Fornebu

Juvenile Red-backed Shrike with curious (nervous?) Goldfinches watching

After bumping into the Barred Warbler on Friday and having the feeling there was more about I decided to have an early morning visit to Fornebu today and felt there were would be some birds as there had been rain after midnight which should have forced some migrants down.

The first hour and a half was very disappointing with no visible migration going on (it is still early in the autumn) and also very few warblers in the bushes although six Reed Warblers (rørsanger) in the reeds in Koksa were unexpected although they are almost certainly local bred birds. Some calling Dunnocks (jernspurv) and Redwing though were probably migrants soon to leave the country.

Things livened up though when I got to the (soon to be developed) waste land north of the school where I had two Bluethroats (blåstrupe), 5 Whinchats (buskskvett), 3 Wheatears (steinskvett), a female Redstart (rødstjert) which is always a nice bird, a Whitethroat (tornsanger), Meadow (heipiplerke) and Tree Pipits (trepiplerke) and Skylarks (sanglerke). After this area is turned into apartment blocks the whole character of Fornebu will change for the worse with far fewer open areas and I’m sure it will look far less appealing to high flying migrants looking for a place to rest and feed.

Last and best bird of the day was a juvenile Red-backed Shrike which was being carefully watched by a couple of juvenile Goldfinches.

Bluethroat. This bird also looks to be a male but is different to the bird I photographed on Friday even though it was in the same area

 

Chiffchaff (gransanger)

Two Whinchats

Roe Deer (rådyr)