After being glued to the computer all day on 1st June I decided I just HAD to get away from work for an hour or so. I thought Hjelme might produce an interesting warbler or some other late spring passerine.
I had barely got out of the car when I glimpsed a silhouette of an interesting looking bird on a telephone wire and heard the briefest of calls - BEE-EATER bieter sprang to mind and after a short walk I managed to relocate the bird. It was rather flighty but thankfully quite vocal.
It took only a few minutes for the other local birder from Øygarden to turn up but a lot longer to relocate the bird in rapidly failing light. Thankfully we got there in the end - finally unblocking this species locally for me as I have been away for both the previous sightings.
Unsurprisingly with this being only the third record for Øygarden the twitchers were on the scene early the next morning though only a few of them connected. I managed brief views shortly before 0600 but had to head into town to pick up a guiding client - I headed straight back and picked up the bird again around 0915 but despite others being around this seems to be the last sighting of the bird.
Other stuff in the area included singing Wryneck vendehals, Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett, Woodcock rugde and more.
On 2nd June I picked up a singing Tree Pipit trepiplerke at Hatten (one of very few occasions I have heard this species sing in Øygarden), Garden Warbler hagesanger and Spotted Flycatcher gråfluesnapper at Hjelme, Swift tårnseiler at Nautnes and Tjeldstø and plenty more besides.
3rd June saw me guiding again with more of the same.
And that was pretty much the last of the birding for several weeks.....
I had barely got out of the car when I glimpsed a silhouette of an interesting looking bird on a telephone wire and heard the briefest of calls - BEE-EATER bieter sprang to mind and after a short walk I managed to relocate the bird. It was rather flighty but thankfully quite vocal.
It took only a few minutes for the other local birder from Øygarden to turn up but a lot longer to relocate the bird in rapidly failing light. Thankfully we got there in the end - finally unblocking this species locally for me as I have been away for both the previous sightings.
Bee-eater bieter swallowing a wasp of some sort
Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett playing hide and seek on a telegraph pole
Other stuff in the area included singing Wryneck vendehals, Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett, Woodcock rugde and more.
On 2nd June I picked up a singing Tree Pipit trepiplerke at Hatten (one of very few occasions I have heard this species sing in Øygarden), Garden Warbler hagesanger and Spotted Flycatcher gråfluesnapper at Hjelme, Swift tårnseiler at Nautnes and Tjeldstø and plenty more besides.
3rd June saw me guiding again with more of the same.
And that was pretty much the last of the birding for several weeks.....
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