Øygarden 11-16 November 2025 - Back in Black

Conditions on 10th November seemed absolutely ideal but typically I was deskbound for the day.

On 11th I rushed out in an hour between meetings to pick up a lovely Black Redstart svartrødstjert at Sæle. A silent tristis Chiff-chaff showed well too - presumably one of the birds I found last week still hanging around. Otherwise just a couple of Blackcap munk.

Black Redstart svrtrødstjert at Sæle.

In the rapidly failing light in the afternoon I picked up a rather late Barnacle Goose hvitkinngås fed at Husvatnet.

Late Barnacle Goose hvitkinngås at Husvatnet

There was no birding on 12th other than a couple of drive-bys in conjunction with errands. A first year Red-throated Diver smålom at Herdlevær posed quite nicely. Decent numbers of thrushes and Starling stær still around - including 100s at Kollsnes.

Red-throated Diver smålom at Herdlevær

On 13th November I took my lunch break at Hellesøy where flocks of auks were heading north. On the way home I popped by Sæle where there was still a tristis Chiff-chaff sibirgransanger was still present along with a male Blackcap munk.

Male Blackcap munk

tristis Chiff-chaff sibirgransanger

On 14th I spent a couple of hours outside. A walk at Tjeldstø produced a few noteworthy sightings with the best being a couple of female Scaup bergand. A Tufted Duck toppand with them initially got the pulse racing as it seemed to have an interesting head profile - on closer inspection it turned out to be just a tufty....

Two Scaup bergand, a Tufted Duck toppand and two Mallard stokkand at Tjeldstø

Aythya ducks are not always easy - here a nice side-by-side comparison of Scaup bergand and Tufted Duck

Female Scaup bergand

Tufted Duck toppand not showing the square headed look and with no hint of it's crest.

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First year White-tailed Eagle havørn

Other stuff included a well fed White-tailed Eagle havørn, a couple of Teal krikkand and a nice flock of Redwing rødvingetrost.

Back home the regular Sparrowhawk spurvehauk was having a go at the birds visiting the feeder.

Sparrowhawk spurvehauk photographed through my terrace

The weekend started well with a couple of Otter oter eating a Lumpsucker rognkjeks on the shore in front of my house. 

A walk at Herdlevær gave a distant 1cy White-billed Diver gulnebblom as the best bird. A Great Northern Diver islom headed south and a late Meadow Pipit heipiplerke was present - possibly delayed by the fact it had only one foot.

One-footed Meadow Pipit heipiplerke

Redwing rødvingetrost at Tjeldstø.

A flock of 11 Pinkfeet kortnebbgås fed at Tjeldstø but flew off to the south shortly after I found them.

In fading light a fishing trip gave Common Scoter svartand, a Little Auk alkekonge and Crested Tit toppmeis along with three species of fish.

Skogsøy was the choice on 16th Novmber. Strong winds and protracted hail showers hampered birding somewhat but a few Little Auk alkekonge, several Great Northern Diver islom and small numbers of Kittiwake krykkje meant it was not a waste of time. A nice Goshawk hønsehauk being mobbed by Ravens ravn turned up on my way back to the car. 

A Snipe enkeltbekkasin and 10 Starling stær were at Sture on the way home.

Dogger Bank 09-13 May 2025 - Spring migration on a windfarm

I spent about a week on the Dogger Bank C development and once again there were quite a few birds to see. Maybe it had something to do with the size of the vessel (MUCH larger than the usual ones I work on) but the "island effect" was obvious with a disproportionate number of "good" birds compared to the commoner species.

A female Marsh Harrier sivhauk turned up on the evening of the 10th May and was present again the following morning.

Good numbers of insects and moths seen - the birds took advantage of these and seemed to catch quite a lot.

Gannet havsule - small numbers most days

Kittiwake krykkje - small numbers most days

Fulmar havhest - small numbers a few times

Marsh Harrier sivhauk  - female seen 09-10.05

Kestrel tårnfalk - a female present on 10.05

Peregrine vandrefalk - one hunting around the vessel on 12.05. Not the first time I've seen these on Dogger Bank - it could be that these birds regularly hunt far offshore?

