Sunday, July 29, 2018

Skogsøy 29 July 2018 - Another day, another seawatch

Sunny with strong southerly winds after some rain in the night.

I seem to have lost the ability to jump out of bed before dawn but managed to get out a bit earlier than yesterday.

Small numbers of Lesser Black-backed Gulls sildemåke on the move

Oystercatcher tjeld

One of this years young Rock Pipits skjærpiplerke

Flock of Sanderling sandløper


 Mixed bag of waders - Mostly adult Knot polarsnipe with two Turnstone steinvender and two Sanderling sandløper

Even more cropped to show the ID better.


With the weather very different indeed there was a distinct change in the species passing. Knot polarsnipe were the mainstay with many flocks of adult birds passing - over 130 in total and thus the most I have seen in Øygarden in a day. The best sighting was a migrating Temminck's Stint temminckssnipe - thankfully one of the closest waders to pass today giving good views in the scope. This is a rare bird out in Øygarden with only three previous sightings.

Other waders included at least 13 Sanderling sandløper (the first of the year for Øygarden - and Hordaland as a whole for that matter), two Turnstone steinvender, Greenshank gluttsnipe, Ringed Plover sandlo, Common Sandpiper strandsnipe, Curlew storspove, Whimbrel småspove and Oystercatcher tjeld.

The only other sighting of note was a single Great Skua storjo, also heading south.

Green Sandpiper skogsnipe against the light

A couple of Green Sandpiper skogsnipe were feeding at Sture on the way home.

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