An early start today to match my high hopes saw me on the road at 0730. I headed to the far south east of Akershus county on the border with Østfold. This area has a number of shallow reed fringed lakes which are often very attractive to a number of water birds. After an hour I arrived at Hemnessjøen which I had never visited before. There were not huge numbers of birds to be seen but a dozen Red Throated Divers and a couple Black Throated Divers were good to see. Highlights though were a male Marsh Harrier which was collecting nesting material and delivering them presumeably a female deep in a reedbed although I did not see her. A Bean Goose with 5 Greylag Goose was a bit too distant to safely identify to race but it looked most like a Tundra. Perhaps most surprising though was a male Eider which is extremely unusual inland. Quite what this sea duck was doing here I have no idea. 4 Swallows and a Tree Pipit were welcome summer visitors. Next stop was Hellesjøvannet where this time a pair of Marsh Harriers were seen collecting nesting material. This video shows the male:

Marsh Harriers are very rare breeders in this part of Norway so to see signs of breeding at 2 separate localities was noteworthy.