Another road trip! This time again not really birding far from the car but a good number of species were amassed including some specialities / target species.
I picked up in Olso on 29th and predictably headed north to Engerdal. We stopped at Hamar along the way where we kicked off with a few Common Crane trane, at least three Little Ringed Plover dverglo, Osprey fiskeørn, Grey Wagtal vintererle and a nice selection of wildfowl, waders and woodland birds.
A pit stop at Trysil was made to view a herd of Whoopers sangsvane where we also saw Goldeneye kvinand with very newly hatched young and a variety of waders.
A few drive-bys in Engerdal gave six Little Gulls dvergmåke, a couple of Velvet Scoter sjøorre, several Common Scoter svartand, Black-throated Divers storlom, Whinchat buskskvett, great views of Golden Plover heilo, lots of Arctic Hares and a nice female Marsh Harrier sivhauk (a new species for me in Engerdal).
30th May was spent covering more localities in Engerdal picking up a few Siberian Jays lavskrike, brief views of a Hawk Owl haukugle, Mistle Thrushes duetrost, Whimbrel småspove, Curlew storspove, Green Sandpiper skogsnipe, Bramblings bjørkefink and more.
Siberian Jay lavskrike
The next day was essentially spent on the road but we picked up Norway's National bird - Dipper fossekall before we left along with rarer sightings (in a local Engerdal context!) which included Lesser Black-backed Gull sildemåke and Herring Gull gråmåke.
A roadside Moose elg was a nice bonus, a very regular occurrence in Engerdal
We ate lunch at the wetland centre at Dokka where a female Marsh Harrier sivhauk was the best bird. Other new species for the trip here included several Great Crested Grebes toppdykker.
Birds seen along the road included a Goshawk hønsehauk and some "interesting" Canada Geese kanadagås sightings at much higher altitudes than normal.
We arrived at Halne in the evening and were treated to Bluethroats blåstrupe and most of the usual suspects.
On 1st June we spent the morning on the Hardangervidda where highlights included Great Snipe dobbeltbekkasin, more Bluethroat blåststrupe and Shorelarks fjellerke. The usual selection of waders were seen along with several Willow Grouse lirype and a single Ptarmigan fjellrype.
The day ended in Øygarden where we had a pair of Stonechat svartstrupe with at least one recently fledged young, Sedge Warbler sivsanger, Lapwing vipe with young and a flock of 30 Pale-bellied Brent Geese ringgås heading north.
Most of 2nd June was spent birding around Øygarden with highlights being multiple White-tailed Eagles havørn, a Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett, Crested Tits toppmeis, a flock of three Crane trane (best bird in a local context!), a 2cy Rook kornkråke (another good local find, probably the same bird as earlier). Lots more new species for the trip were added here too including Shag toppskarv, Red-throated Diver smålom, Rock Pipit skjærpiplerke and Common Crossbill grankorsnebb.
Common Cranes trane at Tjeldstø
Female Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett
