Sunday 17 March 2024

Springs blooms briefly then winter returns

The weather has really changed over the last few days. Spring really blossomed on Thursday with southerly winds and such warmth from the sun that temperatures reached 8C and I saw my first Adder in Maridalen. By Saturday though we were having blizzards with 20cm of snow and temperatures this morning were down to -9C in Maridalen.

Birds have seemed to realise that spring isn’t here properly yet and there have been no significant arrivals of birds. I had hoped that Thursday would bring some raptors on the southerly winds but will have to wait a while longer. On Thursday the car was at the garage so as I usually do in these car free circumstances I took the ferry out to Gressholmen. This gave me my first Lesser Black-backed Gull and Grey Wagtail of the year plus my first Ringed Plover and Shelduck for the year in Oslo. With a Reed Bunting at Hengsenga today I am now on 98 species for the year in Oslo and will surely reach 100 at my earliest ever date.

In Maridalen Lapwings were absent from 9-14 March with the overnight frosts making the ground too hard to find food. A single bird did return on the 15th but the snow quickly saw it on its way again. The snow covered fields have also meant that the flocks of Yellowhammers, Skylarks and Snow Buntings have had to temporarily find new snow-free pastures and Maridalen has been a pretty bird free zone except for a few Whooper Swans and my first Starling of the year there.

my first Adder (hoggorm) of the year in the usual place in Maridalen and quite possibly the same individual I have seen here in previous years. According to those to who know this is an old (7+ years) male





this male Ringed Plover (sandlo) was energetically display flighting over Gressholmen

my first Oslo Shelduck (gravand) of the year
 
the great Hengsenga flood on Wednesday with a thin layer of ice

Maridalen on Sunday morning - the same fields that had only a few days ago held flocks of Skylarks (sanglerke) and Snow Buntings (snøspurv)

Wednesday 13 March 2024

Out Owling!

I have previously expressed my worries that this would not be a good spring for singing owls and my only serious attempt to hear them earlier in February resulted in zero owls. I have seen a few reports coming in though so last night I teemed up with Jack to hit Akerhus’s Owl Road and if two lifers for Jacky Boy is any way to judge success then we were successful.

Conditions were nigh on perfect with no wind, a stary sky and temperatures a few degrees below zero. We were not the only ones to have noted this weather forecast and we met other birders on a similar mission. When you go on these owling trips you stop the car frequently and listen for a few minutes at a time so it is obvious that you can easily miss birds as they do not sing continuously for the whole night. We stopped at some sites three times and only heard owls once but our perseverance was rewarded. We finished by hearing 2 singing Tawny Owls, 6 Tengmalm’s and best of all a Great Grey. Jack also heard a distant Pygmy which my older ears failed to register. The owls were concentrated in a relatively small area with most of our stops revealing nothing so it is likely that rodent concentrations are quite localised. As a sign of how concentrated the owls were we heard 2 Tengmalm’s from the same spot, a Tengmalm’s and a Tawny from another and another Tengmalm’s and the GG from a third. The GG was quite distant with it having to have been a minimum of 500m away but the song carried well although was too low to record. It sang already at 1930 but was subsequently quiet until after 2200 when it sang almost continually.

One of the Tengmalm’s sang close to the road and allowed itself to be observed and even photographed although I didn’t optimise my camera settings.

18:58 by which time we had heard Tawny Owl and Jack had heard a Pygmy

Tengmalm's Owl (perleugle)






the male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (dvergspett) in Maridalen is singing and drumming more often but is still to find a mate






Long-tailed Tit (stjertmeis)


Treecreepers (trekryper) are singing now and are easy to find







plenty of signs of Beavers in the Dale


and a Moose showed well today



Monday 11 March 2024

Nothing new

It has remained cold with northerly winds so no new migrants have arrived in Maridalen and the Lapwings have gone presumably as far south as they need to find soft mud to probe in.

There has been a good congregation of Skylarks (now up to 45) and Snow Buntings (17) though which have proven to be experts at hiding themselves away.

On Sunday I had to visit Jessheim and was able to make up for that forgettable experience by going on a wild goose chase and finding the Taiga Beans again. This time the flock numbered 108 including 2 collared birds and nearby a pair was associating with Whooper Swans and I wonder whether these were “vagrant” birds from a different breeding area.

The weather is forecast to change from Wednesday with southerly winds and plus temperatures so we should get a small rush of migrants and my money is on a Red Kite gracing the Dale.

Snow Buntings (snøspurv) in flight


part of Taiga Bean Goose flock

the whole flock

and the pair associating with Whooper Swans

a visit to Fornebu revealed the continued presence of Bearded Tits (skjeggmeis) although all apart from this female were feeding on the ground and only giving their presence away through frequent calling

The GGS still shows well in the Dale


Roe Deer on Maridalsvannet. The ice is still very thick but I would not feel safe walking on it

Thursday 7 March 2024

Beans r back

Cold nights and sunny but still cold days have caused the thaw to stop and also put a halt to new arrivals of migrants. This morning there was no wind and the fjord had a thin layer of ice on it!

The Taiga Bean Geese have arrived though. The tagged bird left Denmark on the 4th and arrived at the Glomma early on the 5th having spent the night at Årnestangen. A flock of 50 were seen at Glomma on the afternoon of 5th and I visited yesterday and saw ca.100 but they were at very long range so I was not able to read any collars. Apart from Whooper Swans there were hardly any other migrants to see and although the fields on the east side of the river were mostly free of snow the ground was frozen. Surprisingly the fields on the west of the river were still largely covered in snow.

Yesterday and today Red-necked Grebes were reported on the fjord but both sightings (same bird?) seem to be Slavonian Grebes. I saw todays’ bird together with a GC Grebe and many Guillemots (all the birds had been concentrated due to the ice) and it smalls size was enough to rule out RnG although distance and lighting made plumage details impossible to see.

In Maridalen a Whooper Swan family with three young has now turned up which must be last years family who have not lost any young over the winter. 27 Skylarks this evening was I am sure a record count and 2 Snow Buntings allowed themselves to be photographed. A male House Sparrow was also entering a nest hole so they male well be breeding alongside Tree Sparrows.

The White-fronted Geese and the flood remain at Bygdøy. The flood waters were frozen this morning and the geese were showing very close to the path and gave what were perhaps my best ever views of adult birds.

spot the Taiga Beans? Distance is about 2.5km

there they are



Slavonian Grebe (red), Guillemot (green) and Great Crested Grebe (blue). Faith is required here... Distance is about 3km

Snow Buntings (snøspurv) in Maridalen

a Lapwing (vipe). This was the only one I saw whilst going on a wild goose chase. 




White-fronted Geese (tundragås). The bird on the right has a very extensive blaze 

a juvenile/1st winter bird in the winter. With scaly feathers, no black barring and a black bill tip
















the Whooper Swan (sangsvane) family are easy to see but can you spot the Great Grey Shrike (varsler)

House Sparrow (gråspurv)



Tree Sparrows (pilfink)

5 Roe Deer and a Mistle Thrush