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 […]
Tag: Water rail
Down below – too slow
A couple of weeks ago my mate Meidad found a stunning Wallcreeper inside the scenic Ein Avdat gorge – a site where it had not been seen for over 20 years. Many birders connected with it, but I had no time to make it down south till today. Before a meeting, Amir and I met […]
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 […]
Thrush Nightingale
May, guiding and demanding kids makes blogging difficult! Yesterday I guided Gene and Susan from Minnesota and we had a great day under a hot sun. Marsh Harrier, Water Rail, Shoveler, Ruff, Wryneck, Osprey, Icterine, Reed and Sedge Warbler plus all three flycatchers was a pretty good showing. Today, as forecast, we had rain in […]
Bearded Reedlings (Panurus biarmicus)
Nice and sunny with no fog today so I thought I’d try for the hairy titties again. I found them and at times had them close, sometimes also with sun light on them and also close enough to use the flash but am I happy with any of the pics? Don’t think so. Behavior wise […]
Spotted Crake
I had a bit of an epic survey day today, leaving home at 05:00 I was at Dagenham Docks (even less glamorous than it sounds) by 07:15. After this survey I had to cross Greater London in a north-west direction to St Albans. So having started so early I had a little time to play […]
Mongolia – 19th May (Day 12) – Sangiin Dalai Lake, and Hustai National Park (Part 2)
Arriving at Bayan Nuur from Sangiin Dalai Lake it was immediately apparent that this lake was teaming with birdlife even though it was blowing a gale. Almost the first birds we picked up were a pair of stunning White-naped Crane on the far hillside with another pair closer in the reeds, we saw nine in […]
Oslo in a nutshell
I took in quite a few of Oslo’s best localities today in chilly temperatures but without the rain that was forecast and with few new birds. Maridalen had 3 Lapwings in the morning but 6 by the afternoon which were stood on the ice – hopefully these (and more to come) will breed in the […]