Skogsøy and Herdelvær 14-15 September - Late and lazy

Strong winds from the west prompted a late morning / early afternoon seawatch at Skogsøy. We got hit by a few hail showers whilst sitting out there but the weather and scenery were spectacular.

Birds were somewhat thin on the ground, though a flock of 20 Brent Geese ringgås heading south made the walk worthwhile. Several Red-throated Diver smålom, plenty of Gannet havsule, a single adult Kittiwake krykkje and a steady passage of southbound Common Gulls fiskemåke were also seen.

Above and below - migrating Common Gull fiskemåke

Dunlin myrsnipe

Raven ravn

On Sunday I was equally late out and took a stroll around Herdlevær which gave some photo opportunities as it so often does in this kind of weather. Best bird sightings were a single Ruff brushane feeding beside one of the pools and a lone Velvet Scoter sjøorre heading south. Common Gulls fiskemåke still moving south despite the conditions.

Øygarden 18 October 2016 - Another few new for the year

Light SE but mild and overcast much of the day.

Record shot of three Brent Geese ringgås resting on the sea.

Took a walk at Hjelme Vest where the best birds were three Brent Geese ringgås of the rather uncommon dark-bellied race bernicula. Other than a few flocks of Common Scoter svartand and at least nine Purple Sandpiper fjæreplytt it was quiet on the sea.

Over the land flocks of Blue Tits blåmeis and Common Crossbill grankorsnebb were constantly flying over. A Treecreeper trekryper also put in an appearance here.

A drive-by at Sæle produced at least 10 Blackcap munk, a Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett and a few Long-tailed Tit sjtertmeis - the first I've had in Øygarden this year.

Female Scaup bergand at Tjeldstø

Female Shoveler skjeand

A trip to the shops meant I had to stop at Husvatnet on the way - it was rather better than normal with the highlight being a single female Scaup bergand - another new for the year locally. At least one of the Shoveler skjeand was still around as were the Common Sctoer svartand and a small flock of Goldfinch stillits.

Back home and working in the garden a flock of 15 Long-tailed Tit stjertmeis landed briefly, a Common Scoter svartand landed on the sea in front of the house and a good 300 Fieldfare gråtrost flew south. And the usual couple of White-tailed Eagle havørn.

So all in all the giving up birding thing is not going very well at all.

Herdlevær 27 May 2013 - Bang on time

Light winds, some high cloud.

Above and below: migrating Brent Geese ringgås 

A late and lazy seawatch from Herdlevær dave surprisingly good results - obviously a fair bit on the move today too.

Between 09:20 and 11:00:
Brent Goose ringgås 110N - Bang on time. The next few days will see more of these passing
White-billed Diver gulnebblom 1N
Red-throated Diver smålom 24N
Velvet Scoter sjøorre 3N, 2S
Common Scoter svartand 69N
Long-tailed Duck havelle 1N
Guillemot lomvi 4N
Puffin lunde 2N
Arctic Skua tyvjo 2N (both dark phase)

An adult Great Norther Diver islom sat on the sea a fair way out most of this time.

Skogsøy 20 May 2013 - first Brents

Light northerly breeze, warm and sunny.

A few hours seawatching around dawn proved reasonably productive with highlights being a White-billed Diver gulnebblom, the first three Brent Geese ringgås of the year and a southbound Barnacle Goose hvitkinngås.

Early Brent Geese ringgås heading north

Male (right) and female (left) Gannets havsule :)

Other stuff heading north between 05:50 and 09:30 included:
Red-throated Diver smålom 52
Arctic Tern rødnebbterne 25
Long-tailed Duck havelle 25
Guillemot lomvi 5
Razorbill alke 2
Puffin lunde 1
Gannet havsule 34
Kittiwake krykkje 11

Over 50 Common Scoter svartand headed south

Porpoises nise were very obvious today

Porpoises nise were very obviousl today - even their breathing was easily heard in the calm conditions.

Skogsøy 30 September 2012 - Red-necked Grebe

Southerly winds and mostly overcast.

Relatively quiet but a decent variety of stuff passing including the first Red-necked Grebe gråstrupedykker of the year. Other sightings of note were 11 Red-throated Diver smålom and five Brent Geese ringgås.

Plenty of Gannets havsule and large gulls heading south including three latish Lesser Black-backs sildemåke. Common Scoter svartand, Wigeon brunnakke and Eiders ærfugl also headed south in small numbers.

Brent geese ringgås

 Common Scoter svartand and Razorbill alke

Eiders ærfugl

 Above and below Red-throated Divers smålom

Wigeon brunnakke

Some passerines also on the move with Meadow Pipits heipiplerke, Rock Pipits skjærpiplerke and a Snow Bunting snøspurv passing over.

Herdlevær 26 August - Little Gulls!

Southerlies with light showers

A quick look at Solberg produced small numbers of waders and an Otter eating a huge flatfish but little else.

Herdlevær was very quiet for passerines but for everything else it was a different story. Despite the late and lazy start there was non-stop action at the coast. Flocks of waders were passing constantly - most too far off to be identified. Oystercatcher tjeld, Golden Plover heilo and Ruff brushane were the commonest identified but plenty of Dunlin myrsnipe, Ringed Plover sandlo, Knot polarsnipe and other species. Several hundred waders passed in total.

 Dunlin myrsnipe

 Ringed Plover sandlo

Many waders also stopped to feed on the islands - largely Knot polarsnipe, Ringed Plover sandlo, Dunlin myrsnipe and Sanderling sandløper.

However, the undoubted highlight was a flock of FIVE Little Gulls dvergmåke - an adult summer and four first year birds. This is probably the biggest flock ever recorded in the county. Two Little Stint dvergsnipe - always a good bird in Øygarden passed in a mixed flock of Dunlin and Ringed Plover.

Other sightings of interest included the first pale-bellied Brent Geese ringgås of the autumn heading south, a couple of dark phase Arctic Skua tyvjo, a Great Skua storjo and a Red-throated Diver smålom - the first of the autumn for me.

Øygarden 26 May 2011 - Brent Geese

 Male Siskin grønnsisik feeding on dandelion seeds

Twite bergirisk also feeding on dandelions

Weak south easterly with light rain most of the morning.

A few hours on Hernar produced a Yellow Wagtail gulerle and at least three Spotted Flycatcher gråfluesnapper along with the usual Hernar species (White-tailed Eagle havørn, Twite bergirisk, Sedge Warbler sivsanger, Wheatear steinskvett etc). Strangely there were no Fieldfare gråtrost to be seen - very strange as at least three pairs were on eggs during my last visit. Lots of Siskin grønnsisik about - as they are everywhere this year.

After a tip off about migrating Brent Geese ringgås from further south a few observers watched the sea from various places. Well over 1400 had passed by around 18:00. A bonus species in the garden seen whilst looking for the geese was an Icterine Warbler gulsanger - species #162 from the house.

Tjeldstø 21-23 May 2011

 Golden Plover heilo

Mallard stokkand with young

Strong southerlies with some rain at times

Took things easy for a few days - missing a passage of Brent geese ringgås and a Snow Goose snøgås on 22nd....(source blog at: http://www.birdwatchnorway.com/)

Mostly just the usual suspects in the reserve including one or two singing Lesser Whitethroats møller and up to two Carrion Crows svartkråke on 23rd. Small numbers of Golden Plover heilo resting were the only migrants noted.

Otherwise just ever more Greylags grågås with chicks.