Skogsøy 04 June - Last bananabills of the spring

Another day, another seawatch. With work and personal trips coming up it was time for the last seawatch of the loonatic season.

Nothing remarkable noted but given the time of year there was plenty going on:) Frustratingly a number of wader flocks passed just too far out to clinch ID.

Gannets havsule

Kittiwake krykkje

Above and below: Puffins lunde

Razorbills alke

Red-throated Diver smålom

Shag toppskarv

White-billed Diver gulnebblom

Red throated Diver smålom N 35, S 1

White Billed Diver gulnebblom N 2 (adult)

Northern Gannet havsule N 69, S 5

Great Cormorant storskarv N 1, S 2

Eurasian Shag toppskarv N 18, S 19

Common Scoter svartand S 2

Merganser siland N 5

Golden Plover heilo N 1

Whimbrel småspove N 1

Redshank rødstilk N 1

Common Gull fiskemåke N 33

Lesser black backed Gull sildemåke N 8

Herring Gull gråmåke N 1

Black-legged Kittiwake krykkje N 4

Arctic Tern rødnebbterne N 32, S 2

Common Tern makrellterne N 1

Common Guillemot lomvi N 3, S 1

Razorbill alke N 23

Atlantic Puffin lunde N 4, S 1

Auk N 14, S 8

On the way home I picked up a Carrion Crow svartkråke at Breivik. Such a tedious rarity but I dutifully took some pictures and even a video for documentation.

Carrion Crow svartkråke at Breivik

The long-staying Whooper Swan sangsvane put in an appearance on Husvatnet where the unseasonal Tufted Ducks toppand remained. Could young tufties be turning up in a month or two I wonder....

Herdlevær 02 June 2023 - Another Skogsøy "miss"

 Took things easy with just a relatively late and lazy round at Herdlevær. 

Work seems everywhere and today was no exception - the Edda Flora was working close inshore close to Kollsnes.

Work is never far away.... Edda Flora working close to Kollsnes

Once again it looked like I should really have been at Skogsøy as there was decent passage at what passes for good range at Herdlevær - no doubt things would have been better at my favoured seawatching spot:)

Starling stær with newly fledged young were a feature today, a Curlew storspove seems to be managing thus far and was chasing off crows and gulls. A strange find was a dead female Merganser siland - no idea how this happened.

Dead female Red-breasted Merganser - siland. No clue what this bird died of and although a common species all year round in Øygarden it is not one I find dead very often.

Between 0850 and 0950 I had two dark phase Arctic Skua tyvjo, 41 Red-throated Diver smålom, 9 Razorbill alke, 7 Kittiwake krykkje, a lone Brent Goose ringgås and a few Ringed Plover sandlo. A further eight Ringed Plover rested on the shore.

On the way home I checked out the tern colony at Dåvøy, all seemed well there and there were several pairs of Arctic Terns rødnebbterne among the more numerous Common Terns makrellterne. Oystercatchers tjeld and other species obviously also breeding in the area - a fact also noted by my pet hate - cats. One was trying to get Oystercatchers along the shore.....

Cat hunting along the shore at Dåvøy. This picture also illustrates the huge amount of plastic that comes in on the sea. Both cats and plastic are major threats to breeding birds in the area.

Oystercatcher tjeld

Skogsøy 01 June 2023 - Decent variety

With a fresh northerly wind blowing the only real choice was Skogsøy. At this time of year it is often a case of quality rather than quantity - today was more a case of variation with quite a number of species passing including a couple of Arctic Skua tyvjo, a flock of Sanderling sandløper, a lone Brent Goose ringgås, a Black.-throated Diver storlom, a small flock of Long-tailed Duck havelle and a 2cy White-billed Diver gulnebblom heading north. A flock of  9 Barnacle Geese hvitkinngås flew south along with a Shelduck gravand - nice that autumn migration is underway already:)

Black-throated Diver storlom

Experience has shown that this species often flies faster than the much commoner Red-throated Diver smålom. Illustrated in this pictures where it rapidly overtook its smaller relative.

On the way home six Black-tailed Godwit svarthalespove were present on Husvatnet, Tjeldstø. Previous max this week was four:) 

Four Black-tailed Godwits svarthalespove at Tjelstø earlier in the week

Lesser Whitethroat møller still very obvious and singing "everywhere"

Earlier in the week I wasn't out that much but two pairs of Tufted Duck toppand on Rotevatnet may be worth following - not often Tufties are around this late and the habitat is quite suitable:)

Lots of young birds about with a couple more Lapwing vipe families out and about and of course the increasing numbers of Greylags, UK9 is still hanging around with what I presume is a flock of non-breeding birds.

Greylags with young of varying ages at Tjeldstø