Wheatear steinskvett (one male on the helideck 09.05)

Robin rødstrupe - one turned up on 13.05

Common Redstart rødstjert - a male onboard 12-13.05

Black Redstart svartrødstjert - a cracking male was seen on 13.05

Pied Flycatcher svarthvit fluesnapper - a female turned up on 12.05 and stayed until the next day

Tree Pipit trepiplerke - one onboard 12-13.05

Swallow låvsvale - one on 11.05

Willow Warbler løvsanger - one onboard 12.05

Chiff-chaff gransanger (including singing birds and a potential tristis) 2+ present daily

Common Whitethroat tornsanger  11-12-05

Reed Warbler rørsanger 11-12.05

Male Black Redstart svartrødstjert

Chiff-chaff gransanger with tick

Female Marsh Harrier sivhauk

Female Pied Flycatcher svarthvit fluesnapper

Some Racing Pigeons brevdue turned up as they so often do

Male Common Redstart rødstjert

Reed Warbler rørsanger with a freshly caught moth - I saw it catch several during it's stay onboard

Tree Pipit trepiplerke

Tristis Chiff-chaff sibirgransanger candidate. Looked good in every way but I didn't hear it call

A rare spring sighting! Normally these are an autumn thing....

A couple of the moth species seen onboard

Answers on a postcard please:)

Angle Shades (thanks Alf Tore!)

Skogsøy 17 April 2022 - Another day, another seawatch (and a Black Redstart)

 Another day of sunshine and southerly winds.

The number of birds passing today was significantly lower than the last visits, but variety was reasonable and a number of species put in their first appearance at this locality for the year. A number of birds were even heading south for some reason.

In three hours I had the following:

Red throated Diver smålom N 2, S 1

Northern Gannet havsule N 8, S 30

Great Cormorant storskarv N 6

Eurasian Shag toppskarv N 10, S 2

Grey Heron gråhegre N 2

Whooper Swan sangsvane N 4

Wigeon brunnakke N 5

Teal krikkand S 2

Eider ærfugl N 8, S 1

Common Scoter svartand N 28, S 3

Goldeneye kvinand N 3, S 3

Merganser siland S 2

Oystercatcher tjeld N 98, S 2

Whimbrel småspove N 1

Eurasian Curlew storspove N 3

Common Gull fiskemåke N 51, S 8

Lesser black backed Gull sildemåke S 2

Common Guillemot lomvi N 10, S 1

Razorbill alke N 2

A Reed Bunting sivspurv also heading north and a Hooded Crow kråke came in off the sea from a few km out.

Eiders ærfugl

Wigeon brunnakke with Oystercatcher tjeld

On the way home at stop at Tjeldstø produced the first Barnacle Goose hvitkinngås of the year, a few Golden Plover heilo, some Wheatear steinskvett, Redshank rødstilk and the usual.

In the afternoon a Black Redstart svartrødstjert was reported from Sture so I quickly popped out to catch up with this.

Male Black Restart svarrødstjert

What could have been a decent picture had it not been taken through the tinted rear window of my car:)

Yesterday I did my usual round at Herdlevær but it was somewhat uneventful. On my way home I had a Merlin dvergfalk and a Kestrel tårnfalk having a disagreement at Breivik.

Hernar 27 May 2020 - Back in Black

Calm with some high cloud early on, sunny later.

After a couple of days dealing with work-related stuff (though you might well ask how on earth this should be necessary when I don't technically have a job) it was time to do some more birding. 

Hernar was the name of the game and almost the very first bird I put my binoculars onto was a cracking male Black Redstart svartrødstjert. This is the fifth time I have seen this species on the island and is a rather late spring record.

Male Black Redstart svartrødstjert

Carrion Crow svartkråke (or black crow - continuing the black theme for the day)

The long-staying Carrion Crow svartkråke was unsurprisingly still present. There was not much in the way of other migrants - just a male Blackcap munk and a flock of six Woodpigeon ringdue that made a brief stop on the island before heading off to the north. However, numbers of Sedge Warblers sivsanger, Whitethroat tornsanger had both increased.

Arctic Tern rødnebbterne - a cracking bird posing among flowering thrift and goose droppings

Common Tern makrellterne

Many Swallows låvesvale nest in the fishing cabins at Nautnes. Here one poses briefly on a boat.

Checked out a small breeding island near my house - plenty of Common Tern makrellterne and some Arctic Terns rødnebbterne are settling in there. Fingers crossed as always!