Thursday, March 01, 2018

Øygarden 01 March 2018 - Cracking weather unless you have a long probing bill

Freezing calm and sunny.

Fantastic weather for humans, less so for those creatures who like to find their food in the upper layer of the soil. Calm and sunny but frozen. It did not feel cold but it never got warm enough to thaw much even in the middle of the day.

Took a lazy walk at Skogsøy but the lagoons which were the target area today were pretty much frozen. Just a couple of Whoopers sangsvane along with the usual duck. Over the sea a solitary Gannet havsule, a single White-tailed Eagle havørn and not a lot else were to be seen.


Fieldfare gråtrost

Redwing rødvingetrost



Starling stær - probably a returning migrant and quite possibly the only time this year I will bother photographing this rather photogenic species.


A drive-by at Herdlevær gave perhaps the best photographic opportunities of the day with Starling stær, Redwing rødvingetrost and Fieldfare gråtrost feeding on a patch of ground that looked like it had a chance of thawing.

Snipe enkeltbekkasin are having a hard time of things now

Most of the Whooper sangsvane family


Whoopers sangsvane

Tjeldstø was rather better with a family of Whoopers sangsvane, at least two Woodcock rugde, a Snipe enkeltbekkasin, a fly-over Greylag grågås and many of the usual suspects.

Another Woodcock rugde turned up very close to my house at Nautnes. They will start dying very soon if the weather remains as cold as is forecast.....


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