The annual early spring outing to Gressholmen

Yesterday saw me watching some big owls very well in Hedmark and I will come back to them in a day or so but first an update from a good days birding in Oslo.

Every spring the car needs its service and I use this carless day to go out to the islands and today was that day. I only visited Gressholmen but it was a good trip even though it is still way too early for anything that exciting. However 3 Slavonian Grebes at close range were, as always, a treat and they even displayed a bit. These, a Green Sandpiper and a Great Grey Shrike which even sang a bit were all Oslo’s first records of the year..

After this a trip to Middelalderparken failed to reveal anything rare among the few hundred gulls bathing there (although turnover is clearly high so things can always turn up). A very pale mantled Lesser Black-back and a yellow-legged and slightly dark mantled Herring Gull got some attention. I also managed to fit in a trip to Østensjøvannet before the car was ready to be picked up and thankfully didn’t need any additional work doing to it.

Slavonian Grebe (horndykker) pair

This video has lots of display and interaction between the birds

And this short extract shows some interesting display with what seems to be the unpaired bird trying its luck before being chased off. Note how it dives under water and then starts penguin displaying which gets a positive response from the other bird before its mate turns up

look at the reflection of the black head feathers

all 3 birds which were a pair and I believe a male

the pair of Smew (lappfiskand) still at Østensjøvannet

the yellow-legged Herring Gull that isn't a Yellow-legged Gull...

this pale backed Lesser-black Backed Gull (sildemåke) is ringed and its life history and other pictures suggest is an intermedius with some pigment problems (note that the primaries are not black) rather than a graellsii

Great Grey Shrike (varlser). It was intently staring at the ground in an area with lots of Water Vole holes but I did not see it catch one which would also have been a large prey item

I only discovered this Greylag Goose nest when it hissed at me as I almost stood on it

this young Herring Gull looks to have got some paint on it

there were 6 Ringed Plovers (sandlo) on Gressholmen which probably represent the entire Oslo breeding population

And a video of a drumming female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker from earlier in the week

Bring on 2025

The New Year was spent in a damp England where I didn’t even have bins let alone a camera although my ears did pick up a Firecrest as the best bird.

We returned on Saturday night to a very cold Norway (-17C) and from today we are forecast to have a up to 50cm of snow so it is a big contrast and it will not even be easy to get out whilst it is snowing.

I had a short window yesterday morning to check out Maridalen and was happy to reacquaint myself with both Hawkie and Piney but otherwise I have nothing much to report. I took no pictures or video but have some from after Christmas that I never posted so will let them adorn this post, the first from what will hopefully be another exciting birding year although I will not be focusing on lists in 2025.

do you see Hawkie on the telegraph pole?

the Yellow/Orange legged and billed Herring Gulls continue to stand out in Oslo

here the difference is very obvious with a normal bird on the left

Pre Christmas Guiding

Today I had the pleasure of guiding Mathieu from Belgium to see the best that Oslo could offer in 4 hours. Mathieu got three lifers: Hawk Owl, Pine Grosbeak and Three-toed Woodpecker so the session was an undoubted success but rarest bird was a Starling! I dismissed the bird (sitting distantly in a tree) as a Blackbird as Starling is not at all on my radar at this time of the year in Oslo but Mathieu who did not have that “knowledge” thankfully pointed out the error of my assumption. 

male Three-toed Woodpecker (tretåspett) drumming

a very unseasonal Starling (stær)

Pine Grosbeak (konglebit), unfortunately they only showed in the tops of spruce trees

we did see the Hawk Owl closer than this but I like this shot

Yesterday there were possible reports of both Iceland and Caspian Gull by the Opera. I was nearby and managed 10 minutes without finding them before I had to leave. This rases the prospect of reaching 210 for #Oslo2024 but I feel that I have hung my bins up now so don’t think I will spend anymore time looking for them. Many of the local Herring Gulls have exceptionally orange bills and legs at the moment. The reason is unknown but must be diet related and they look quite freaky.

this bird was ringed as a chick on one of the Oslo islands and was registered as a Herring Gull. It looks more like a Lesser-black Back (which is very rare in winter in Oslo) but has caused debate and its ID has not been agreed up (hybrid is of course a possibility). Better photos can be seen here

Birds - finally - and the start of autumn migration

Finally a post on birds although that had not been my intention!

Yesterday, I checked out my local hairstreaks and found single egg laying Purple and White-letter and then in the afternoon I thought I would cycle up into Maridalen to look for butterflies (I was specifically hoping to see the large fritillaries – silver washed, high brown and dark green). Well, maybe I was a bit late in the day, in the wrong place or there aren’t any but I did not see a single fritillary and a ringlet (gullringvinge) was the only butterfly I saw apart from the ubiquitous whites. I did end up walking down to the lake though and here I was delighted to find there are still muddy bays and there were birds! A juvenile male Ruff was a very big surprise (only my fourth record in the Dale) and an adult Arctic Tern was only slightly less surprising (they have form for turning up around this time). Single adult Little Ringed Plovers with single large but not yet independent young at two locations suggests three pairs have nested successfully (another pair had large young a few weeks ago) of the upto five that were seen in the late spring. I saw no Lapwings suggesting they have all cleared off as soon as the young could fly and there were also only a couple of Common and Green Sandpipers suggesting they too leave as soon as they can. A Snipe on the mudlfats looked to be a juvenile but two Greenshanks were adults. This gives me a lot of hope for what the autumn can bring and already tomorrow evening there is forecast rain which could force down something interesting.

In addition to obvious autumn migrant waders and terns there were also a couple of Yellow Wagtail – an adult male and a juvenile that were definitely together. This is an early record and although they do not breed in Maridalen they have presumably not come too far.

Ruff (brushane) - fresh scalloped plumage shows it to a bird of the year and its large size made it a male

here with a Snipe (enkeltbekkasin)

young White Wagtail (linerle), adult male Yellow (grey-headed) Wagtail (gulerle) and juvenile Yellow Wagtail

adult (female?) Little Ringed Plover (dverglo) and a juvenile that looked like it could not fly

another adult (also female?) and juvenile about 1.2km away. This juvenile could fly as you see in the next picture but its wings are not yet fully grown

adult Arctic Tern (rødnebbterne)

Black-throated Diver (storlom). The fluctuating water levers have ruined the breeding attempts this year and there were 7 adults on the lake including 2 very close to the shore that I think were hunting for crayfish

adult Greenshank (gluttsnipe)

White-letter Hairstreak (almestjertvinge). This was on the same tree as the day before but is clearly a different and more worn individual to the two I saw then

here it is egg laying underneath a leaf and by a bud

zoomed out

and a Purple Harstreak (eikestjertvinge) that is also egg laying