Had a lovely walk in Gullfjell with my youngest. Still a lot of snow but possible to get up to Redninghytten on foot:)
Not much in the way of birding there but a Ptarmigan fjellrype was new for the year and it was nice to see Dippers fossekall too. Otherwise some migrants had returned here too - mostly Dunnock jernspurv, Meadow Pipit heipiplerke and White wagtail linerle. No telephone coverage meant all kinds of grief for bird news and a family issue that came up.
Heavily cropped Ptarmigan fjellrype
On my way out of Øygarden (never safe to leave) I received a tip off regarding five Crane trane that had landed at Kollsnes. Magic. If memory serves correctly this is the biggest flock of Cranes ever in Øygarden:)
Crane trane at Kollsnes
Whilst in the mountains not only did I have no coverage but my phone died too. Bliss in some ways but I missed news of a Great Egret egretthegre that turned up at Tjeldstø. Luckily it was still present in the evening on my return. I only tool pictures of this notorious short-stayer at very long range as I knew others would be on their way.
Irruptive woodland species are all well and good - and can make for real rarity value but September is more about more traditional scarcer species.
An hour or so at Sæle around dawn gave two Yellow-browed Warber gulbrynsanger as the best birds. There was generally a lot of birds around including Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett (typically more obvious at this time of year), a Bullfinch dompap (not a common species out here), a Grey Wagtail vintererle, a few Blackcap munk and plenty of the usual thrushes etc.
Nuthatch spettmeis - often rarer than YB Warbler in Øygarden
A few YB Warbler gulbrynsanger shots
Later in the morning a short walk at Hellesøy gave up another Yellow-browed Warbler gulbrynsanger and a Lesser Whitethroat møller as the highlights. A few minutes at Hjelme gave another Grey-headed Woodpecker.
After a trip to the airport and back I popped in at Herdlevær briefly just as the rain set in - another Yellow-browed Warbler here and a couple of Chiff-chaff gransanger.
The best was saved for the last - my usual stop beside Husvatnet, Tjeldstø where a very flighty Great White Egret egretthegre fed. A Great Black-backed Gull svartbak caused it to fly - but thankfully not far so a couple of the more local birders managed to catch up with it.
A quick seawatch at Herdlevær whilst eating breakfast and spending much of the time on the phone showed that there were probably more divers passing today than the last few days - 14 Red-throated Diver smålom passed in the hour I sat there - well before the peak time of day. A single Velvet Scoter sjøorre accompanied one of them,
A Carrion Crow svartkråke was the best bird here and a Common Sandpiper strandsnipe was the first of the year for me.
Great Egret egretthegre
The bird flew several times, making me think it was going to leave but it did not move far whilst I was there.
Lapwing vipe are scary.....
Meeting the local Grey Herons gråhegre
After doing the shopping I stopped at Husvatnet where I thought I had found a Great Egretegretthegre - until I changed location in order to obtain some record shots. There I met Mr. Adolfsen who had sent me a text message about it. Note to self: GOT TO PAY ATTENTION TO MESSAGES ON MY "BIRD" PHONE. This is the second message in a week about a good bird that I haven't noticed.....
Lesser Redpoll brunsisik - one of the commonest passerines in Øygarden. Picture taken at Nautnes
Lots of Wheatear steinskvett about. This smart male was photographed at Nautnes
After sorting out some work stuff it was time to continue painting the house. This is not an interesting activity but at least I painted with a singing Wryneck vendehals for company.
Greylag grågås with newly hatched chicks
One of the singing Wryneck vendelhals at Hjelmo
A very short walk at Hjelmo in the evening produced at least two more Wryneck vendehals and the first Greylag grågås goslings of the year.
The weather was of little or no relevance as I spent most of the day glued to either my laptop or my phone.
However, my office paid off and the following pictures may go some way to why I occasionally sound distracted or ask colleagues to repeat themselves. So, I am sat writing some software that will do some QC on pipetracker data and present the results in the way the client wants...and the phone rings.
Otter disposing of a large flatfish with Hooded Crows kråke in attendance
Some videos:
This last video may be the best one in many ways
When the phone rings I walk away from the computer (so I won'y be distracted by the code on my screen) to talk about the detection of magnetic field anomalies around single core HVDC cables. I look out of the window and see an Otter coming ashore with Hooded Crows kråke in attendance. Get point and pray, keep on discussing the merits and potential flaws of a well known cable tracking device, start filming. End phone call, end filming and go back to work on the code.
