Sunday started very lazily and my fry up breakfast was interrupted when Jr Jr pointed out there was a big flock of Waxwings in the garden. There were 80 of them and they made short work of the remaining apples in the garden (this is the first time any apples have remained on the trees […]
Author: Simon Rix
Simon Rix is an English Birder who has lived in Oslo, Norway since 2001. Birding has been his passion since primary school and after an education as an economist and career within oil and gas and then drinks industry he turned his attention full time to birds as middle age approached. He is particularly interested in patch birding and migration and is an active guide, blogger and photographer. He is a member of the Norwegian Rarities Committee (NSKF).
Water Rail
Today was another one of those fantastic winter days we are lucky enough to have in Oslo. Temperatures down to -9C, blue skies, no wind and with a lack of moisture in the air it never felt bitterly cold. My attempts at birding were moderately successful. Maridalen didn’t provide too much of interest with no […]
More Pygmy Owls
This blog is at risk of becoming Simon’s Pygmy Owl blog, but this is the time of year when they are relatively easy to find and they are a great bird! My birding day started with the Maridalen bird but he was sat quite high up and soon flew to other side of a large […]
A Great Day in Maridalen
The cold temperatures continue and we awoke to -7C today with blue skies and no wind. A relaxed trip around Maridalen didn’t reveal huge quantities of birds but there was quality there and I had a long overdue patch tick. The lake held a single Guillemot but not the Long-tailed Ducks and Common Scoters that […]
Smew
I really can’t wait for my birding in Rogaland as it is all so grey and gloomy in Oslo just now. At least there was no fog today so it was possible to see what little is around. The two remaining Guillemots were visible on Maridalsvannet today and are clearly finding enough to eat. At […]
Dunlin
I’ve seen a few pictures recently on Facebook of Bluethroats in gardens so concluded that the passage is peaking and set off to Fornebu this morning with high hopes of gaining good views (and my first sighting this autumn) of one of my favourite birds. My hopes were not to be fulfilled with there continuing […]
A Bad dose of Hawkie
Today I had my first outing with Zak for what seems like ages. As is our wont we had a Tour de Østfold. First stop was Kurefjorden. Here we had a rising tide that seemed to bear no resemblance to that which was predicted by the tide tables but conditions were very good with all […]
Nutcracker
Each August Nutcrackers descend on Oslo from the surrounding forests (where they are very anonymous in the breeding season) in the search of easy food and hazel nuts are much sought after. We have a few hazel trees in the garden which always attract Nutcrackers although they can be very secretive. This evening there were […]