No repeat

I went looking for the Med Gull again today but in two visits to Merkja at 0900 and 1100 there wasn’t a single gull of any species to be seen! A walk out to Monsrudvika which had held so many ducks last week resulted in far fewer although 4 Shovelers were holding on. Highlight here was a distant White-tailed Eagle. The bird seemed to have an all-white tail so was probably an adult.

Whilst out here I received a message from Kjetil J that there were Bearded Tits at Fornebu. I think I had already given up on the turning up this year but this was good news. By the time I got to Fornebu later in the day there was not sight nor sound of them but there is a good chance that they are still in the area and will soon settle down in Koksa which has always been the preferred area for them.

In Maridalen the Great Grey Shrike revealed itself for the third day on the trot and seems to have found a good source of food. The Whooper Swan family is still present and feeding on the field by their nesting site.

Waxwings and Bullfinches were common through the day although failed to be photogenic. Most of the Bullfinches were giving trumpet calls (aswell as normal calls) but I fail to see any plumage or size differences.

Eastern? Bullfinches (dompap)

The Great Grey Shrike (varsler) in Maridalen

the top left picture shows the pale base to the bill and streaking on the chest aging this as a 1cy. In the top right picture one can see that it has a thin white band on the base of the secondaries which also can be just seen on the closed wing (bottom left). Bottom right can we see that there is extensive white in the tail. Just goes to show there is a lot of variation in this species (compare to my recent pictures of a bird with a much broader secondary bar and another bird completely lacking a secondary bar)

male Hawfinch (kjernebiter) at Fornebu

The eagle has flown

Wren at Fornebu