Hernar 11 October 2008

Great Grey Shrike varsler - as flighty as ever and impossible to get close to
Plenty of Twite bergirisk still about
Migranting Blue tit blåmeis in the heather

"Fjord Express" comes in to Hernar to take us home

Despite a rather windy forecast the day was spent on Hernar. Conditions were far from ideal for checking the gardens but there were quite a few birds about, some new and some probably "left over" from the previous visit a couple of days ago. Atleast two, probably three Water Rails vannriske and the Great Grey Shrike varsler were probably the best birds.

Other species of interest inlcuded a late Swallow låvesvale, a female Peregrine vandrefalk, a Merlin dvergfalk and a Snow Bunting snøspurv.

Twite bergirisk still very obvious, though numbers continue to decrease, various duck species flying down the fjord and the usual White-tailed Eagle havørn.

The real species of the day, however, must have been the Blue Tits blåmeis. Huge flock(s) roamed the island, alighting anywhere and everywhere and feeding on whatever was available. At least one of the birds seen was ringed....wonder where that came from.

Before going to Hernar we checked Breivik breifly where the best bird was a lone Two-barred Crossbill båndkorsnebb together with Common Crossbills grankorsnebb.