Last wave of summer migrants

Nearly all the summer visitors are back although that doesn't mean they have crossed my path yet but today I crossed a few off the list. My first trip to Fornebu in a while gave me Reed (rørsanger), Icterine (gulsanger) and Garden Warbler (hagesanger) and in Maridalen I added Red-backed Shrike (tornskate) to the list.

Marsh Warbler (myrsanger), Bluethroat (blåstrupe) and Common Rosefinch (rosenfink) will arrive soon and then it is just to mop up on the classic nocturnal singers: Corncrake (åkerrikse), Spotted Crake (myrrikse), Quail (vaktel) and Nightjar (nattravn) plus any of the rarer birds that may grace us this year.

I had three hours in Maridalen either side of lunch and hoped for some raptors. Sparrowhawks (spurvehauk) showed regularly and I had a displaying Goshawk (hønsehauk) that was mobbed by Sparrowhawk. No falcons unfortunately but I did have a number of medium sized raptors of which 4 were too distant to ID. Three that came close enough though were singles of Common Buzzard (musvåk), Osprey (fiskeørn) and best of all a Honey Buzzard (vepsevåk) migrating to the NW.

Wood Warblers (bøksanger) were noticeable today and Whitethroats (tornsanger) are also back in numbers.




female Red-backed Shrike (tornskate) in Maridalen - hopefully I will be lucky enough to find their breeding site this year

Skylark (sanglerke) at Fornebu



Whitethroat (tornsanger) at Fornebu

best picture I managed of Icterine Warbler (gulsanger) at Fornebu

Greylag Geese (grågås) seem well established as a breeding bird in Maridalen now and in addition to this pair with 5 young here was a pair with three young

This singing Wood Warbler (bøksanger) in Maridalen was very cooperative within the woodland but all my photos were at high ISO due to it being quite dark