The Dale continues to deliver

This week has not only been about reminiscing about the weekend and I have been out in the Dale although with lots of rain my visits have been short. There has still been lots to see though.

The Three-toed Woodpeckers seem to have failed with their breeding as a 70 minute vigil at the nest hole on Wednesday failed to reveal any birds however a female (must have been the unpaired one toe) was drumming on Friday at the initial site.

black%2Bthroated%2Bdiver%2BIMG 4314%2Bcopy — A pair of Black-throated Divers (storlom) showed well on Maridalsvannet and have presumably been flooded out due to changing water levels

Also yesterday I watched a pair of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers at their nest hole feeding noisy young with the adults coming as often as every 10 minutes.

Icterine, Wood & Marsh Warblers and Common Rosefinches are still singing and after seeing a lone female earlier in the week I had the rare honour of hearing a male Red-backed Shrike singing today.

I have previously noted that I have only heard Red-backed Shrike sing once before and it was very interesting to hear it today. It sang a lot but the song was very quiet and was almost drowned out by other species which were much further away.

I also noticed a lot of mimicry with it copying Willow Warbler, Redwing and Wren.

On Tuesday I had Honey Buzzard which I picked up on call and reckon I have an idea where they might be breeding which will warrant a proper search at some time.

a pair of Black-throated Divers (storlom) showed well on Maridalsvannet and have presumably been flooded out due to changing water levels

black%2Bthroated%2Bdiver%2BIMG 4335%2Bcopy — this bird was preening its underparts and was rowing along with the upper leg

common%2Brosefinch%2BIMG 3936%2Bcopy — adult male Common Rosefinch (rosenfink)

goldeneye%2BIMG 4019%2Bcopy — female Goldeneye (kvinand)

goldeneye%2BIMG 4033%2Bcopy — and here with three of her young

lesser%2Bspotted%2Bwoodpecker%2BIMG 3860%2Bcopy — female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (dvergspett) with a mouth full of food

lesser%2Bspotted%2Bwoodpecker%2BIMG 3867%2Bcopy — one of the youngsters

lesser%2Bspotted%2Bwoodpecker%2BIMG 3911%2Bcopy — the male

red%2Bbacked%2Bshrike%2BIMG 4175%2Bcopy — the singing male Red-backed Shrike (tornskate)

red backed%2Bshrike%2BIMG 3566%2Bcopy — and a lone female at another site

three%2Btoed%2Bwoodpecker%2BIMG 4126%2Bcopy — female Three-toed Woodpecker. Although I never saw the right foot I am sure this is one toe

whooper%2Bswan%2BIMG 4066%2Bcopy — even though the Whooper Swans (sangsvane) have failed with their breeding attempt this year they are still present and will presumably stay in the valley whilst they moult

pintail%2BIMG 3681%2Bcopy — this male Pintail (stjertand) was a surprise on Akerselva, the river which runs out of Maridalsvannet

honey%2Bbuzzard%2BIMG 3610%2Bcopy — I picked this Honey Buzzard (vepsevåk) up on call although it took me a couple of minutes to see it

green%2Bhairstreak%2BIMG 3516%2Bcopy — Green Hairstreak (grønnstjertvinge)

r%25C3%25B8dflekket%2Bperlemorvinge%2BIMG 3505%2Bcopy — Pearl Bordered Fritillary (rødflekketperlemorvinge)

painted%2Blady%2BIMG 3519%2Bcopy — by far the most common butterfly in Norway so far this year is the migrant Painted Lady (tistelsommerfugl) which has arrived in the millions. They are all over the place and I even had the at 1400m in the mountains

and some dodgy hand held bazooka vidoes

and the barely audible (and drowned out) singing Red-backed Shrike who makes an amazing variety of noises including lots of mimicking

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).

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Simon Rix

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