Rosefinch

A beautiful day began at 4am with my cycle ride to Sydvestpynten where it was already warm with a light north-easterly breeze. A reeling Grasshopper Warbler was in its usual spot at Vestamager and Swifts were again around in good numbers. I stopped several times near the point to listen for birdsong and there were two Thrush Nightingales singing their hearts out. Then I heard the instantly recognisable 'wolf-whistle' song of a Common Rosefinch - fantastic. It sang several times from a garden by the car park but, despite scanning carefully with my binoculars, I could not see it. I tried moving around to change the angle but, despite knowing the precise shrub from which it was singing, it remained elusive. Then, after only a couple of minutes, I caught sight of it as it flew up and strongly north. Not the most satisfactory of sightings but a definite Common Rosefinch and my first in Denmark (219). A two-hour vigil at the point was rewarded with a few Brent Geese, a Bittern, singing Icterine and Marsh Warblers and a fantastic summer-plumaged Black-throated Diver that circled before heading off east towards the Øresund (the channel between Denmark and Sweden). After about 0800 it quietened down considerably so I spent half an hour photographing an obliging Marsh Warbler before heading home in time for breakfast!

Photos: Marsh Warbler; Black-throated Diver