Mid summer Caspians

This spring and early summer has been very hot and very dry in southern Norway and there have recently been news reports that farmers already fear failed crops and bankruptcies. So a forecast of lots of rain yesterday was certainly greeted by farmers but also by myself and like-minded birders because as we all know rain in the summer can bring down lots of otherwise high flying migrating waders. Now mid-June is not exactly peak migration time and in fact there is a possibility that some birds are still migrating north (e.g Ringed Plovers) whilst others are definitely going south already (Curlew, Ruff and Spotted Redshank being obvious examples). Rain at this time of the year is perhaps most likely to result in an interesting tern though but either way Årnestangen and Svellet are the obvious choice of locality to visit. A walk out to Årnestangen on a humid summers day is not to be treated lightly. The plagues of mosquitos mean that one has to dress in long sleaves and trousers and spray liberally with mossy spray. This means that ones gets soaked (by sweat) even if it doesn’t rain (which of course you hope it does).

Yesterday I arrived at the end of Årnestangen before it rained and chalked up a singing Corncrake on the way (this species has become VERY scarce in the last couple of years). At the tip there were a few waders: Ringed and Little Ringed Plovers, Dunlin, a Ruff, Curlew, Snipe, Lapwing and Wood Sandpiper but no big numbers. Whilst I waited for the forecast rain to arrive I checked out a pair of breeding Yellow Wagtail which Erling H had suggested I do as the male looked very much like a Blue-headed. And indeed it was, for me it ticked all the boxes and could be safely called a flava: it had a bluey grey head, a very bold white supercilium and a very obvious white subocular patch. The female appeared to be a thunbergi based on having dark smudges on her breast although females are not straightforward. A mixed subspecies pair would explain the many intermediate birds that are seen in lowland, southern Norway.

When the rain finally came the only new waders that turned up were a handful of Curlew and Greenshank and after half an hour I decided to head back to the car. As I walked along the river I noticed to “gulls” flying towards me but as they got closer I realised they were terns and terns that large could of course only be Caspians. I had to get my camera out of the bag but managed to record this auspicious moment but sending out a message in the rain with wet fingers and a wet phone proved to be a task nearly beyond my abilities. In the evening the terns were found resting at then tip and a Red-necked Phalarope was a quality wader find.

My eBird checklist is here.

In Maridalen the last brood of Lapwings numbers three tiny young and on the same field a large youngster is already flapping his wings and flying a few metres. Fingers crossed that there are still other young hiding away and that these that decide to show themselves make it to fledging.

I have finally found the nest of one of the Wryneck pairs and they are using the same nest as two years ago but which was used, and walled up, by Nuthatches last year. The young have hatched and the parents are busy bringing ants and larve and removing shit bags.

Caspian Tern (rovterne)

the 2nd bird

both birds

male Blue-headed (Yellow) Wagtail (sørlig gulerle)

wet adult Wryneck (vendehals)

food going in

shit coming out

this Sand Martin (sandsvale) in Maridalen was close to where single pairs have previously bred in holes in a wall and perhaps they are doing so again (otherwise this species seems to have disapeared as a breeding bird in Oslo)

3 tiny Lapwings (vipe) just 2 days old

and a much larger youngster probably around 3 weeks old

First post from the cabin

The drive up from Oslo to Bodø with stops in Røros and Grong gave few birds other than the Red-necked Phalaropes and Slav Grebes that I have already shown. One reason for this though was that I “sacrificed” (for the sake of family harmony) two of my usual bird stops for a new butterfly stop in Junkerdalen. This valley on the northern edge of Saltfjellet is renowned for its flora and fauna but for unknown reasons I have never visited before. A bit of research though had shown the possibility for a number of rare northern butterfly species and with it being sunny with little wind I thought the omens were good. Unfortunately, there were few butterflies and the ones that allowed themselves to be identified were common as.

I have already had two early morning trips to the bird rich bays at Fauske but have yet to locate Knobby. There are good numbers of birds and it is interesting to see how species and locations vary from year to year – for example I have not had any Long-tailed Ducks this year and at Klungset the seaducks are much closer to land this year but at Røvika much further out. Best birds so far have been two summer plumaged Great Northern Divers (the first time I have seen them here), 9 summer plumaged Red-necked Grebes, Scaup and male King Eider but of course I am still hoping to find something much rarer amongst the over 1000 moulting seaduck (mostly males Velvet Scoter and Common Eider) in the area. Perhaps rarest bird I have found was a Yellow Wagtail that looks to be of the Blue-headed type (subspecies flava) but these things are never easy and this far north it may well be something from much further east.

Butterflies continue to interest me and I have seen my first Purple edged Copper (purpurgullvinge) and Mountain Argus (sankthansblåvinge). Also by looking at every single Blue in the area I have found Mazarine, Idas and Cranberry flying together. Orchids are very plentiful and very variable around the cabin but I still find them extremely challenging. I'l show the butterflies and maybe orchids in a separate post

Velvet Scoter (sjøorre), Common Scoter (svartand) and Scaup (bergand)

Great Northern Divers (islom) 

Red-necked Grebes (gråstrupedykker)

Velvet Scoters and a single female Common Scoter. Velvet Scoters are over 90% male whereas amogst the much smaller numbers of Common Scoter it is females that are in the majority 

a single male Common is amongst this flock of Velvets

2 male and a female Scaup

Red-throated Diver (smålom)

male Bluethroat (blåstrupe)

and a female

adult Curlew (storspove) with a worm

and one of 3 youngsters it was guarding over

male Yellow Wagtail (gulerle) of the scandinavian race thunbergi 

and a female thunbergi

an early juvenile Yellow Wagtail

and what appears to be a male Blue-headed Wagtail (flava)