Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Engerdal 18.10-24.10.2024 - Getting ahead of the invasions

Several days spent bucking the trend by heading east instead of staying put lost me a few good birds on the home front but at the same time put me in touch with a number of species that are impossible to see in Øygarden. I saw around 50 species there, several of which had not been reported thus far this year in Engerdal. I managed to get out for a few mornings in this magical area where I always have the feeling something can turn up:)

Partly due to low cloud and poor visibility it was hard going for some of the time but obviously still plenty of birds about and the first hints of some interesting stuff on the move - for example small numbers of Waxwings sidensvans starting to show and a single Pine Grosbeak konglebit seen and heard at Isterfossen.

On 18th October I started with my usual Engerdal round - checking a few of the lakes and surrounding areas to get a feel for what was about. Best bird was a female Scaup bergand at Vurrusjøen where there was also a decent flock of Goosander laksand. Otherwise it was just the usual species including several Whooper Swan sangsvane, a couple of Black-throated Diver storlom, Dippers fossekall and so on.

Scaup bergand at the Drevsjø end of Vurrusjøen

The following morning I headed a bit higher up to Hyllsjøen but low cloud and poor visibility up here meant things were a bit hard going. Nothing special at all, just small numbers of thrushes and a few Waxwings sidensvans. Back down in the valley a flock of six Waxwing sidensvans at Heggeriset and some good flocks of Redwing rødvingetrost, Fieldfare gråstrost and Starling stær in downtown Engerdal.

Part of a flock of at least 32 Starling stær in downtown Engerdal - probably the biggest flock I've seen of this species in the area

Waxwings sidensvans at Heggeriset

Sunday 20.10 was spent mostly at the house but a flock of 57 Pinkfeet kortnebbgåas heading south was a good sighting and later in the afternoon I connected with a late Robin rødstrupe and a Wren gjerdesmett along with a nice flock of charming Long-tailed Tits stjertmeis.

Long-tailed Tit stjertmeis at Heggeriset

No birding the next day but on Tuesday 22.10, another cloudy day, I kept in the lowlands again. The Scaup bergand remained at Drevsjø where I also heard Waxwing sidensvans and had a distant flock of around 150 geese heading south - presumably Pinkfeet kortnebbgås. I also managed to pick up Treecreeper trekryper and Crested Tit toppmeis in the Drevsjø area - neither of which I see every time I am in the area.

I then tried some promising areas on the edge of the Kvisleflået nature reserve where I was rewarded with good views of a female Capercaille storfugl from the car. A walk in the woods produced almost no birds at all but, just as I returned to the car feeling a bit disappointed a couple of Siberian Jays lavskrike turned up and put on a real show - saving the day by a long way:)

Typical view of Capercaille storfugl








Siberian Jay lavskrike - just love this species, what a character and the places in which it resides are just wonderful.


The morning of my last full day was spent doing pretty much the same as I did on my first day - a "goodbye" round. This was quite a productive trip with singing (!) Black Grouse orrfugl at Volbrenna, a roadside Willow Grouse lirype near Galten, more Waxwings sidensvans, a flyover Pine Grosbeak konglebit at Isterfossen where I also had a Mistle Thrush duetrost, a small flock of Parrot Crossbills furukorsnebb (the only positively identified crossbills this time around), a couple of Goldfinch stillits at Drevsjø where I also had a flock of 28 Goosander laksand.

Dipper fossekall at Galten


Goldfinch stillits at Drevsjø


Goosander laksand at Galten

Roadside Willow Grouse lirype moulting into winter plumage

On the way home downtown Engerdal produced a late Blackcap munk and good numbers of thrushes and finches.



Fieldfare gråtrost


Redwings rødvingetrost

The last morning was spent in and around Heggeriset, a distant aythya duck proved too far off to identify conclusively but was either Tufted Duck toppand or Scaup bergand. Plenty of Brambling bjørkefink still around, along with Whooper sangsvane, Goldeneye kvinand, Mallard stokkand and a Wigeon brunnakke on the lake.







Blackbird svarttrost




Brambling bjørkefink






Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Øygarden 12.10-16.10.2024 - Salvaging the autumn

Work continues to be relentless - next year I will book holiday - I was naive enough to think I could take leave after the offshore trip a few weeks back but this was absolutely not the case.

So it continued as situation normal  - grabbing an hour or two outside most days.

On 12th October it was rather wet but I did my usual round at Herdlevær without anything of great interest. A Dunlin myrsnipe resting on the shore was probably the best find

The next day was again rather wet. I started in the north of Øygarden. A flock of 70 Woodpigeon ringdue at Hjelme was a large flock for these parts. A message regarding a Red-breasted Flycatcher dvergfluesnapper at Herdlevær (thanks Bert!) meant that I headed there and after a long search in the rain we finally connected with it - rather flighty probably due to the fact it was chased by Robins rødstrupe whenever it showed itself. Yellow-browed Warblers gulbrynsanger showed well - at least four present with two close to the flycatcatcher and another two at the other end of the island. Several Blackcap munk and Chiff-chaff gransanger also around.

Part of a flock of Greylag Geese grågås that headed south during the hunt for the flycatcher

Female Mallard stokkand with Wigeon brunnakke in the background - ducks love flooded fields:)

Mallards stokkand in a flooded field at Tjeldstø

Starling stær eating berries at Hellesøy - the main reason there are no berries left out here at the coast for the interesting stuff that like to eat berries later in the autumn / winter

Wigeon brunnakke feeding in a flooded field at Tjeldstø


Nice shot of some sycamore seeds....


Obviously finding plenty to eat:)

Yellow-browed Warblers gulbrynsanger at Herdlevær

On 14th October I was barely out of the house but during a five minute stop at Breivik I clearly heard a calling Richard's Pipit tartarpiplerke three times, but having not actually seen the bird felt that I couldn't claim it. A species that seems to have become rarer in recent years....


A couple of White-tailed Eagles havørn over my terrace were a distraction during one of the many meetings that day....

Same story the following day, had to make do with a Blackcap munk in my garden and a few species of dabbling duck at Tjeldstø.

I left Øygarden on 16th October but two five minute stops along the way produced two Jack Snipe kvartbekkasin at Tjeldstø and a Richard's Pipit tartarpiplerke at Breivik - quite possibly the same bird from a couple of days earlier. This time it called repeatedly and I managed a few short but decent flight views. Otherwise a couple of Rock Pipit skjærpiplerke in my garden.


Wren gjerdesmett at Tjeldstø




Tuesday, October 22, 2024

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