Great birding in the snow

Everything turned white yesterday and it kept snowing until mid afternoon. At sea level though it was falling more as rain or sleet and this caused an enormous movement of thrushes away from the areas with snow to the fields at Bygdøy. I was at Bygdøy in the morning and had at least 2500 Fieldfare, 1000 Redwing and 300 Song Thrush. Maridalen on the other hand had less than 50 thrushes in total! There were also 300 Meadow Pipits at Bygdøy and just a handful in Maridalen but otherwise the variety of species was limited and there was clearly no new arrival of birds but rather a local movement amongst those already here. The fields at Hengsenga, Bygdøy were flooded but had not attracted any ducks or waders other than a few Snipe and Green Sandpiper (I had hoped for Garganey and Shoveler). The highlight from Bygdøy was a ringtail Hen Harrier which headed slowly north and circled above me – this is my fifth record in Oslo in the last 2 weeks of a species that I count myself lucky if I see jut once. Pallid Harriers turned up further south in Norway yesterday so I hope that harriers keep turning up in Oslo this spring.

Maridalen was completely white and almost birdless but I had a real surprise when I opened the window at Skjerven and heard the sound of a Lapland Bunting singing and I was immediately transported to Valdresflya in June. It took a little while to see it and eventually I found 6 birds – 4 males and 2 females which is a record count for the Dale. I had been looking for just this species amongst all the Meadow Pipits on Bygdøy and had not expected to find them in Maridalen when there was so little else but they are a species that is used to such harsh conditions.

the sight that met me this morning

today's Hen Harrier

male Lapland Bunting (lappspurv)

4 males and a female

the 4 males

and all 6 birds

not often I get close enough to Meadow Pipits (heipiplerke) for decent pictures

Mistle Thrush (duetrost) - foolishly I took no pictures of the hoardes of Fieldfares and Redwings

Reed Bunting (sivspurv)

Ring Ouzel (ringtrost). surprisingly I only saw 3 amongst all the other thrushes which again is an inidication that there was no new arrival of birds but rather a local redistribution

2 Twite (bergirisk) in both Maridalen and Bygdløy were perhaps newly arrived though

female Wheatear (steinskvett)

male

Grey Wagtail (vintererle)

male Kestrel (tårnfalk) - the only other raptor I saw in addition to the Hen Harrier

the Lapwings (vipe) in Maridalen were suffering

this one was by farm buildings

Feeling really birdy in Maridalen

The last 3 days have been grey and often wet but have yet again been rich with migrating birds. On Wednesday I squeezed in what might well be my final trip to the Taiga Beans as they will surely be heading north quite soon. The fields they have chosen now make it very difficult to get a full overview but I was able to note a minimum of 80 birds and this did not include one of the GPS birds plus two other collared birds. X4 was present who a week earlier had been seen on his own further north showing how these birds frequently move north to check on conditions before returning again south. The 5 White-fronted Geese were still present and amongst the Pink-footed Geese I found a single Tundra Bean Goose. This was a tricky individual and had it been amongst the Taigas then I would not have called it but one thing I have noticed with these geese is that Tundra Beans and Taiga Beans do not mix and that Tundras will always be amongst flocks of Pink Feet rather than with Taigas. With Canada and Greylag Geese also present I had 5 species of geese on the same field which feels like a record.

Maridalen has also delivered with especially raptors putting on a good show although the hoped for (expected) Red Kite has yet to show itself. I have had migrating Hen Harriers on each of the last 3 days although in their usual style they were at loooong range using the ridges on both the east and west of the valley. I have only ever seen a hunting HH once in the Dale although Marsh Harriers have often been low over the fields.

Whooper Swans have been increasing all the time with 23 birds a very high count and Lapwings peaked at 12 which is also very high. The first Snipe, Osprey, Black-throated Diver and Curlew have also appeared and it is finally feeling REALLY birdy out there.

migrating ringtail Hen Harrier (myrhauk) on Wednesday at 3km range along the eastern ridge to Maridalen

and Fridays bird along the western ridge at a much closer 1.5km range. I did not even attempt to photograph Thursdays bird..

my first Black-throated Diver (storlom) of the year flew north over Maridalen and what was presumably the same bird flew south again 10 minutes later after I guess having seen that all lakes were frozen and it was best to wait it out on the fjord

Cranes (trane). I was unfortunate to miss the 2 Great White Egrets that were reported flying over at the same time

Curlew (storspove). I was woken up by one calling as it flew over the house on Friday morning which was a garden tick and a great way to wake up.

female Grey Wagtail (vinterere) finding food on the snow

the same field held 50 White Wagtails (linerle) which were nearly all males. It seems strange that they find most food where there is snow

Kestrels (tårnfalk) have been unusually numerous the last days in Maridalen

and this pair were even calling

can you see what this is?

like this you may think Snow Bunting

it was together with these birds though and had the same call as them

leucistic Reed Bunting (sivpsurv). Without hearing it call I would have been very unsure as to its ID. Notice how it has pale legs whereas the normal Reed Buntings in the previous pic have dark legs

Merlins (dvergfalk) have been very and unusually noticeable this week

here a male behind the church ruins

my first Osprey (fiskeørn) seemed to be a bird checking out conditions and eventually returned to the south and presumably will wait it out on the fjord

a flock of Pink-footed Geese (kortnebbgås) passing appartment blocks at Fornebu. I try to take a photo of every flock I see to study later for any rarer interlopers - none in this flock as far as I can see

the Lapwing field at Skjerven in Maridalen on Wednesday had become a wildfowl mecca

the two scarcest thrushes together - Mistle Thrush (duetrost) and Ring Ouzel (ringtrost)

A Red Letter Day!

Finally, after over 21 years of birding in Maridalen I have seen Dunlin there and not just one but three! It has been on the cards with the low water levels this year but after not seeing any on my trip to the islands on Monday I feared that it was too late for them in the Oslo area. Thankfully though I was wrong and now I feel there is even a chance for more and perhaps a Little Stint. They were with a Ringed Plover so it was really quite wadery 😊

It was a good day in The Dale on many counts with Sunday’s Coot still present (only the fourth record), a Pintail, a Parrot Crossbill and late Tree Pipit and Wheatear. I ended up with 56 species (see eBird checklist) and the only disappointment was just two raptors on a sunny windless day when I had thought there would be more.

The Dunlin is my fourth Maridalen tick of the year after Garganey, Arctic Skua and Black Tern and takes me to 204 species. Obvious missing species now are Moorhen, Little Grebe and House Sparrow but hopefully my next new species will be something much rarer.

low water at Maridalsvannet

juvenile Dunlin (myrsnipe) - finally in Maridalen

this bird has nearly moulted into winter plumage

all 3 Dunlin with the Ringed Plover (sandlo)

a common bird in Oslo but not in Maridalen, a Coot (sothøne)

and a Pintail (stjertand) which is neither common in Oslo or Maridalen. This bird is a male and its breeding plumage is just starting to show

there were still 4 Black-throated Divers (storlom). All were adults and this one was starting to loose its summer plumage

Grey Wagtail (vintererle)

White Wagtails (linerle)