Near gale force southerly winds again but little rain. Little in the way of visibility so fairly hard going again today
This is the time of year those troublesome yellow-legged gulls turn up. Today a (the?) yellow legged gull turned up at Dåvøy - a regular spot for this to happen. It could potentially be a Yellow-legged Gull gulbeinmåke as it shows a number of pro YLG features - darker grey mantle, red eye ring, powerful bill with pronounced gonydal angle, red bill spot bleeding over to upper mandible, yellow legs, darker yellow eye and all white head. It was spooked by something before I managed to see the open wing properly - P10 looks to be all white (not good for YLG) but P5 does appear to be black (good for YLG). Or it could just be an omissus type Herring Gull gråmåke - hopefully some better shots of the wings will point ID in the right direction. The advanced moult (i.e. no streaking on the head) is obviously another pointer to YLG.
Also at Dåvøy the Grey Heron gråhegre roost numbered 46 birds which is a decent count.
A Peregrine vandrefalk hunted at Tjeldstø.
The only definitely identified new for the year today were a couple of Willow Tit granmeis - although common enough inland it is not a common bird locally except during "invasion" years. In 2019 there were only three records of this species in Øygarden - none of which I managed to see.
Obviously darker than Herring Gull gråmåke (pro YLG feature)
Red spot on bill bleeding over to upper mandible - another pro YLG feature
Unfortunately the bird was spooked (possibly by Whooper Swans) before I managed to document the open wings...
This is the time of year those troublesome yellow-legged gulls turn up. Today a (the?) yellow legged gull turned up at Dåvøy - a regular spot for this to happen. It could potentially be a Yellow-legged Gull gulbeinmåke as it shows a number of pro YLG features - darker grey mantle, red eye ring, powerful bill with pronounced gonydal angle, red bill spot bleeding over to upper mandible, yellow legs, darker yellow eye and all white head. It was spooked by something before I managed to see the open wing properly - P10 looks to be all white (not good for YLG) but P5 does appear to be black (good for YLG). Or it could just be an omissus type Herring Gull gråmåke - hopefully some better shots of the wings will point ID in the right direction. The advanced moult (i.e. no streaking on the head) is obviously another pointer to YLG.
Red-breasted Merganser siland at Dåvøy
Also at Dåvøy the Grey Heron gråhegre roost numbered 46 birds which is a decent count.
A Peregrine vandrefalk hunted at Tjeldstø.
Willow Tit granmeis
The only definitely identified new for the year today were a couple of Willow Tit granmeis - although common enough inland it is not a common bird locally except during "invasion" years. In 2019 there were only three records of this species in Øygarden - none of which I managed to see.
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