Øygarden 10.08-13.08.2024 - Seawatching picks up

On Saturday 10th August the wind was firmly in the SW and blowing a gale with associated showers so there was no other option than to head to Skogsøy for a couple of hours of seawatching before heading into "civilization" to buy a freezer and a new dishwasher. Not bad and great to be out there after so long.

Sooty Shearwater grålire 3S

Manx Shearwater havlire 3N, 2S

Fulmar havhest 3S, 2N

Gannet havsule 29S, 11N

On 10.08 the only real option was to use the hide, despite the narrow windows

Gannet havsule

Sooty Shearwater grålire

A White-tailed Eagle havørn flew over my house when I got back home.

The next day the weather was quite similar but things were rather quieter on another attempt at Skogsøy. Just a couple of Fulmar havhest, a Peregrine vandrefalk and a light passage of Common Gulls fiskemåke. Best bird was probably a Black-tailed Godwit svarthalespove at Breivik on the way out to Skogsøy.

The way home produced a couple of Jay nøtteskrike at Sture and the early Goldeneye kvinand on Husvatnet.

No birding on 12.08 but an unseasonal Whooper sangsvane turned up on Husvatnet, Tjeldstø

On Tuesday 13.08 it was back to guiding again and with limited time available it was Herdla again, Temminck's Stint temminkssnipe, Black-tailed Godwit svarthalespove, Curlew Sandpiper tundrasnipe and plenty of other species of wader were noted. A noticable passage of Greylags grågås heading south and most of the usual suspects resulted in around 45 species seen.

In the afternoon I went fishing in Fusa where just the usual gulls and a couple of White-tailed Eagles havørn were the only birds seen. But two lifers (at least as rod -caught) were Thornback Ray piggskate and Black-mouthed Catshark håhjel. - both of which went back alive and swam off strongly. Other fish ended up filleted and in the freezer I purchased earlier in the week:)

Thornback Ray piggskate

Black-mouthed Catshark  hågjel

Black-mouthed Catshark  hågjel

Thornback Ray piggskate

Norwegian Sector 06-j7 July 2017 - Offshore Opportunties

For the last few weeks it has been extremely difficult to find time to do much in the way of birding. One of the reasons is an offshore trip that offered even less time on deck than usual. A trip that covered a large portion of the Norwegian sector of the North Sea provided a total of about one hour out on deck looking for birds and as is often the case I ended up wondering what could have been seen.

Arctic Skuas tyvjo at Heidrun 09-10 July. Above picture is of a second year bird.

Cormorant storskarv - a species that may be eyeing up Heidrun as a potential breeding site

Great Black-backed Gulls svartbak

The Heidrun platform, July 2017

Kittiwakes krykkje were breeding on every available ledge. The platform sounded like the Farne Islands where I grew up.

The first few days were spent near the Heidrun platform in the northern part of the Norwegian sector. In recent years Kittiwakes krykkje have bred on this platform and this was obviously the case this year too. There were hundreds of Kittiwakes krykkje present with nests on virtually all of the potential places. These in turn attracted Arctic Skua tyvjo which preyed on them. Other species may have an eye on the Heidrun platform as a potential breeding place as there were a number of adult Great Black-backed Gulls svartbak present and even a Cormorant storskarv. During the summer months it is largely younger gulls that are present but here there were also a number of adults.

After Heidrun and Åsgard we went to Veslefrikk where a passing trawler attracted a couple of hundred Fulmar havhest along with Great Black-backed Gulls svartbak and Gannets havsule. Most of the gulls seen here were non breeders.

Fulmars feeding on discarded Ling neear Veslefrikk

Fulmars havhest behind fishing vessel

Fulmar havhest feeding on Ling lange discarded by fishing vessel

Veslefrikk

At Veslefrikk a passing trawler provided most of the action with hudreds of Fulmar along with smaller numbers of Great Black-backed Gulls svartbak anda few Gannets havsule.

Grane platform

Kvitebjørn

Valemon with West Elara in attendance

The next stops were Kvitebjørn, Valemon and Grane. Just small numbers of the usual suspects were seen at these locations.

Skogsøy 03 May 2017 - Power napping

Sunny and not a breath of wind so not ideal seawatching conditions.

