Øygarden 07.10-11.10 Barred Warbler and more

 On 07 October all I managed was a very brief visit to Sæle whch resulted in several Blackcap munk and a couple of Chiff-chaff gransanger in the way of migrants. Several Goldfinch stillits and a flock of 50 Brambling bjørkefink were also present.

The next day was another day of not birding though a couple of White-tailed Eagles havørn and a Swallow låvesvale were seen from the terrace. A couple of Tufted Duck toppand turned up on Husvatnet together with several Wigeon brunnakke in the evening.

No birding on 09 October either but picked up a couple of Stonechat svartstrupe during routine errands.

Male Stonechat svartstrupe

On 10 October I managed to get out for an hour or two but only picked up a Purple Sandpiper fjæreplytt at Solberg as the first of the autumn. At Hjelme a tristis Chiff-chaff sibirgransanger was very vocal, gave good but brief views and refused to be photographed. Back home a flock of four Oystercatcher tjeld together with a Purple Sandpiper fjæreplytt were a nice observation from the terrace.

White-tailed Eagle havørn at Tjeldstø before the sun came up

tristis Chiff-chaff calling

A day of guiding on 11 October was great fun and shows what is actually around if one can get out birding:)

We started at Turøy with just the usual suspects present but White-tailed Eagle havørn and a Blackcap munk showed up. Next up was Herdlevær where a couple of Yellow-browed Warblers gulbrynsanger gave good views. Bonus birds here were a flock of 37 Barnacle Geese hvitkinngås heading south. A good variety of the usual autumn migrants were also seen here along with a couple more White-tailed Eagles havørn. A Stonechat svartstrupe at Kollsnes was the first I've seen at this locality for quite some time. We tried to do Tjeldstø but a message about a Barred Warbler hauksanger at Sæle meant we had to move on rather more quickly than intended. It was a rather skulky bird which gave good but all to brief views most of the time - it took a while before I managed some reasonable shots with the point and pray:) After this it was off to Hjelme where the tristis Chiff-chaff was still present and just as unphotographable as the previous day. A few Common Crossbill grankorsnebb, another White-tailed Eagle havørn and a decent flock of Woodpigeon ringdue were among the other species seen here.

The first attempts at photos of the Barred Warbler hauksanger looked like this

...but finally it gave some good views for more than a few seconds

Øygarden 18-21 October 2023 - Welcome home

I arrived home from the airport around 1500 on the 18th, unpacked and sat down to start work. It didn't take long before I noticed a message on the local bird alert about a Barred Warbler hauksanger at Sæle which is very close to home indeed (had I not intended to work I had thought about going there). The bird performed quite nicely, although having not used a DSLR for a year it took way too long to remember how to set up my newly purchased second hand 7D MK2. Bullfinch dompap, Waxwing sidensvans, Goldfinch stillits and more also put in an appearance here.

Initially I managed better pictures with my point and pray...

Always something in the way

Target acquired.....

photo-bombed by a wasp

First year Barred Warbler hauksanger

On Thursday 19 October I went to Hernar for the morning with a couple of other birders. Tactically it could have been a challenging day had I been on my own - there were A LOT of birds on the move but not much on the deck. Fairly quickly I chose to sit it out on a high point, exposed to the strong easterly wind. Although this proved to be the correct choice I'm not sure I would have done this without other birders doing the rounds.....

Flocks of Fieldfare gråtrost, Redwing rødvingetrost and Redpoll gråsisik passed constantly. It was really a vis mig kind of day with all kinds of stuff passing. Highlight was a Hen Harrier myrhauk but probably the best bird in a Hernar context was a female Scaup bergand that flew right over - a new species for the island😀 Still re-learning a proper camera I failed to capture what could have been excellent images:). Migrating Jack Snipe kvartbekkasin, a very late Arctic Tern rødbebbterne, Peregrine vandrefalk, a Bullfinch dompap, Velvet Scoter sjøorre, Parrot Crossbill furukorsnebb, a late Bar-tailed Godwit lappspove  and more meant that there was never a dull moment. Even with three birders sitting together different stuff was picked up depending on who was looking where. Well in excess of 50 species logged.

Two birders on the way to Hernar (photo Harald Totland)

Bar-tailed Godwit lappspove

Blackbird svarttrost, many feeding on the island and more passing over

Migrant Male Bullfinch dompap

This flock is mostly Common Scoter svartand with a Velvet Scoter sjøorre and a Long-tailed Duck havelle accompanying them

Hen Harrier myrhauk, luckily Oddvar did better:)

Bull-necked, thick billed and with the mandibles not crossing this Parrot Crossbill furukorsnebb spent some time hanging around

First year Peregrine vandrefalk

Female Scaup bergand

On the way back to Hellesøy we picked up to pale waders with wing bars, it is very tempting to think that these were Grey Phalaropes polarsvømmesnipe but they were not really claimable. Even more frustratng was a pipit that flew over which sounded dead on for Pechora Pipit tundrapiplerke. As soon as we got off the boat we tried to relocate the waders and heard the distinctive call a few times. Despite some searching we could not relocate the bird and typically I had a meeting I had to attend....

