Skogsøy 15 May 2021 - Cetacea and another new species for the garden

 Very calm with variable light winds were hardly ideal conditions for the species I was hoping for and needless to say they failed to show.

However, all was not lost as in addition to a steady passage of birds there were a couple of pods of Porpoise nise (quite a common sight), a larger cetacean which might have been a Minke whale vågehval and quite a bit of other marine life activity at the surface.

This might be a Minke Whale vågehval - it surfaced a couple of times as it passed north

Auks were seen passing and quite a few also on the sea - both Guillemots lomvi and Puffins lunde were seen resting / feeding and I spent way too much time fully zoomed in on a couple of auks that looked a bit wrong for Guillemot....Perhaps oddly the vast majority of the auks passing the last couple of weeks have been Razorbills alke.

Surprisingly given the lack of wind Gannet havsule numbers reached three figures. But once again only one White-billed Diver gulnebblom - a second year bird.

New for the year during the seawatch was a migrating Tree Pipit trepiplerke.

Numbers were as follows:

Red throated Diver N 30

Red throated Diver S 4

White Billed Diver N 1 2cy

Northern Gannet N 107

Northern Gannet S 1

Great Cormorant N 1

Eurasian Shag N 12

Eurasian Shag S 66

Eider S 1

Common Scoter N 6

Common Scoter S 7

Velvet Scoter N 4

Merganser S 5

Whimbrel N 4

Arctic Skua N 1

Black headed Gull S 1

Common Gull N 31

Common Gull S 4

Black-legged Kittiwake N 11

Black-legged Kittiwake S 2

Arctic Tern N 9

Common Guillemot S 1

Razorbill N 24

Atlantic Puffin N 6

Atlantic Puffin S 1

Auk N 3

Auk S 1

As I returned to my car I heard about a Black-tailed Godwit svarthelespove at Husvatnet which I picked up on the way home. As it was the first for the county this year it sparked a twitch and surprisingly I saw birders out in the reserve in an area where there a number of breeding birds. I have no idea why as the bird was easily viewable from the road - and even the famous bus stop hide.

islandica Black-tailed Godwit svarthalespove photographed from my car at Husvatnet

Once home I had the best bird of the day - a cracking male Gargany knekkand on the "lagoon" in front of my house. However, it only stayed long enough to snap a few pictures before it flew. It looked like it might have gone down close by so I went looking but was unable to relocate it. This was species 157 for the garden:)

Male Gargany knekkand photographed from my terrace (and heavily cropped!)

Skogsøy 28 April 2019 - Misty but far from dull

A very misty start to the day so I went back to bed for an hour or two after my alarm clock woke me.
I therefore didn't get out to the lookout point until 0740 (a couple of hours later than I should have had there been any visibility).

I sat there as long as I could (four hours) and had to run back to the car in order to not be late for a family thing.

Common Scoter svartand

Gannet havsule

Red-throated Diver smålom

One of the 12 White-billed Diver gulnebblom

Highlights were 12 adult White-billed Divers gulnebblom heading north and a 2cy bird on the sea as a bonus. The first of these to pass was the closest, and as it was still drizzling my camera was still in my rucksack so I just sat back and enjoyed it - no need to photograph everything! Almost 240 Red-throated Diver smålom, a couple of cracking pale phase Arctic Skua tyvjo, two Whimbrel småspove, some 30 Long-tailed Duck havelle and 50 Common Scoter svartand were among the other birds seen.

Two drake Gargany knekkand just after landing...

A message regarding two male Gargany knekkand at Tjeldstø meant that despite my super fast time back to the car I was still late for the family thing - after returning home for a change of clothes there was a mandatory stop at Tjeldstø to catch up with these superb birds - I was very lucky as shortly after I arrived they flew up and then landed much closer.....

Other birds seen/heard included a Lesser Whitethroat møller at Tjeldstø, another Whimbrel småspove and some Twite bergirisk from my terrace at Nautnes 

Tjeldstø 05 May 2016 - Housework

Southerly gale but sunny.

As the winds were too strong to expect any meaningful passage over the sea I used the day to get caught up on some household stuff that has been neglected during the last week or so - I have now changed over from winter to summer tyres and am sitting in a nice clean house.,,,

Lapwing vipe numbers seem to be down on previous years with only one or two pairs showing signs of breeding.

Meadow Pipit heipiplerke nest - the first of the year

A short walk at Tjeldstø produced a couple of Golden Plover heilo along with Common Sandpiper strandsnipe, the first Meadow Pipit heipiplerke nest of the year (much to the delight of my youngest), more Swallows låvesvale and most of the usual suspects.

Common Gull fiskemåke

Male Gargany knekkand

A tip off about a male Gargany knekkand at Blomvatnet meant I had to take a break from chores and check it out. It did nothing other than sleep whilst I was there - only lifting its head briefly once or twice.

Common Tern makrellterne from the terrace this evening.

Back home at Nautnes a Common Tern makrellterne was another new for the year in Øygarden.

Tjeldstø 13 May 2014 - Gargany!

Calm conditions whilst I gave the reserve some good coverage. North-westerly winds later on....

Pretty much the first birds I got onto today were a pair of Gargany knekkand on Husvatnet. Unfortunately they quickly disappeared and despite a few attempts to relocate them they were not seen again.

The two Barncalce geese hvitkinngås, a female Wigeon brunnakke and a few Black-headed Gulls hettemåke were all still present.

A singing Lesser Whitethroat møller was the best of the passerines.

Tjeldstø 30 April 2009 - Gargany

Greeland Whitefront tundragås with Greylags

Best birds by far were a pair of rather flighty Gargany knekkand which moved around the various lakes in the reserve. A singing Lesser Whitethroat møller was another first for the year. Another highlight was a male Merlin dvergfalk which made several passes over the reserve. No sign of the Whitefront tundragås seen yesterday but this long staying bird may well still be in the area.

Five Tufted Duck toppand on Rotevatnet were probably migrating birds.

Other than that it was pretty much business as usual with plenty of breeding waders, gulls and geese.