Øygarden 07.10-11.10 Barred Warbler and more

 On 07 October all I managed was a very brief visit to Sæle whch resulted in several Blackcap munk and a couple of Chiff-chaff gransanger in the way of migrants. Several Goldfinch stillits and a flock of 50 Brambling bjørkefink were also present.

The next day was another day of not birding though a couple of White-tailed Eagles havørn and a Swallow låvesvale were seen from the terrace. A couple of Tufted Duck toppand turned up on Husvatnet together with several Wigeon brunnakke in the evening.

No birding on 09 October either but picked up a couple of Stonechat svartstrupe during routine errands.

Male Stonechat svartstrupe

On 10 October I managed to get out for an hour or two but only picked up a Purple Sandpiper fjæreplytt at Solberg as the first of the autumn. At Hjelme a tristis Chiff-chaff sibirgransanger was very vocal, gave good but brief views and refused to be photographed. Back home a flock of four Oystercatcher tjeld together with a Purple Sandpiper fjæreplytt were a nice observation from the terrace.

White-tailed Eagle havørn at Tjeldstø before the sun came up

tristis Chiff-chaff calling

A day of guiding on 11 October was great fun and shows what is actually around if one can get out birding:)

We started at Turøy with just the usual suspects present but White-tailed Eagle havørn and a Blackcap munk showed up. Next up was Herdlevær where a couple of Yellow-browed Warblers gulbrynsanger gave good views. Bonus birds here were a flock of 37 Barnacle Geese hvitkinngås heading south. A good variety of the usual autumn migrants were also seen here along with a couple more White-tailed Eagles havørn. A Stonechat svartstrupe at Kollsnes was the first I've seen at this locality for quite some time. We tried to do Tjeldstø but a message about a Barred Warbler hauksanger at Sæle meant we had to move on rather more quickly than intended. It was a rather skulky bird which gave good but all to brief views most of the time - it took a while before I managed some reasonable shots with the point and pray:) After this it was off to Hjelme where the tristis Chiff-chaff was still present and just as unphotographable as the previous day. A few Common Crossbill grankorsnebb, another White-tailed Eagle havørn and a decent flock of Woodpigeon ringdue were among the other species seen here.

The first attempts at photos of the Barred Warbler hauksanger looked like this

...but finally it gave some good views for more than a few seconds