All a blur

A little bit of birding today. I started with an attempt to get better views and hopefully get to enjoy the song of Blyth’s Reed Warbler (busksanger). The site where we had a pair nest building last week is really not so nice during the day as it is right by an industrial estate, busy road and also a rest site for lorries. I therefore only stayed here a couple of minutes although was nearly fooled by an Icterine Warbler (gulsanger) singing from the same area of trees. I find that the song of Icterine can at times resemble Blyth’s Reed so this is yet another potential trap for the unwary.

However another singing Blyth’s Reed has been found only 2km away at Tuentangen and this is in quieter surroundings. This bird though proved also very difficult to locate and I wonder if there is also breeding occurring here. It sang only twice between 0915 and 1000 and both times just for a few seconds and not at full blast. This is in contrast to the unpaired bird at Årnestangen last year which towards the end of its stay sang loudly at all hours and often right out in the open. I first picked it up as it flew from one bush to another and saw it briefly although even with a brief view the face is quite characteristic with the long supercilium, flat forehead and “harder” look than a Marsh Warbler (myrsanger). I saw it a couple more times only briefly in addition to hearing it singing. It seemed very active finding food and although I didn’t see another bird I find its behaviour more conducive to a breeding bird than an unpaired male.

A visit to Maridalen revealed three singing Common Rosefinches (rosenfink) audible at the same time including one red male. The male Red-backed Shrike (tornskate) also showed again and seemed to have a routine as though he was returning to feed the female on the nest.

A pair of Greylag Geese (grågås) on the lake had three newly fledged youngsters and quite a few Black-headed (hettemåke) and Common Gulls (fiskemåke) were feeding on flying insects but no Little Gull (dvergmåke) amongst them unfortunately.

My photographic efforts today were all a bit of a blur:

Blyth's Reed Warbler (busksanger) - honestly

this Pied Flycatcher (svarthvir fluesnapper) has been singing less than 100m from the house but today was checking out the nest box in the garden from which the Great Tits have just fledged. Picture taken through a windown

adult male Common Rosefinch (rosenfink) - one of three I could hear from the same spot in Maridalen