Light easterly winds, sunny but cold during the night.
My intention was to go to Skogsøy early on for a couple of hours seawatching. This did not happen as my so-called smart phone updated itself during the night and forgot the alarm clock I had set....
I spent a massive three hours out today door-to-door and it proved quite productive - especially from a photographic point of view, The alarm clock screw-up meant that I had to change my plans and just did a quick walk and an hour of seawatching at Herdlevær.
En route to Herdlevær I picked up a couple of Snipe enkeltbekkasin that gave cracking views from the car, a Dipper fossekall and a Water Rail vannrikse among other things including Redwing rødvingetrost (probably an overwintering bird rather than a migrant) and more newly arrived Woodpigeon ringdue. It looks like the massive gamble the Snipe have taken on overwintering here has paid off - with every passing day life should get easier for these birds. No thanks to the local planners/developers though - several suitable areas for overwintering birds like Snipe have been destroyed during 2016/2017 drastically reducing their chances of survival considerably....give it a few more years and there will be nothing left for them to survive periods of cold weather.
Herdlevær produced a reasonable passage of Oystercatcher tjeld heading north, the first Guillemots lomvi of the year (!!), a Great Northern Diver islom on the sea and at least two White-tailed Eagles havørn.
I did a drive-by at Tjeldstø on the way home - a few Lapwing vipe, my first local Skylark sanglerke of the year, an increase in the number of Greylags grågås and at least two more White-tailed Eagles havørn.
My intention was to go to Skogsøy early on for a couple of hours seawatching. This did not happen as my so-called smart phone updated itself during the night and forgot the alarm clock I had set....
I spent a massive three hours out today door-to-door and it proved quite productive - especially from a photographic point of view, The alarm clock screw-up meant that I had to change my plans and just did a quick walk and an hour of seawatching at Herdlevær.
Dipper fossekall
Common Snipe enkeltbekkasin looking like they have made it through the winter
A short video of the Snipe feeding - they were not concerned about me sitting in the car and watching from a safe distance.
White-tailed Eagle havørn with focus on an Otter - perhaps it did not see me....
This bird is probably in its third year...
Too close to fit in the viewfinder...
This illustrates typical WT Eagle behaviour -. stealing from Otters. I didn't have time to stick around to see what happened but in this picure it is possible to see the eagle waiting for its chance (left in image) to rob the Otter (right of image with red fish). Click for larger image.
Herdlevær produced a reasonable passage of Oystercatcher tjeld heading north, the first Guillemots lomvi of the year (!!), a Great Northern Diver islom on the sea and at least two White-tailed Eagles havørn.
Lapwing vipe with a very cold-looking sheep - they must be missing their wool despite the sun
Skylark sanglerke - not a bird that presents photo opportunities every day....
I did a drive-by at Tjeldstø on the way home - a few Lapwing vipe, my first local Skylark sanglerke of the year, an increase in the number of Greylags grågås and at least two more White-tailed Eagles havørn.
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