Øygarden 09 - 12 October 2022 - Barnacle geese

Little field activity again.

On 09 October I was mostly at home, a couple of Black-headed Gulls hettemåke flew past around dawn and the much commoner / regular White-tailed Eagles havørn showed well as usual. A very short walk at Herdlevær in the afternoon produced little other than a Chiff-chaff gransanger and a flock of 11 Wigeon brunnakke flying over.

One of at least three White-tailed Eagles havørn seen from the terrace.

My usual round at Herdlevær  0n 10 October (albeit with a shorter stop for seawatching) showed that a lot was passing. In the 15-20 minutes I sat there a flock of Barnacle Geese hvitkinngås flew south with a white bird among them. A Snow Bunting snøspurv also flew over.

Lesser Black-backed Gull sildemåke

Herring Gull gråmåke

Common Gulls fiskemåke

Barnacle Geese hvitkinngås

A notable arrival of Redwing rødvingetrost started on the 10th. Up to a couple of hundred were seen at various localities. 

On 11 October a male Long-tailed Duck havelle turned up on Husvatnet - not the usual place for this species.

Male Long-tailed Duck havelle on freshwater at Tjeldstø

Another short walk at Herdlevær on 12 October gave very little other than a flock of Wigeon brunnakke and a couple of Dunlin myrsnipe heading south.