Calm and sunny on 30 December. I went for potentially hard to get species rather than number of species and chose Skogsøy for seabirds that are sometimes tricky at this time of year. Most stuff was rather distant but Gannet havsule, several Razorbills alke, 20+ unidentified auks, a couple of Kittiwake krykkje and a Great Northern Diver islom passed. 35 Common Scoter svartand fed on the sea, at least until a Peregrine vandrefalk turned up. The woods were typically quiet with just a few Wrens gjerdesemett, 12 Parrot Crossbill furukorsnebb and a couple of Great Spotted Woodpeckers flaggspett.
Two of the better sightings for the day were from my terrace at Nautnes - the long-staying female Velvet Scoter sjøorre and an unseasonal Oystercatcher tjeld.
The last day of 2023 was rather greyer with winds from the east. Again I had a couple of species on my target list but one of them was a no show:( However, Dåvøy produced Woodcock rugde and Snipe enkeltbekkasin and 37 Herons gråhegre. Solberg was next up and was generally quiet but a Great Northern Diver islom on the sea meant it was worth the effort.
After this I was joined by my daughter and we tried our luck at a few places - a male Teal krikkand with Mallards stokkand at Tjeldstø where there was also a big flock of gulls. One very white headed individual is probably worth some more investigation....A minimum of six White-tailed Eagles havørn also present here along with Rock Pipit skjærpiplerke, Fieldfare gråtrost and many of the usual suspects.
Next up was Alvheim for yet more eagles and a Red-throated Diver smålom on the sea. We finished off with five Greylag grågås and a Redwing rødvingetrost at Harkestad.
A late start on 01 January saw me heading to Hjelme vest, quite hard going in a fresh easterly wind but picked up a Red-necked Grebe gråstruoedykker as the best bird. Many species that can normally be counted on here were missing but I had at least two Great Northern Diver islom, a Gannet havsule, a Peregrine vandrefalk and small numbers of Common Scoter svartand and Long-tailed Duck havelle.
I also popped in briefly at a few other localities without anything special.
1 comment:
A pretty good start to 2024! Well done 4 ma making theeffort
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