Another day of strong winds and showers. Today the wind was in the north and I thought Skogsøy might be worth a shot.
Once again the mainstay of the passage were Gannets havsule with the vast majority heading north at close range. Bird of the day was an adult Glaucous Gull polarmåke heading south. Virtually the only other species on the move (and able to cope with the winds) was Great Northern Diver islom with eight heading north. Most, if not all, of these were adults; another one headed south but this was a second year bird. Although eight Great Northerns is a decent enough count it is by no means a record for Skogsøy.
Other stuff included Peregrine vandrefalk, White-tailed Eage havørn and several distant auks. The only auk identified was a single Guillemot lomvi.
A trip to the shop gave me the opportunity to catch up with the Shoveler skjeand that has been seen on Blomvatnet the past few days.
Another interesting sight near the shops was a flock of Starlings stær making short work of slugs - showing their worth as pest eradicators. They frantically wiped the slugs on the road in an effort to get rid of the slime but still ended up with a rather rabid look - appearing to almost foam at the mouth as they scoffed the slugs down. I wish they'd come to my garden and do the same.....
Something not quite right with this view....
...much more like it,
The odd one out - heading south (and not adult)
Some of the Great Northern Divers islom seen today
Once again the mainstay of the passage were Gannets havsule with the vast majority heading north at close range. Bird of the day was an adult Glaucous Gull polarmåke heading south. Virtually the only other species on the move (and able to cope with the winds) was Great Northern Diver islom with eight heading north. Most, if not all, of these were adults; another one headed south but this was a second year bird. Although eight Great Northerns is a decent enough count it is by no means a record for Skogsøy.
Other stuff included Peregrine vandrefalk, White-tailed Eage havørn and several distant auks. The only auk identified was a single Guillemot lomvi.
A trip to the shop gave me the opportunity to catch up with the Shoveler skjeand that has been seen on Blomvatnet the past few days.
Starlings stær feasting on slugs
Another interesting sight near the shops was a flock of Starlings stær making short work of slugs - showing their worth as pest eradicators. They frantically wiped the slugs on the road in an effort to get rid of the slime but still ended up with a rather rabid look - appearing to almost foam at the mouth as they scoffed the slugs down. I wish they'd come to my garden and do the same.....
1 comment:
Right uptodate! Great to see what Starlings had for their tea.
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