Herdlevær 30 January 2018 - Parrot Crossbills and twitching in the rain

South westerly winds, mostly sunny but with some short showers and a torrential downpour during the most critical part of the day....

Still plenty of Fieldfare gråtrost about - and now having an easier time of things now that the fields are nice and wet

 

An assortment of Parrot Crossbills furukorsnebb

Video of a female Parrot Crossbill furukorsnebb

Unusually I used my DSLR for this - normally I use my point and pray - and typically only thought of video after most of the birds had flown leaving only this one behind

There has been little or no time for birding the last few days and even today my intentions were to strictly limit time spent in the field. I did a round at Herdlevær and pretty much called it a day. Things were relatively quiet here with flocks of thrushes, a flock of Parrot Crossbills furukorsnebb, several Purple Sandpipers fjæreplytt and a few Rock Pipit skjærpiplerke. A Guillemot lomvi on the sea was the best bird here - being the first I have seen in Øygarden this year - this species is slowly but surely becoming more and more of a rarity - at least in the winter months.

On my way home something remarkable happened - I met another birder who was actually out birding. He asked about some good gull spots and I pointed out a couple of localities worth checking before heading home and getting back to work....

Just like last time I checked this place out there were plenty of gulls....

Obviously curious - it was probably thinking that it had never seen a creature like that in these kinds of conditions and came for a closer look

Here obeying the second law of bird photography - if the picture is sharp there will be a wing tip missing

2cy Iceland Gull grønlandsmåke

I then received a text message regarding an Iceland Gull grønlandsmåke which I felt would be rude to ignore so off I went down to Vik - and straight into some very heavy rain. The gull performed nicely given the conditions and I even managed to pick up another Øygarden first for the year in the form of a lone Black-headed Gull hettemåke (almost rarer than Iceland during the winter months).

Otherwise White-tailed Eagles havørn, Fieldfare gråtrost and Redwings rødvingetrost pretty much everywhere.

Skogsøy 21 March 2015 - Migration warming up nicely!

Light NE winds and sunny.

It just had to be a good day today - with rain yesterday stopping things there should have been a surge of stuff today - and there was - with almost 1300 birds passing in a little over three hours.

The mainstay was predictably Oystercatcher tjeld but also Common Gulls fiskemåke are starting to move. Highlight was a near adult Iceland Gull grønlandsmåke, Other birds of note were the first migrating Red-throated Diver smålom, Curlew storspove and Black-headed Gull hettemåke of the year. Auks put on the best show of the year thus far - still pathetic when compared to previous years.

It is a well-known fact that Cormorants storskarv "stall" or "tower" - but I don't remember seeing Shags toppskarv doing this before - here a mixed bunch "stalling".

Curlew storspove overhead

Greylags grågås

Iceland Gull grønlandsmåke - it looked better in the scope - honest!

One of the many Oystercatcher tjeld flocks today

Rook kornkråke

One of several White-tailed Eagles havørn of various ages seen at Skogsøy today. This bird appears to be in its fourth calender year.

Some numbers:
Red-throated Diver smålom N 2
Gannet havsule N 12
Cormorant storskarv N 64
Shag toppskarv N 41, S 109
Greylag grågås N 41
Oystercatcher tjeld N 608
Curlew storspove N 3 (and another couple seemingly getting territorial)
Black-headed Gull hettemåke N 2
Common Gull fiskemåke N 275
Guillemot lomvi N 1 - very sadly this was the first of the year actually identified
Razorbill alke N 8
Little Auk alkekonge N 8
Puffin lunde N 2

The only passerines of note were two Snow Bunting snøspurv heading north and a Rook kornkråke by the "car park".

Second year Glaucous Gull polarmåke at Tjeldstø

I had to fill petrol and stop by the shops at Tjeldstø - this produced a Glaucous Gull polarmåke - perhaps the same bird reported a few days ago?

Back home a Golden Eagle kongeørn from the terrace was the best of the bunch.

Herdlevær 02 January 2013 - Typical!

Calm and sort of clear. Excellent conditions.

 Otter coming ashore

Common Scoter svartand and Black Guillemot teist

Common Crossbill grankorsnebb

Purple Sandpiper fjæreplytt

Goshawk hønsehauk

A superb couple of hours birding at Herdlevær today with several new species for the year - and a few that would have been nice to get during the Bird Race.

Highlight was a cracking adult Iceland Gull grønlandsmåke - unfortunately only telescope views. A Slavonian (Horned) Grebe horndykker was a close runner up.