It was generally rather quieter today than the last seawatch. Having averaged less than five hours sleep per night for the last two weeks or so I had to take a half hour break and have a quick nap. Not that it made much difference - I ended up aborting and going back home to work anyway.

Massively cropped record shot of the Fulmar havhest

Twite bergirisk

Wigeon brunnakke heading north with Oystercatcher tjeld

White-tailed Eagle havørn

Best bird today was a Fulmar havhest. Unbelievably this would appear to be the first for the county this year. Otherwise light passage of most of the usual suspects - diver numbers very low again and only Red-throated Diver smålom today. A small flock of Wigeon brunnakke, Brambling bjørkefink and Twite bergirisk were among the passerines,

A male Redstart rødstjert at Kollsnes and two Pinkfeet kortnebbgås on Husvatnet again were among the other sightings today.

Some of the Teal krikkand seen from the house

A flock of 14 Teal krikkand on the sea in front of my house in the evening would incredibly seem to be a new tick on the house list!

No time to download the camera so pics will have to wait, or just not get downloaded which is at least as likely.

Skogsøy 26 September 2015 - Late and lazy anniversary

Fantastic weather for normal people, less so bird-wise!

View to the north from Skøgsøy today

A family walk late in the day and with only a short period of very distracted seawatching produced the first live Fulmars havhest I have seen in Øygarden this year. Normally a common enough species it has been almost non-existent out here this year although I did find a number of dead Fulmar during the late spring / early summer.

Otherwise it was just the usual White-tailed Eagle havørn, Crested Tits toppmeis etc along with a noticeable increase in the numbers of Goldcrest fuglekonge.

Today was the 20th anniversary of a tragic day in the history of Skogsøy - three students were swept to their deaths by a rogue wave. Just in case you were thinking of getting closer to those low-flying seabirds....

Herdlevær 30 May 2015 - Dead Fulmar

Light WNW wind, sunny.

A walk at Herdlevær didn't produce that much but proved to be great fun as my youngest and I honed our climbing skills up and down the cliffs. A dead bird was located floating offshore but obviously coming closer - we attempted to predict where it would come ashore but the vagaries of wind, current and the cliffs made things a bit tricky. In the end we managed to bag this dead Fulmar havhest after a goose-chase along the entire west coast of the island.

At Tjeldstø the only birds of note were a couple of Black-headed Gulls hettemåke and a female Teal krikkand with three very young chicks - first of the year.

Back at Nautnes I stood on my terrace for a few minutes with a can of beer and photographed this Common Tern makrellterne fishing. I have to say I have an amazing house,,,,,

Common Tern makrellterne fishing at Nautnes

This image illustrates one of the golden rules of bird photography very well:

If the images is crystal sharp  and otherwise well exposed then there will be a wing-tip missing!

Skogsøy 26 September 2014 - Sort of seawatching

Westerly gale, mostly sunny.

Gannet havsule

Wind too strong for most stuff to be flying but grabbed an hour of seawatching between 1215 and 1315. At least 165 Fulmar havhest headed north during this period as did a few Guillemots lomvi and a single Kittiwake krykkje. This is the highest number of Fulmars seen in the county for some years - at least according to artsdatabasen. Also seen were at least 60 Gannet havsule - heading in both directions.

Heading south were 11 Common Scoter svartand, a Teal krikkand and four Red-throated Diver smålom.

Øygarden 27 November 2011

Strong SW and rain during the morning, NW storm for a period in the afternoon.

Herdlevær produced a late Golden Plover heilo as a surprise bird. Other stuff here included a flock of at least 12 Pinkfeet kortnebbgås flying over, 15 Purple Sandpiper fjæreplytt sheltering from the weather and a minimum of six Rock Pipits skjærpiplerke.

 Common Crossbills grankorsnebb at Herdlevær

Breivik held a decent selection of geese again - with four Bean Geese sædgås, seven Whitefronts tundragås, several Pinkfeet kortnebbgås and at least 20 Greylags grågås.

fabalis Bean Geese sædgås at Breivik

Looking out over Hjeltefjorden from my sitting room window during the afternoon produced at least a couple of Fulmar havhest, a late Curlew storspove (first for ages), Little Auks alkekonge and more.