Øygarden 30 May - 09 June - Back to normal

I returned home to Nautnes on 30th May to find a Broad bordered Bee Hawk Moth bredkantet humlesvermer in my garden. Seemingly a relative rarity in the moth world around here. Cool moth anyway!

The next day, with it being the weekend, I managed a couple of hours out as I needed to walk my daughter's dog, along the way I met Bert de Bruin out and about so we checked a couple of localities together. Highlight were two Wood Sandpipers grønnstilk at Tjeldstø, Rook kornkråke and Jackdaws kaie at Breivik, Stonechat svartstrupe at Kollsnes, the long-staying Gadwall sandderand on Husvatnet, Tjeldstø and last, but by no means least in these wader depleted times: a pair of Curlew storspove with young at Oen. Although this is a widespread breeder in northern Øygarden numbers have decreased at some historically key localities so it is great to see them with young ones:)

Lesser Whitethroat møller singing pretty much everywhere.

Anxious Curlew storspove parents

...and one of the chicks. Very close to housing (almost impossible not to be these days)

Gadwall snadderand at Tjeldstø, these birds were long-stayers

Rook kornkråke at Breivik

Stonechat svartstrupe at Kollsnes

Prior to some Sunday guiding on 1st June I checked the tern colony at Dåvøy, still going strong with Common Terns makrellterne outnumbering the Arctic Terns rødnebbterne and, as usual, a Great Black-backed Gull svartbak pair right beside the terns. GBBG often eat nestlings and eggs of smaller gulls so I am not sure how this works here:) Oystercatcher tjeld breed on the same island too.

Common Terns makrellterne at Dåvøy

Great Black-backed Gull svartbak chicks

The Greylag grågås known as UK3 turned was one of the birds that turned up at Herdla. Sightings of this bird are largely similar to those of the other neck-ringed Greylags I have observed with most observations from Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. See this link for details. I've been seeing this bird in either Øygarden or on Askøy since 2019:) 

Other species included a couple of Temmick's Stints temminksnipe, small numbers of Velvet Scoter sjøorre and Common Scoter svartand and a couple of Yellow Wagtail gulerle (flavissima).

A House Martin taksvale at Husvatnet on the way home was an unusual late spring visitor - normally this species is seen earlier in the spring during the migration period.

Redshank rødstilk at Herda

One of the Temminck's Stints temminksnipe.

Following the Sunday guiding there were almost no chances to get out, so everything went back to normal with drive-bys here and there on the way to the shops along with brief forays out onto the terrace.

A lone Whooper sangsvane continued to show on and off at Tjeldstø and a Peregrine vandrefalk flew over my terrace on 05 June.

Heron graåhegre at Tjeldstø

Curlew storspove at Tjeldstø

A Great Black-backed Gull svartbak killing a Greylag grågås chick.

Tjeldstø, 06 June

GBBG are real predators and eat quite a lot of birds. Normally Greylag would not be on the menu but this quite large chick was for some reason not with it's family.

A Bullfinch dompap pair with a Siskin grønnsisik behind.

There have been much more Bullfinch around than normal this year and have successfully raised youn nearby as first year birds also visited the garden.

Goldinch stillits in the garden

Greylags grågås with young photographed from my terrace. 

Some pairs manage to keep most or all of their young but others are not so lucky / careful...

Curlew storspove with young at Breivik

Common Sandpiper strandsnipe at Hjelme

Some kind of dragonfly also at Hjelme