Other birds inlcuded a massive Goshawk hønsehauk, a Sparrowhawk spurvehauk, a single Purple Sandpiper fjæreplytt (where were these for three days!) and a Snipe enkeltbekkasin.

A Woodpigeon ringdue, three Starling stær and a Tree Sparrow pilfink were the best birds seen at Breivik on the way home.

Blackcap munk still in the garden at Tjeldstø

Skogsøy 25 November 2012 - At last a change in the weather

Finally the weather changed. A fresh easterly with high cloud cover, even some blue sky at times.

The changing conditions seemed to have an immediate effect on the birding - sat at Skogsøy for just over two hours and had an excellent late November seawatch notching up the majority of what can be expected at this time of year:

Great Northern Diver islom, 2S, 1N
Red-throated Diver smålom 3S
Red-necked Grebe gråstrupedykker 1S
Eider ærfugl 149S
Velvet Scoter sjøorre 1S
Common Scoter svartand 26S
Long-tailed Duck havelle 22S
Red-breasted Merganser siland 8S
Goldeneye kvinand 1S
Little Auk alkekonge 27S
Black Guillemot teist 2S
Iceland Gull grønlandsmåke 1S
Kittiwake krykkje 2S
Common Gull fiskemåke 8S
Cormorant storskarv 37S
Shag toppskarv 31S

 Second winter Iceland Gull grønlandsmåke - first of the autumn for Øygarden

 Cormorant storksarv

Great Northern Diver islom

Other birds of note included a Snow Bunting snøspurv flying in off the sea, Curlew storspove, Purple Sandpiper fjæreplytt, a Guillemot lomvi on the sea and a couple of fly over Redpolls gråsisik.

The walk to and from the lookout produced two flocks of Waxwing sidensvans, 20+ Common Crossbill grankorsnebb and some very fresh Woodcock rugde tracks.

This gull headed south. Initially in flight I took it to be a Common Gull fiskemåke and took a few record shots. A quick check in the field made me change my mind to Herring gull gråmåke. Downloading the images later has me scratching my head.....answers on a postcard please

Øygarden 04 February 2012

Very cold due to strong southerly and temperatures below freezing.

 

 Above and below: third winter / 4cy Iceland Gull grønlandsmåke

Second winter / 2cy Iceland Gull grønlandsmåke

 Above and below: Red-breasted Mergansers siland at Herdlevær

At Herdlevær there was little to see with best birds a couple of Black-headed Gulls hettemåke. A Wren gjerdesmett still surviving there - just a couple more days until the weather breaks and things should become easier for this species again.

 Glaucous Gull polarmåke

A Glaucous Gull polarmåke appeared almost ghost like at Skogsøy but caught me with the wrong camera setting so pictures didn't turn out too well....

White-tailed Eagle havørn attacking a Herring Gull gråmåke

Back at Tjeldstø at least three Iceland Gulls grønlandsmåke, a third winter / 4cy, a second winter (same bird as the last few days) and a first winter quite possibly different from the previous bird put in a brief appearance but disappeared as two White-tailed Eagles havørn had a go at a Herring Gull gråmåke.

Øygarden 02 February 2012

Bitingly cold southerly, overcast with light snow.

 Still plenty of Otters to see

Started at Hjelme Vest where seaduck numbers remain very low - with the exception of Long-tailed Duck havelle which numbered around 90. Just four Eiders ærfugl and a single Common Scoter svartand. Best bird here was a lone Curlew storspove.

Solberg was shrouded in smoke from heather burning further south at Herdlevær. Little on the sea here either.

 First winter Iceland Gull grønlandsmåke at Tjeldstø

At Tjeldstø a new Iceland Gull grønlandsmåke, this time a first winter / 2cy, joined small numbers of Herring Gulls gråmåke. I suspected a second bird yesterday but never refound it at the time.

Øygarden 14 January 2012

Wonderfully calm and relatively mild.

 Above and below: record shots of the second year (first winter) Iceland Gull grønlandsmåke

Took things relatively easy today picking up a Kestrel tårnfalk at Ormhilleren, a Curlew storspove and a Puffin lunde at Solberg and a second year Iceland Gull grønlandsmåke at Tjeldstø.

A flock of 60 Common Crossbill grankorsnebb at S. Straumsundet was the biggest flock for some time.

Elsewhere an Eagle Owl hubro gave a single hoot during an hour or so of waiting.