Oslo island birding

It rained all day on Saturday and with it came some waders to Oslo. I was able to twitch my first Oslo Turnstone on the Galteskjær skerry at a range of 900m in pouring rain – doesn’t get more satisfying than that….. and afterwards I found a young Knot seeking refuge on a field on Bygdøy. A Common Sandpiper had previously flown up from a puddle by the side of the road so I had an idea that there might be some more waders to find.

Today I went out with Jules Bell to do the islands although we had to contend with the summer timetable and my inability to understand it. There wasn’t a great deal to see although we did have another Knot and it was pleasing to see many Common Terns including young.

Knot (polarsnipe) in the rain on Bygdøy on Saturday

and one today feeding on Hovedøya

a young Common Tern (makrellterne) begging for food 

a group of adult and young Common Terns

just one youngster in this group

there were still a few Oystercatchers around but most have already moved off

young Goldfinch (stillits) begging for food

surprisingly on the island of Lindøya there were three broods of still small Mallards. I saw an ill fox on here in the spring and this may have taken earlier broods and caused the birds to try again (their later success perhaps a result of the fix dying or having been killed)

a Ringed Plover (sandlo) on the same skerry (picture taken from the ferry) where I twitched the Turnstone on Saturday

a young Starling (stær)

and a young Wheatear (steinskvett)

My first Migrant Hawker in Oslo was the pond on Lindøya. Although this is the first observation here I was hoping to find one

and another from Fornebu on Sunday - this time a flight shot using autofocus

and there was also mating to be witnessed

And here pictures of three of the four red darters (høstlibeller/sympetrum) that can be seen in Norway (the fourth is the extremely rare, but definitely possible, Red-veined Darter). They all look quite similar don't they?!

Common Darter / senhøstlibelle / sympetrum striolatum from Maridalen yesterday

Vagrant Darter / sørhøstlibelle / sympetrum vulgatum from Fornebu yesterday

Ruddy Darter / blodhøstlibelle / sympetrum sanguineum from Lindøya today

Peacock butterfly (dagpåfugløye) has been very scarce this year

Maridalen - I like :-)

After yesterday’s bemoaning if the lack of Honey Buzzards it will come as no surprise that the first species of note I saw was indeed a Honey. It flew very low over the road in front of me and although I had my bins on my lap they were hardly necessary. My camera though was in my bag on the back seat and by the time I had got it out the Honey had flown (behind some trees). I tried in vain but didn't manage to refind it.

But my honey was just the start of things: Red-backed Shrike, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Cuckoo and best of all Kingfisher! I discovered the Kingfisher when I heard its call whilst eating my lunch. It was a devil to see let alone photograph but called every now and again. This could well be one of the youngsters from Sandvika where at least two broods have fledged but could also have come from as far as Sweden.

There was a fine supporting cast of Whooper Swan, Nutcracker, Long-tailed Tit and Crossbill - shame I wasn't guiding....

I spent a lot of time sky gazing and had at least 4 Common Buzzards, 2 Sparrowhawks and also a Goshawk which becomes my tenth and a half raptor this week :-)

juv a 2cy Common Buzzard (musvåk)

the same juv Cuckoo (gjøk) that I saw yesterday

the Kingfisher (isfugl) - my first in Maridalen

male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (dvergspett)

juvenile Red-backed Shrike (tornskate)

Wheatear (steinskvett)

same Wheatear - a very sandy coloured bird

The Whooper Swans (sangsvane) - the other five youngsters were hidden in the vegetation

Two juv Buzzards

Grey Wagtail (vintererle)

Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell butterflies

Silver Washed Fritillary

Small Tortoiseshell

Tawny Owl

Still hot and still surprisingly few birds. I decided to do Maridalen thoroughly today which did result in my first Dunnock and Song Thrush of the year but I was expecting so much more. Rain that is forecast for tomorrow and Thursday will hopefully shake things up a bit.

I spent a lot of time gazing skywards and there was a trickle of Chaffinches and Wood Pigeons, three small flocks of Pink-footed Geese totalling 140 birds, a flock of 6 Greylags and best of all a pair of Cranes that spent time circling before heading south. The only raptor I could muster up was a local Goshawk. The silver lining though is that a lot of birds must be waiting to come north so we will hopefully get a big rush when it happens.

I also discovered nesting Tawny Owls and had good views of one of the adults roosting in a tree.

Tawny Owl (kattugle) 

This pair of Twite (bergirisk) even sang a bit 

here you can just see the pink rump of the male

the first two Cranes (trane) of the year in/over Maridalen

a band of Jays (nøtteskrike) 

my first Peacock Butterfly (dagpåfugløye) of 2017 

and my first Song Thrush (måltrost)