I glance out later to see Great Black-backed Gulls svartbak have taken over from the Hoodies and the Otter has had enough and left for some peace and quiet. But the phone isn't ringing so I keep on at the software, stopping only to answer a few other emails that drop in.
Target acquired
Lock on target
Ignoring ray bending issues and their potential causes
The gulls may have chased the Otter off but are now hopelessly outgunned.
All the still images here were taken with my "proper" camera
Go back inside and continue work. Another call comes in, this time about how ray-bending of sound velocity may go wrong (or was it a transceiver card that got too warm). Enter White-tailed Eagle havørn, exit gulls. And the remains of the flatty. Back inside and finish the software. In other words atypical day at the office.
No wonder I don't want to go to the proper office in town....
Of interest are the cuts on the Otter's tail (easily seen on the videos) - I repeatedly saw the crows pecking the Otter's tail - no doubt in an attempt to get it to move and leave bits of fish behind. I wonder if the Crows have in fact caused these sores....
There was also some very real birding excitement in the evening. I was just about to make dinner when I was sent an MMS depicting a large white heron at Husvatnet. I was on site less than five minutes later but the bird had flown to the north just before I arrived. An almost identical repeat of last year's record of Great Egretegretthegre (the most likely candidate - only other thing could have been an albino Grey Heron gråhegre)
A quick trip to Skogsøy confirmed that passage was better today than of late. Several Arctic Skua tyvjo made their way north as did over 20 Red-throated Diver smålom.
Due to other commitments the seawatching had to be cut short and Tjeldstø was the next stop. A Great Egretegretthegre was pretty much the first bird I got onto. No doubt the same bird as yesterday predictably relocating to the reserve. It was again very shy and flew up for "no reason" several times.
Great Egretegretthegre - third occurrence for Tjeldstø and the second time from my living room.
A Carrion Crow svartkråke was also present in the reserve where most of the geese now have chicks - no doubt the focus of attention for the local White-tailed Eagles havørn.
Took a quick look at Breivik which produced only the long staying male Pied Wagtail svartryggerle of any interest.
Back home working on the house / garden I received a tip-off about a Great Egretegretthegre at Steinsvatnet. There was nothing else to do than pile the children into the car and head off to see it. A five minute drive later we were watching Øygarden's third (or perhaps fourth) find of this superb egret. A powerful heat haze hindered both viewing and photography but all the necessary details were seen in order to confirm this as an adult in breeding plumage. The bird was rather flighty and was chased off by Greylags grågås but thankfully did not stray far.
Spent the morning out in the "migration lane" but there wasn't much in the way of passage. A couple of Arctic Skua tyvjo and close views of a variety of seabirds including Puffins lunde, Fulmars havhest and Razorbills alke.
A couple of large Barnacle geese hvitkinngås flocks heading north over land were not identifiable from the boat but were seen closer by various observers along the coast of Øygarden
Best birds were probably a small flock of Purple Sandpiper fjæreplytt resting on one of the islands - quite a late observation.
Back ashore I finally connected with the extremely shy Great Egretegretthegre at Tjeldstø as well as a Black-tailed Godwitsvarthalespove beside Husvatnet.
One of the many Chiff-chaff gransanger present on Hernar today
Meadow Pipit heipiplerke
Twite bergirisk
Decided to opt for Hernar today and was very pleased I did so - whilst waiting for the boat to leave a Great Egretegretthegre came flying over from the north and disappeared southwards. This represents only the second record for Øygarden.
Hernar itself was lifting with migrants -although none could compete with the egret. A minimum of six Chiff-chaff gransanger, a Willow Warbler løvsanger, two Blackcap munk and at least eight Wheatear steinskvett were seen.
Good numbers of Twite bergirisk, Linnet tornirisk, a Pied Wagtail svartryggerle and several White Wagtail linerle meant that there was always something to see.
Back home at Tjeldstø the Greenland Whitefront tundragås fed beside Husvatnet and a juvenile Golden Eagle kongeørn flew over the reserve - a long awaited new species for my garden list which now stands at 154.
Distant record shot of Golden Eagle kongeørn - from the garden...
