Calm and mild - a day that obviously should have been spent out in the field.
I popped in at a couple of places during the shop run and found evidence that geese have been in the fields at Breivik very recently. Unfortunately I cannot yet identify individual goose species from their droppings....might just have been early Greylags grågås which are expected very soon or perhaps something more interesting....which would be the norm in winter.
At Breivik a small flock of Tufted Duck toppand were the first to be seen locally (i.e. the "old" Øygarden - this year three district councils were amalgamated and also given the name Øygarden). On the way home another new for the year locally was a Bullfinch dompap that seemed to be with a mixed flock of 50 Brambling bjørkefink and 15 Chaffinch bokfink. Bullfinch are not even annual in winter out here although late autumn and winter is the time to see them. Although there are no records in the national reporting system this year I did see that some were noted at Alvheim during the recent annual garden bird count which uses a different reporting system....
I wonder if the flocks of Brambling out here are part of the tens of thousands currently roosting in Bergen or if they have their own roosts somewhere closer.....
Back home I took a mug of coffee out on my terrace before a job interview on Skype. This was not very sensible as I saw four White-tailed Eagles havørn feeding on what seemed to be an angler fish. The coffee went cold but I did the interview, maybe I seemed interested enough and maybe mentioning the eagles was not a mistake.....
A Curlew storspove also fed on the shore near the eagles.
One of many goose droppings at Breivik
I popped in at a couple of places during the shop run and found evidence that geese have been in the fields at Breivik very recently. Unfortunately I cannot yet identify individual goose species from their droppings....might just have been early Greylags grågås which are expected very soon or perhaps something more interesting....which would be the norm in winter.
Female Bullfinch dompap near Alvheim
Brambling bjørkefink
Tufted Ducks toppand on Blomvatnet
This species is not a common bird during the winter months and most are seen during migration periods
At Breivik a small flock of Tufted Duck toppand were the first to be seen locally (i.e. the "old" Øygarden - this year three district councils were amalgamated and also given the name Øygarden). On the way home another new for the year locally was a Bullfinch dompap that seemed to be with a mixed flock of 50 Brambling bjørkefink and 15 Chaffinch bokfink. Bullfinch are not even annual in winter out here although late autumn and winter is the time to see them. Although there are no records in the national reporting system this year I did see that some were noted at Alvheim during the recent annual garden bird count which uses a different reporting system....
Bullfinch occurrence in Øygarden (number of sightings rather than number of birds). From artsobs.
I wonder if the flocks of Brambling out here are part of the tens of thousands currently roosting in Bergen or if they have their own roosts somewhere closer.....
Part of the view from my terrace
....zoomed in a bit
....and zoomed in a LOT
Same birds using scope and mobile phone
Video of three of the eagles using my superzoom
Back home I took a mug of coffee out on my terrace before a job interview on Skype. This was not very sensible as I saw four White-tailed Eagles havørn feeding on what seemed to be an angler fish. The coffee went cold but I did the interview, maybe I seemed interested enough and maybe mentioning the eagles was not a mistake.....
A Curlew storspove also fed on the shore near the eagles.
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