Wednesday, December 03, 2014

Northern Øygarden 03 December 2014 . Wasted Wigeon

SW winds, rather murky at first, clearing nicely later.

Kicked off at Hellesøy with very little indeed. A Curlew storspove, a Little Auk alkekonge, a Snipe enkeltbekkassin and a few White-tailed Eagle havørn were all of even minor interest here.



The unusual timing and location of this bird meant that it had to be looked at closely. Initial impression was cold coloured head/neck contrasting with the warmer underparts


Oddly this bird flew up and landed on the road


Patterned axilliaries meant that this was just a normal Wigeon - despite the relatively broad white wing band and "masked" look.


Next stop was Sæle where a Wigeon brunnakke was an unusual find at an unusual time of year and therefore warranted a bit of extra attention. Despite not being completely straightforward we ended up on this bird being a female Wigeon and nothing more exciting than that. A couple of Woodpigeon ringdue were the best of the rest here.

Pale-headed, long winged and "masked" this bird looks to be just a Herring Gull gråmåke. (Harkestad)


At Tjeldstø Whooper sangsvane numbers had risen to five birds including the first young bird of the autumn. Some 13 Mallards stokkand were again feeding around the swans - taking advantage of whatever it was the swans were disturbing with their feet.

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