Maridalen Great Grey Shrike

Rain and northerly winds today turned out to be good for birding. After a long spell of warm, dry weather todays rain grounded a few migrants although it is still quite hard going. A tour around Maridalen revealed a Great Grey Shrike which are pretty much annual visitors here each April. 2 Green Sandpipers feeding on the edge of a small pond formed by flood water and a numbers of Song Thrushes were year ticks and brought me up to 100 species for the year. In the stubble fields there were small groups of Fieldfare, Starlings and Chaffinches with a few Bramblings, Redwings, Yellowhammers and Reed Buntings mixed in. 4 Lapwings were in the fields at Skjervengård and 3 Skylarks were noted with 2 even singing in the rain. On the area of open water at Hammeren were 6 Goldeneye, 14 Mallard and a pair of Teal whilst a male Goosander flew around the area looking a bit lost. A quick check of the flood at Hengsenga, Bygdøy revealed little water left and just 50 Greylags and 4 Barnacle Geese. The fields at Kongsgården had around 30 Greylag, 6 Barnacle and a single Pink-footed Goose.