Friday saw me locked to the computer all day, although during a Teams meeting I glanced out of the window to see a Goshawk hønsehauk flying over and there was a noticeable influx of Blue Tits blåmeis. In the evening the Northern Lights put on a bit of a show.

Northern Lights from my terrace 20th October.

The point and pray does as well with Northern Lights as it does with Dark-sided Flycatcher:)

On 21 October I did my usual round at Herdlevær. Best bird was a White-billed Diver gulnebblom heading south along with a decent movement of Common Scoter svartand. Several Long-tailed Duck havelle accompnied one of the scoter flocks. A Lesser Black-backed Gull sildemåke, a Kittiwake krykkje and a few Red-throated Diver smålom also flew south.

Other sightings of interest included 20 Waxwing sidensvans at Skjold and a Tree Sparrow pilfink in my garden,

Nautnes 10 September 2015 - Finally plugged that hole in the list...

Sunny, warm and a hint of easterly winds

Highlight of the daywas a Rosy Starling rosenstær on a telephone line outside the house - species #107 from the house. Wicked. I have to acknowledge Mrs Naturalbornbirder's contribution to this find  - I was busy downloading pictures of an interesting harrtier when I was called outside to look at yet another flock of Starling stær - at least 700 passed the house- but this flock stopped and contained my Øygarden bogeybird.

The Hernar harrier, seen earlier heading north past Turøy looked quite small

The underwing pattern and four primaries look good for Pallid....

Knot polarsnipe

First year Rosy Starling rosenstær

Sanderling sandløper

The morning was spent on Hernar which produced a Barred Warbler Hauksanger and an interesting harrier which showed some features of Pallid Harrier steppehauk. Jury is still out but it could still swing thant way....

On the islands offshore Sanderling sandløper, Knot polarsnipe, Grey Plover tundralo, Peregrine vandrefalk and most of the usual suspects were seen.

As a bonus some excellent Northern Lights displays both yesterday evening and tonight. Wicked.

Its great to be back! Roll on tomorrow.....

Øygarden 22 October 2012 - Rosefinch on the garden list!

Southerly winds, cloudy at times.

A quick check at Solberg produced some flyover Waxwings sidensvans and a male Blackcap munk as the best birds. A single Purple Sandpiper fjæreplytt and good numbers of thrushes aslo present here.

Moving on to Breivik the highlight was a Bullfinch dompap - the first in Øygarden for me this year although the first one turned up a couple of weeks back. A flock of 30 Waxwings sidensvans present here too along with plenty of thrushes, Brambling bjørkefink, a couple of Skylark sanglerke and at least 20 Meadow pipit heipiplerke.

Above and below: Waxwings sidensvans at Turøy

Big increase in numbers today.

Meadow Pipit heipiplerke at Breivik

Made the trip down to Turøy to check out an interesting warbler found there yesterday and met another birder there. Although we heard an unfamiliar call resembling Eastern Bonelli's Warbler furusanger we never actually saw it and after an hour or so ran out of time to look. Another flock of approximately 30 Waxwings sidensvans was seen feeding here.

 In poor and fading light I tried flash to improve things....

 Common Rosefinch rosenfink with House Sparrow gråspurv in the garden.

Came home to find a Common Rosefinch rosenfink in the garden - new for the garden and the first in Øygarden this year. An interesting parallel to the previous late autumn find of this species - see here. This takes the garden list up to 166 species. Four Goldfinch stillits flew over whilst I was trying to take some record shots.

Herdlevær 10 September 2011 - Barred Warbler

Light SE and sunny.

Plenty of birds about today - the fields full of White Wagtails linerle and Meadow Pipits heipiplerke and an obvious passage overhead. At least a dozen Wheatear steinskvett and plenty of migrating thrushes also present.

Small numbers of the usual waders on the shore and / or passing overhead.

 Dunlin myrsnipe

Meadow Pipit heipiplerke

Highlight was a Barred Warbler hauksanger which gave brief views before disappearing into a bush and not coming out again during the time I had left. A female Blackcap munk was the only other warbler seen.

Herdlevær 23 August 2010 - Frustration!

Documentation picture of Barred Warbler hauksanger - manual focus, 1000 ISO and very slow shutter speeds were the only option here.

First year Red Knot polarsnipe

Knot polarsnipe coming in to land

Knot polarsnipe

First year Dunlin myrsnipe

Cormorant storskarv

Calm and sunny.

The day started off well enough with waders showing well in the sunshine. Knot polarsnipe, Dunlin myrsnipe and others landed on the rocks in front of where I was eating my breakfast.

On the way back to the car a couple of Reed Bunting sivspurv, a male Blackcap munk and a Goshawk hønsehauk were obvious signs that things were happening.

Stupidly I returned in the evening in fading light. A / the Barred Warbler hauksanger gave very difficult views and a / the acro warbler also gave glimses as it lurked in the vegetation. Despite spending a couple of hours at it no decent views or pictures were obtained.