Herdlevær & Tjeldstø 28-29 October 2019 - Northward migration

On 28 October the usual round at Herdlevær showed that the rather strange phenomenon of northward migration was underway with thrushes, finches and Waxwing sidensvans moving north. This happens most autumns during periods of calm, sunny and settled weather.

Goldfinch stillits, Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett and Snow Bunting snøspurv and at least three Great Northern Divers islom were among the other species seen.

On my way home I drove past Sture where I had four Two-barred Crossbill båndkorsnebb and a flock of at least 100 Brambling bjørkefink feeding on spruce cones.

A very small part of a flock of migrating Fieldfare gråtrost at Tjeldstø

On 29 October I spent an hour at Tjeldstø and counted migrating Fieldfare - 1200 in one hour! I had hundreds more  at other localities during the morning. Several thousand must have passed during the course of the day - but heading north rather than the more seasonally acceptable south. Other stuff during this hour included 100's of finches  - largely Brambling bjørkefink, Redpoll gråsisik and Siskin grønnsisik. A few small flocks of Goldfich stillits, three Sparrowhawk spurvehauk also headed north. Flyover White-tailed Eagles havørn, Curlew storspove and Snipe enkeltbekkasin were among the other species seen here.

Back at Nautnes a Tree Sparrow pilfink and a Blackcap munk joined the more usual suspects in the garden. More birds heading north here too including Fieldfare gråstrost, Brambling bjørkefink and another flock of 15 Waxwing sidensvans.

Herdlevær & Nautnes 13 January 2018 - Migration

Cold and sunny with light southerly winds

Today was a day of mass migration - enough for a decent autumn day in fact. Flocks of Fieldfare gråtrost headed south pretty much all day with approximately 1000 birds flying over during the couple of hours I spent at Herdlevær. This was no doubt a cold weather movement now that the record numbers that have been overwintering further north are no doubt running out of berries.....

Part of a southbound Fieldfare gråtrost flock

One of a few Rock Pipits skjærepiplerke seen at Herdlevær

Other highlights at Herdlevær were a Peregrine vandrefalk, the first Woodcock rugde of the year, a Snipe enkeltbekkasin and a Razorbill alke. A few Rock Pipit skjærpiplerke, a White-tailed Eagle havørn and many of the usual suspects were also present here.

Male Teal krikkand on the sea in front of my house with a couple of Mallard stokkand

Back home at Nautnes was almost as good with best bird being a male Teal krikkand on the sea in front of the house, the first Bullfinches dompap I have seen locally this year and a flock of seven Purple Sandpiper fjæreplytt seen from the terrace. More thrushes, a couple more White-tailed Eagle havørn and a couple of flocks of Redpoll gråsisik were among the other species seen from the terrace.

Other new birds in Øygarden for me this year were a Common Gull fiskemåke and a couple of Jays nøtteskrike.

Yet more not Birding Øygarden - update on migration in the east of Norway

I spent 17-18 October up in Engerdal municipality in Hedmark in the east of Norway.

As usual there was not a lot of proper birding and as usual the huge potential of this area was obvious. The undoubted highlight were a number of Pine Grosbeaks konglebit. These birds were all seen and heard flying over but I suspect they were not really moving. I have not seen this species here before but am a little uncertain of their status.

Waxwing sidensvans

Rather more certain there were several flocks of Waxwing sidensvans and I definitely got the impression that these birds were heading west. As with the Pine Grosbeaks I saw them more or less everywhere I went.

Strangely all the rowan berries in the lowlands and valleys were gone so I initially presumed the thrushes had also moved on. This proved to be very, very wrong as there were flocks of up to several hundred Fieldfare gråtrost at a time gorging themselves on the vast quantities of berries on the slopes above the tree line. Some Waxwing sidensvans also took advantage of this bounty. No boubt these birds will not move on until these berries are covered by snow.

Mealy Redpolls gråsisik and Common Crossbills grankorsnebb were also very obvious pretty much everywhere.

Scaup bergand

Other birds included small numbers of Scaup bergand, the usual Goosander laksand and Whooper Swan sangsvane.

Galtsjøen

Vurrusjøen

For more about birding in Engerdal, Hedmark see this page

Skogsøy 31 January 2015 - "Migration"

Calm, more or less sunny with light easterly winds.

Things looked good before I even left the house with a flock of eight Waxwing sidesvans and a large flock of Fieldfare gråtrost heading south.

A Skogsøy well over 300 more Fieldfare gråstrost moved south - probably a response to the cooler weather. A Peregrine vandrefalk, a Sparrowhawk spurvehauk and singles of Gannet havsule and Kittiwake krykkje were among the other birds seen here.

A drive-by at Herdlevær produced more Fieldfare gråtrost and nine Starling stær