Thrush Nightingale

May, guiding and demanding kids makes blogging difficult!

Yesterday I guided Gene and Susan from Minnesota and we had a great day under a hot sun. Marsh Harrier, Water Rail, Shoveler, Ruff, Wryneck, Osprey, Icterine, Reed and Sedge Warbler plus all three flycatchers was a pretty good showing.

Today, as forecast, we had rain in the morning and I had really high expectations such that I was out in Maridalen before 6am. Lots of fogs mucked things up though and there was not a new migrant in sight! I headed for Fornebu where I hoped the lack of fog would result in all the downed migrants being here but that was not to either. However, my best ever views of Thrush Nightingale more than made up for the lack of migrants.

There are still a few common migrants left to return: Swift, Marsh Warbler, Cuckoo and Common Rosefinch and with the right weather there are still lots of interesting birds that can turn up. I’m already looking forward to tomorrow…

Thrush Nightingale (nattergal) Fornebu. There were 2 singing males plus a third bird give alarm calls

this young male Sparrowhawk was causing consternation amongst the Nightingales and was possibly hunting them

Sedge Warbler (sivsanger) at Hellesjøvannet - a common species in Norway but very scarce in the Oslo area

Shovelers (skjeand)

Spotted Flycatchers (gråfluesnapper) are back

this Buzzard (musvåk) had intersting symmetrical moult of the inner primaries

I can't ever remember finding a Chaffinch (bokfink) nest before

my first Icterine Warbler (gulsanger) of the year