Instagram birds, 2014–2017

Posted October 20th, 2021.
Cataloged under Birds, Photography and Oslo

Part two of reposting an old instagram account, this time with some lo-fi, urban wildlife photography (i.e. crappy bird pics).

Mallards in the snow — **December 22nd, 2014:** Starting this post off with the same old mallards (*Anas platyrhynchos).* These guys are used to being fed old bread (which one shouldn’t do, I’ve heard), and go *nuts* for food in the winter. Very cute, and absolute bastards.

Grey heron standing in a river — **January 5th, 2015:** Was very surprised to see a grey heron (*Ardea cinerea*) on my way to work, never seen one in Akerselva before and definitely not in the winter.

Crow’s nest built behind a highway sign — **April 6th, 2015:** Noticed a crow’s nest above a busy highway. Wouldn’t have chosen that spot myself, but it shows how well they adapt to life in the big city.

A well-camouflaged female mallard nesting in a tree — **June 2nd, 2015:** A duck... in a tree???

Fieldfare chick sitting on a car roof — **June 11th, 2015:** Spring is a good time to watch for fieldfare chicks (*Turdus pilaris*), usually see them bouncing around in parks waiting for their parents to bring them some food. This one looked a bit lost, perched on top of a Mercedes.

Crow perched on a handrail — **30th of October, 2015:** This hoodie (*Corvus cornix*) kept me company while waiting for the bus. It wouldn’t fly, looked like it was missing some tailfeathers.

Feral pigeons lined up on a library facade — **November 13th, 2015:** Feral pigeons (*Columba livia domestica*) waiting in line for the library to open.

Three crows and a seagull standing in a row on a footpath in a park in the fog. — **January 26th, 2016:** The crow and gull gang waiting for victims in the fog.

Angry-looking hooded crow perched on a downtown waste bin — **April 8th, 2016:** Don’t know what this hoodie was up to, crowing to the ladies about his glorious garbage can or telling everybody to back off, but I love the attitude on display here.

Starling in a cherry tree — **May 9th, 2016:** A starling (*Sturnus vulgaris*) singing in a cherry tree. Ah, spring.

Mallard female with ducklings — **May 25th, 2016:** Ducklings! Aww.

Seagull chick seeing itself reflected in a pane of glass, reflecting on life’s mysteries — **July 6th, 2016:** This little seagull chick must have fallen down from the roof, it wandered around looking confused until it collapsed outside our office door. We tried to give it some tuna (which you’re *not* supposed to do, I learned later!) and convinced the building super to let us carry it up to the seagull-infested roof, hoping its mama would find it.
I still worry about it sometimes.

Mallard ducklings — **May 29th, 2017:** More mallards! More ducklings! (Aww.)

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A wild tit appears

Posted November 1st, 2021. (Permalink)
Cataloged under Dear diary, Birds and Photography

Dear diary,

A great tit flew into our house today. It probably landed on the sill below our bedroom window and found itself on the wrong side of the glass when trying to leave. Maybe it followed a tasty insect inside, or maybe it was a juvenile, too young to have learned that houses are scary places.

In any case, it came crashing through the living room while I was playing with our 7-month old. I rushed to get the veranda door open, while it fluttered from a curtain to the sofa to a hanging lamp cord. Door finally open, it chose a potted cactus on top of a cabinet as the perfect spot for an emergency landing and a bit of a poo.

Great tit (Parus major) perched on a potted cactus indoors. — Silly bird.

I suspect tits are unfamiliar with cacti, but it showed a remarkable ability to avoid impaling itself, even in a panic. By now the bird was exhausted, so I gently lifted the cactus outside, took a quick bird portrait, and left it alone. It sat there for a while, petrified, but by the third time I peeked outside it was gone.

Closeup of great tit (Parus major) perched on a cactus branch. — One stressed out Parus.

Stay safe, little great tit.

Instagram pics from Oslo, 2014–2019

Posted October 17th, 2021. (Permalink)
Cataloged under Photography and Oslo

Deleted my personal Instagram account some time last year, but thought I’d repost some pics here for posterity. The first batch are photos from my old hometown of Oslo. (Warning: I’m the only person to find these interesting.)