The last week has continued along well trodden paths with Maridalen’s current specialities showing whenever the Bird Gods deem me to be deserving. On Thursday I was out with Jack who was hoping to finally see Grey-headed Woodpecker which...
The last week has continued along well trodden paths with Maridalen’s current specialities showing whenever the Bird Gods deem me to be deserving. On Thursday I was out with Jack who was hoping to finally see Grey-headed Woodpecker which was a potential lifer. Jack’s well won reputation for keeping the birds away made me unsure as to whether to join him but I did and the pecker also showed. This needed celebrating and we decided to then head for town for some urban birding along the seafront before heading for a Christmas beer or ten. We were hoping to see an Iceland Gull that had been seen and then ringed last weekend but couldn’t find it. A bread eating Eider that clearly thought it was a Mallard and a couple of Wigeon were the best we could come up with.
In Maridalen I have also visited one of my old Hazel Grouse sites and found birds were still present (always good to have more than one site for this species) and at home a flock of over 200 Waxwings has been gorging on apples in the neighbourhood.
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| the small beach by the Opera is a great area for waterfowl and gulls in this winter |
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| this is the Cormorant (storskarv) that was asleep in the above picture which was clearly not very healthy |
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| this young male Eider (ærfugl) clearly thought it was a bread eating Mallard |
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| it had been ringed at the same place on 21 September and has been there ever since |
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| Mute Swans (knoppsvane) |
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| Two male Wigeon (brunnakke) both of which were also ringed |
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| this young male had been ringed on 22.11 nearby on Akerselva |
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| and this is the male that was ringed in 2016 and has been in Oslo since |
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| Blue Tit (blåmeis) |
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| Coal Tit (svartmeis) |
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| Crested Tit (toppmeis) |
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| Great Tit (kjøttmeis) |
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| Willow Tit (granmeis) |
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| Nutcracker (nøttekråke) |
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| a Groundcreeper (bakkekryper) |
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| Waxwing (sidensvans) |
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| this bird was ringed |
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| Grey-headed Woodpecker (gråspett) |
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| this bird with the red crown feathers seems to be account for all the current sightings in Maridalen and can move a few kilometers in under an hour |
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| Great Grey Shrike (varsler) |
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| and Pygmy Owl (spurveugle) |