Øygarden 22-24.03.2025 - Arrivals!

At long last some birding time! It helps to get out of the house and it helps to get out of the car:)

On 22nd March I headed off to Skogsøy bright and early. On the way out the first Dunnock jernspurv and Song Thrusg måltrost of the year showed up along with most of the usual suspects including Goldcrest fuglekonge and Chaffinch bokfink also singing.

I sat for a little under three hours. things were rather quiet in the southerly winds with just the first local Shelduck gravand of the year for me also heading south. A few flocks of unidentified distant geese headed north. Over 40 Gannets havsule headed south and very small numbers of Eider ærfugl and Long-tailed Duck havelle passed. Singing Rock Pipit skjærpiplerke, displaying Curlew storspove and flocks of passerines moving up and down the coast added to the spring-like feel.

On the way home I picked up my first White Wagtail linerle of the year at Breivik and a Hawfinch kjernebiter at Hatten aong with several Bullfinch dompap, Goldfinch stillits etc.

The first Dunnock jernspurv of the year

Male White Wagtal linerle - the first alba wagtails are often yarrellii rather than alba

In the evening the northern lights put on quite a show from my terrace.

Northern Lights at Nautnes

The next day I did my usual round at Herdlevær where Redwing rødvingetrost, Curlew storspove, Woodpigeon ringdue and Bullfinch dompap were among the new arrivals. 

A quick look at Tjeldstø on the way home produced another Redwing rødvingetrost, several Fieldfare gråtrost and a Goshawk hønsehauk among other things. The latter almost caught one of the several Teal krikkand present.

Goshawk hønsehauk takes a break after almost catching a Teal krikkand. VERY cropped image

Even this picture is heavily cropped showing the Goshawk to the left with Greylags grågås and Mallard stokkand very much on the alert.

Redwing rødvingetrost at Herdlevær

Probably a newly arrived migrant - I haven't seen one for a few weeks

A Linnet tornirisk flew over as I did a bit of work in the garden at Nautnes and an evening fishing trip produced a roding Woodcock rugde and surprising lots of squid - ultimately forcing me to give up and go home. On the way back home I stopped at Skjold hoping that last night's Tawny Owl kattugle (the first in 20 years here!!) would show. It didn't.

On 24th March a short trip out between meetings gave the first Meadow Pipit heipiplerke of the year singing at Husvatnet along with a couple of newly arrived Common Gulls fiskemåke. A few Linnet tornirisk and four Skylark sanglerke were at Breivik.

Skogsøy 27 March 2022 - Typical early spring seawatch

Overcast with light NW winds

I was up well before dawn and headed out to Skogsøy. On the way there a brief stop gave two roding Woodcock rugde and A LOT of birdsong:)

The walk out to the lookout point showed that there has been an arrival of birds since I was last there with a lot of Redwing rødvingetrost song for the first time this year.

Almost three hours seawatching showed that it was rather quieter than yesterday but still enough going on to keep interest levels up:

Northern Gannet havsule N 6, S 2

Great Cormorant storskarv N 8, S 2

Eurasian Shag toppskarv N 16, S 5

Greylag Goose grågås N 2

Eider ærfugl N 3

Long tailed duck havelle N 2

Common Scoter svartand N 1

Merganser siland N 3

Oystercatcher tjeld N 94

Eurasian Curlew storspove N 19

Common Gull fiskemåke N 366

Lesser black backed Gull sildemåke N 2

Herring Gull gråmåke N 10

Black-legged Kittiwake krykkje N 3

Common Guillemot lomvi N 6

Razorbill alke N 1, S 1

Black Guillemot teist N 1

4cy White-tailed Eagle havørn

Gannet havsule

One of the Oystercatcher tjeld flocks heading north today

Part of a Curlew storspove flock

Rock Pipit skjærpiplerke

A few White-tailed Eagles havørn about but just one adult. Rock Pipits skjærpiplerke, Ravens ravn and the usual breeding species were also in attendance.

The only bird of note on the way home was the first Dunnock jernspurv of the year at  Hjelme.

A Stock Dove skogdue was reported from Breivik later in the day and whilst looking for it the first Wheatear steinskvett turned up - and was singing despite the light drizzle that had set in. The Stock Dove was typically flighty and came past having been spooked by someone feeding their sheep.

The first Wheatear steinskvett of the year - normally this bird would have got a bit more attention but I was looking for the next bird:)

Stock Dove skogdue - the second in Øygarden this year but the first one seen alive:)

Herdlevær 11 September 2015 . A normal autumn day

Calm, sunny and a light easterly breeze.

Despite more or less ideal conditions there was not a much as expected / hoped for going on. Some migration was obvious with Dunnocks jernspurv typically suddenly making an appearance and a couple of Reed Bunting sivspurv the first of the autumn, Other than that it was situation normal.

Above and below: Ruff brushane

A few Ruff brushane were present, a normal thing for the time of year, but when I tried to get closer and take some photos they sat down in the grass like Snipe and pretty much disappeared. Don't remember seeing them behave like this before.

Dåvøy and Tjeldstø 03 January 2015 - Filling in the gaps

Brisk north-westerly winds, occasional showers.

Above and below: Herring Gull with yellow legs (omissus)

Redwing rødvingetrost

Starling stær

Once again a very late start. Kicked off at Dåvøy with a Snipe enkeltbekkasin and a female Velvet Scoter sjøorre new for the year. There were also four White-tailed Eagle havørn, Sparrowhawk spurvehauk, Redwing rødvingetrost, Starling stær, 35 Heron gråhegre present here but the sea was again very quiet. The omissus-type Herring Gull gråmåke was among a small flock of gulls here.

At Tjeldstø another Snipe enkeltbekkasin and more thrushes including a dozen Redwing rødvingetrost.

At Skjold there were 20 Redwing rødvingetrost, a Song Thrush måltrost, 15 Fieldfare gråtrost and 10 Starling stær. A Sparrowhawk spurvehauk caught one of the Fieldfare here but for some reason let it go again.

Solberg was extremely quiet as it has been of late but an Oystercatcher tjeld saved the day here. Also at least three White-tailed Eagle havørn present here.

Bird of the day was the first January record of Dunnock jernspurv in Øygarden - seen as the light went at 15:35.

Hjelme Vest 21 April 2014

Another day of constant sunshine and little wind - though a light northerly picked up in the afternoon.

A surprise new for Øygarden for me this year was a flock of eight Wigeon brunnakke on the sea at Hjelme Vest. A Great Northern Diver islom feeding offshore was the best of the rest which included about 20 Purple Sandpiper fjæreplytt and a decent passage of Red-throated Diver smålom.

Dunnock jernspurv in the garden

Back home three Twite bergirisk fed at the feeder, a Wheatear steinsvett turned up in the garden and there was some passage overhead which included Siskin grønnsisik and Swallow låvesvale