Skogsøy 10 October 2021 - Another day, another seawatch

Lighter NW winds. Dismal light to start with but clearing nicely rather too late to be of any help.

A VERY frustrating seawatch, there was plenty passing but the light conditions were terrible. Normally the sun is on our backs in the early morning lighting up the sea favourably. With the cloud conditions as they were it meant that passing birds were seen in silhouette only and in very poor light indeed. This was compounded by the fact that I sat in the hide again - partly because it was raining as I arrived, partly because it is comfortable and partly because I didn't repack my rucksack to include my normal folding chair. In other words I have gone soft. Basically sitting in the hide means it is not possible to follow passing birds for more than a few seconds.

A lot of stuff went down as "duck sp" or "waders". A potential Red-necked Grebe gråstrupedykker was among the many that "got away". However, I did manage to see and identify at least some of the stuff that passed.

I sat from 0840 to 1200. The first flock of geese that passed was a smallish flock of Brents ringgås, after that all geese where either Barnacle hvitkinngås or unidentified (a flock passed out along the horizon proving impossible to identify). A Peregrine vandrefalk came in off the sea with prey (looked like a Redwing rødvingetrost) and as usual White-tailed Eagle havørn put in an appearance. A lateish Arctic Tern rødnebbterne was one of the more interesting sightings.

Totals were:

Brent Goose ringgås S 45

Barnacle Goose hvitkinngås S 307

Barnacle/Brent S 100

Goose sp S 7

Teal krikkand S 11

Wigeon brunnakke S 2

Common Scoter svartand S 48

Velvet Scoter sjøorre S 28

Eider ærfugl S 4

Merganser siland S 6

Duck sp S 33

Kittiwake krykkje S 6

Common Gull fiskemåke S 125

Black-headed Gull hettemåke S 1

Lesser Black-backed Gull sildemåke S 31 (the passage continues!)

Arctic Tern rødnebbterne S 1

Red-throated Diver smålom S 114

Gannet havsule S 65

Oystercatcher tjeld S 4

Wader S 7 (largesh)

Wader S 15 (dunlin sized)

Great Northern Diver islom S 1

GND / WBD kjempelom S 1

Auk sp S 124

Guillemot lomvi S 15

Razorbill alke S 9

Part of a Barnacle Goose hvitkinngås flock

Lesser Black-backed Gulls sildemåke continue to pass

On the way home a nice first year Peregrine vandrefalk hunted at Tjeldstø