A quick trip out produced a couple of Whinchat buskskvett and a Reed Bunting sivspurv at Breivik.
Back home a Green Sandpiper skogsnipe dropped in and joined the Common Sandpipers strandsnipe. A Black-headed Gull hettemåke took a break here too - not exactly a daily sighting from the house or anywhere else in Øygarden for that matter.
Snipe enkeltbekkasin very much in evidence with small flocks taking advantage of all the wet ground.
Fresh southerly winds and some short but very heavy showers.
At last some proper weather! Enough sunshine and calm conditions - time for getting up close and personal with some waders.
I took at very late and lazy stroll round Herdlevær and picked up a decent selection of the usual waders including a (the?) Green Sandpiper skogsnipe, 26 Knot polarsnipe, a few each of Sanderling sandløper and Turnstone steinvender.
A small flock of Dunline myrsnipe together with a Sanderling sandløper fed intensively and more or less ignored us. The initial crawl through puddles and piles of sheep dung that left me wet and filthy proved totally pointless
Back home the usual couple of White-tailed Eagles havørn and a nice flyover Merlin dvergfalk.
Light SE winds, distant thunder and varying between sunny and overcast.
A superb few hours of seawatching gave non-stop action with well over 1300 birds heading south. Typically for the time of year numbers were dominated by waders and gulls but there was a nice variety of species too.
The number of Lesser Black-backed Gulls sildemåke passing was a new record for this locality!
Lesser Black-backed Gull sildemåke
| Knot | polarsnipe | 65 |
| Ringed Plover | sandlo | 40 |
| Oystercatcher | tjeld | 343 |
| Redshank | rødstilk | 2 |
| Dunlin | myrsnipe | 7 |
| Common Gull | fiskemåke | 367 |
| GBBG | svartbak | 212 |
| LBBG | sildemåke | 46 |
| Gannet S | havsule | 57 |
| Gannet N | havsule | 8 |
| Cormorant S | storskarv | 23 |
| Cormorant N | storskarv | 1 |
| Great Skua | storjo | 1 |
| Shag N | toppskarv | 17 |
| Shag S | toppskarv | 1 |
| Wader | vaderfugl | 56 |
| Common Scoter | svartand | 57 |
| Velvet Scoter | sjøorre | 1 |
| Ruff | brushane | 5 |
| Sanderling | sandløper | 6 |
| Common Tern | makrellterne | 1 |
| Tern | terner | 3 |
| Turnstone | steinvender | 3 |
| Golden Plover | heilo | 6 |
| Bar-tailed Godwit | lappspove | 3 |
| Herring Gull | gråmåke | 3 |
| Greenshank | gluttsnipe | 1 |
| Heron | gråhegre | 2 |
| Greylag | grågås | 35 |
A Merlin dvergfalk also put in an appearance along with the local Rock Pipits skjærpiplerke
On the way home a quick look at Tjeldstø produced another Merlin dvergfalk, Sparrowhawk spurvehauk and a flock of around 60 Linnets tornirisk - a typical late August sighting at Tjeldstø. Greenshank gluttsnipe, Golden Plover heilo and Snipe enkeltbekkasin were also seen here.
At Harkestad there was a flock of 300 Starling stær feeding in the fields there - but nothing special with them.
Light SE winds and sunny.
Spent the morning looking for migrants on my favourite island.
Although Hernar was lifting with birds including a flock of around 50 Twite bergirisk there were only a Whinchat buskskvett and a Spotted Flycatcher gråfluesnapper present - right up until we were leaving the island when I found a first year Rosy Starling rosenstær sitting on a telephone line together with Starlings stær. I managed a few documentation shots and a quick view in the scope before I ended up helping to carry a vivarium complete with terrapins whilst hoping to obtain some better shots afterwards. Unfortunately once the terrapins were safely onboard their new boat the Rosy had moved on..... You couldn't make it up:)
Other sightings included a selection of the usual waders including Ruff brushane and Greenshank gluttsnipe, a flock of 14 Black-headed Gulls hettemåke (a good Hernar observation) and a Coal Tit svartmeis (an early migrant).
Some rain and a bit of southerly winds around dawn meant that even with a late start Herdlevær paid dividends with plenty of waders. Highlights were a Green Sandpiper skogsnipe, my first Ruff brushane of the autumn and a Little Stint dvergsnipe. Most of the usual waders were also present including Knot polarsnipe, Sanderling sandløper, Turnstone steinvender and more. A steady passage of Great Black-backed Gulls svartbak heading south and a Shelduck gravand hanging around were among the other sightings.
Less predictable was a Nuthatch spettmeis at Tjeldstø on the way home.
In the evening a non-birding trip west of Nautnes produced yet more waders - and a nice adult Peregrine vandrefalk hunting them. It took a while to make it a habit but I don't leave the house without my camera, even if it is only a trip to the shops:)
Finally felt like getting out and about today and, despite a rather late start, the islands and skerries on the west side of Øygarden proved quite productive. At least 90 Knot polarsnipe, 30+ Oystercatcher tjeld, 23 Turnstone steinvender, 14 Ringed Plover sandlo, 5 Sanderling sandløper, 4 Purple Sandpiper fjæreplytt, a few Dunlin myrsnipe, three Golden Plover heilo, two Common Sandpiper strandsnipe and a Whimbrel småspove all fed and/or rested out there.
A few Shelduck gravand and a small flock of Teal krikkand were among the other species around the islands.
Several flocks of Greylags grågås passed overhead on their way south totalling at least 160.
Extremely tired after another trip offshore and not out birding at all, just relaxing and enjoying a bed that doesn't move and with no engine noise.
Birds from the terrace included Green Sandpipers skogsnipe and a Spotted Redshank sotsnipe. Good numbers of Redpoll brunsisik, Kestrels tårnfalk seen pretty much wherever I went.
Small flocks of Common Crossbill grankorsnebb, White-tailed Eagles havørn and most of the usual stuff.
In my postbox was a fantastic book: North Atlantic Seabirds, Shearwaters, Jouanin's and White-chinned Petrels. A couple of Scopoli's shearwater pictures I took some years ago were used in the book. Although I have not updated my website for this species there is at least one picture here.
The offshore trip provided an opportunity to do some updates to my website, although I still have a few years of pictures to go through:)
