Øygarden 09-17 August 2025

On 9th August I spent an hour or so in the lower levels of Gullfjell. Fairly quiet but a couple of Kestrel tårnfalk put on a show and the usual Ravens ravn, Willow Tit granmeis and so on showed too,

Plenty of Kestrel tårnfalk about inland

Having picked up some birders I headed back out to Øygarden. Short stops at various sites in Øygarden on the way home produced, among other things, White-tailed Eagles havørn, Common Crossbill grankorsnebb, Wheatear steinskvett, House Martin taksvale, Sand Martin sandvale and flocks of Meadow Pipits heipiplerke, White Wagtails linerle and Linnets tornirisk

The next day we started at Hjelme where Jay nøtteskrike, a flock of 12 Common Crossbill grankorsnebb, Goldcrests fuglekonge, Crested Tits toppmeis, Dunnock jernspurv and plenty more showed. Nearby Sæle gave Spotted Flycatcher gråfluesnapper, Lesser Whitethroat møller, lots of Goldfinch stillits and more.

Tjeldstø felt rather quiet but  a couple of White-tailed Eagles havøn, Wheatears steinskvett, a Common Tern makrellterne, several Stonechat svartstrupe, Sand Martin sandsvale were seen here. 

Solberg was next up where an Otter fishing was the highlight. Otters are starting to show more regularly during daylight hours again.

Otter at Solberg

More Stonechats svartstrupe were seen at various localities including the Kollsnes pair feeding very recently fledged young from their second brood. Fanastic to these these birds doing so well:)

On 11th August my terrace did quite well whilst preparing breakfast with Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett performing well in the scope, a group of three White-tailed Eagle havørn and huge numbers of birds at the feeders.

Having dropped off in town I headed back for an afternoon of seawatching - an experience in itself. Three birds in the first hour followed by a heavy downpour was not the best start but after the rain things picked up considerably with a Manx Shearwater havlire the best sighting, a flock of eight Bar-tailed Godwit lappspove, small numbers of other waders, a flock of Common Scoter svartand and a steady passage of Oystercatcher tjeld heading south. 

On land a Whimbrel småspove, a Snipe enkeltbekkasin and lovely views of a Twite bergirisk family.

Twite bergirisk at Skogsøy

Twite bergrisik

This was followed by a few days of not birding at all. A few hours at Herdla on 14 August gave a nice selection of waders including Little Stint dvergsnipe, Wood Sandpiper grønnstilk and Ruff brushane. Greylag grågås migration was in full swing too. Passerines included Whinchat buskskvett and Wheatear steinskvett.

On 16th August Skogsøy was very disappointing from a seawatching point of view but a Merlin dvergfalk, a Peregrine vandrefalk, White-tailed Eagles havørn and more made up for this.

The next day I did Herdlevær where I had small numbers of waders but plenty of thrushes feeding on the various berries ripening along with Sparrowhawk spurvehauk and the usual suspects.