On 28 July we spent the afternoon looking for mushrooms in the forests close to Oslo, suffice it to say there were a lot more mushrooms than birds. The woods were almost birdless with just a few Common Crossbill grankorsnebb, a Willow Tit granmeis, a few Wren gjerdesmett, small numbers of Siskin grønnsisik and a few of the usual tits.
However, all was not lost. Downtown Oslo produced flocks of Swifts tårnseiler which increased from around 20 when I arrived to over 40 by the time I left. Wonderful to see these urban birds swirling around in the skies close to the city centre in numbers bigger than I will ever see out in Øygarden.
I took the first boat out to Gressholm on 30 July and was absolutely not disappointed. This was the first morning out birding for way too long so there was not much chance of disappointment. One of the first birds was a Bar-tailed Godwit lappspove which was closely followed by an Osprey fiskeørn. Just under 40 species in a couple of hours in Oslo in late July meant that this counted as a resounding success.
Rixy appears to have developed quite an unhealthy relationship with this island but to me she is just a back-up island and not the only one, not even the main one:) But any island is better than no island - especially in Oslo.
Colour ringed gulls in Oslo rarely give any interesting results for me and today was no exception. A Common Gull fiskemåke on Gressholm has only ever been seen in Oslo. Where it goes in the winter would be interesting though!
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