I have been on holiday for the last few weeks - a ridiculous time of year to leave Øygarden from a birding perspective. However, certain things are outwith control - like when parents or siblings have "big" birthdays. There was some birding in the UK, Mallorca and even a little in north east Spain. More of that later if I find the time.
Needless to say I missed a lot of good birding but there is just a LITTLE bit more to life than birds.....
Sitting on the bus on the way home from the airport a message ticked in about a possible Ring-necked Duck ringand at Tjeldstø. I know public transport is not exactly the fastest way to get around but I'm sure the bus driver was driving especially slow....
After an eternity I finally arrived back at my house, grabbed my scope and jumped in the car and headed to Tjeldstø for the duck and to restock my empty fridge. Luckily the bird had not been scared off and was still very much present. In the scope it was anything other than a possible:)
Third county record and the second for Øygarden (the previous one also being found in pretty much the same place by the same observer).
The next day I paused briefly at Tjeldstø on my way out and the bird was still present. As soon as I got out of the car it started swimming further out onto the lake so I let it be and carried on to check some other localities.
Herdlevær was it's usual late autumn self and produced the first Jackdaw kaie of the year for Øygarden and a flyover Yellowhammer gulspurv as the best birds in a local context. A minimum of four White-tailed Eagles havørn and a selection of finches were among the other birds present.
A quick look in the scope during my usual coffee and sandwich break showed that there was a steady passage over the sea. Among other things five Little Auks alkekonge, a couple of Great Northern Diver islom and several Velvet Scoter sjøorre passed along with Guillemots lomvi, Razorbill alke, Kittiwakes krykkje and Gannets havsule.
I check Kollsnes where the counties latest ever Whinchat buskskvett was still present some days after being found.
As the light went I made a further foray out, this time to Sæle where I heard what must have been a tristis Chiff-chaff sibirgransanger but didn't manage to see it well at all.
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