Øygarden 04.08-09.08.2026 - "Good" weather at last!

Birders often have a very different take on what good weather is. At this time of year southerly winds and rain count as good and towards the end of the period this is exactly what we got. This brought down some decent birds. I am not complaining about the weather at least:)

Still some Greylags grågås around although the migration is definitely underway.

Some of the Greylags grågås at Nautnes 4th August

Thursday 6th August was spent guiding around my old haunts prior to the move to Øygarden. So Unneland, the lower reaches of Gullfjell and "the back roads". Not quite as many species as last time but a number of different ones including Grey Wagtail vinterle, Tawny Owl kattugle, Spotted Flycatcher gråfuesnapper, Yellowhammer gulspurv and Jay nøtteskrike. A most enjoyable day out:) Non bird sightings included an Adder hoggorm (roadkill) and lots of tiny toads.

Tawny Owl kattugle at Unneland

I didn't leave the house on 7th August but as usual a White-tailed Eagle havørn flew over and the first Cormorant storskarv of the autumn fished in front of my house. Otherwise just the usual Common Sandpipers strandsnipe and so on. A light but noticable passage of Common Gulls fiskemåke heading south over the house too.

Cormorant storskarv at Nautnes

Adult White-tailed Eagle havørn photographed from the terrace

Strong winds and at times heavy rain set in at the weekend. This meant that I really did have to get out and about!:)

My usual round at Herdlevær on 8th August gave eight species of wader including a Ruff brushane and the first Purple Sandpiper fjæreplytt of the autumn. A lone Lapwing vipe was also present. On my way to and from Herdlevær a Carrion Crow svartkråke was at Breivik - incredibly shy it flew up well ahead of the local hoodies. A quick check at Tjeldstø on the way home produced a Greenshank gluttsnipe, a flyover Dunlin myrsnipe, several Curlew storspove, some Snipe enkeltbekkasin and a Sparrowhawk spurvehauk.

Carrion Crow svartkråke at Breivik

I did pretty much the same the following day picking up a nice Green Sandpiper skogsnipe and a Whimbrel småspove at Herdlevær. The Stonechats svartstrupe performed again at Kollsnes. Tjeldstø produced a couple of White-tailed Eagles havørn, a young Merlin dvergfalk chasing crows, a Spotted Redshank sotsnipe and a Greenshank gluttsnipe among other things. Another nice day out in "bad" weather.

Digiscoped Merlin dvergfalk at Tjeldstø

Stonechat svartstrupe at Kollsnes

Øygarden 28 April 2025 - Tringa time!

My first day of actual holiday! The perfect holiday would be to stay at home, not work and not do stuff on the house.

This is not the perfect holiday as I spent some hours shopping for stuff that is long overdue:)

But before I went to hell (a shopping centre) I checked a few places:) From my terrace a Greenshank gluttsnipe turned up during my morning coffee. The feeder is being emptied fast again by a mixed flock of Bullfinch dompap (strange time of year for these in northern Øygarden), Goldfinch stillits (now expected in the breeding season), Siskin grønnsisik and Greenfinch grønnfink.

A stop at Tjeldstø produced a couple more Greenshank gluttsnipe, the Pochard taffeland pair, several Sand Martin sandsvale and 25 Golden Plover heilo. Also found Fieldfare gråtrost on the nest.

Two Greenshank gluttsnipe at Husvatnet, Tjeldstø

At Breivik a Spotted Redshank sotsnipe dropped in but was very flighty, taking to the wing every time a car passed. Not a common spring species around here. Plenty of breeding birds in the area too including Redshank rødstilk, Curlew storspove, Teal krikkand, Skylark sanglerke, Wheatear steinskvett and Common Crossbills grankorsnebb.

Spotted Redshank sotsnipe together with Common Redshank rødstilk at Breivik

I then did my shopping stuff and on the way home I stopped briefly at Breivik again but only a male Merlin dvergfalk and Common Redshank rødstilk were present.

Back home a flock of 200 Barnacle Geese hvitkinngås headed north:)

Skogsøy 26 March 2024 - Best Oystercatcher count since 2003....

Calm and sunny

With winds dropping and generally good conditions I thought it may be a good migration day. I was not wrong:) Highlight of four hours of seawatching was my best Oystercatcher tjeld count since 2003 with over 1600 heading north. A Merlin dvergfalk headed the same way as did 12 Shelduck gravand. Smaller numbers of the usual early spring stuff also on the move. Unusually there were more Shag toppskarv flying the "wrong" way (ie. north) than normal at this time of year.

A Dunnock jernspurv singing on the way out to the lookout was the first of the year and a Common Crossbill grankorsnebb was the first I've seen for a few weeks. Redwings rødvingetrost have now also joined the dawn chorus - first I've heard singing after the huge arrival last week.

Red throated Diver smålom N 2

Great Northern Diver islom S 1

Northern Gannet havsule N 2, S 1

Great Cormorant storskarv N 27, S 2

Eurasian Shag toppskarv N 68, S 96 Uusally high number heading north today

Greylag Goose grågås N 11

Shelduck gravand N 12 A flock of 10 came swimming past before taking off and flying north

Eider ærfugl N 3, S 3

Long tailed duck havelle S 2

Common Scoter svartand N 9

Merganser siland N 8, S 7

Oystercatcher tjeld N 1626 My highest count since 2003. Wish I could have stayed longer:)

Eurasian Curlew storspove N 10

Common Gull fiskemåke N 217

Common Guillemot lomvi N 11

Razorbill alke N 18

Black Guillemot teist S 1

Atlantic Puffin  lunde N 2

Auk N 48, S 5

Merlin dvergfalk N 1

Common Scoter svartand (male on the left)

Oystercatcher tjeld were pouring past today.

Shags toppskarv heading south

...and Shags toppskarv heading north

Migrating Shelduck gravand

Øygarden 19-21 May 2023 - Brents on the move

 I took things pretty easy for a few days but still caught up on a few bits and pieces in the world of birds.

On 19 May I just did a walk at Tjeldstø where just the usual species were present including the male Wigeon brunnakke that has been around for some time now and the first Common Whitethroat tornsanger locally this year. Plenty of new Tjeldstø species though:)

At home a few Greylag families turned up sporting this year's crop of goslings - one pair had just two young in tow whereas another pair still had eight going strong. Twite bergirisk, Goldfinch stillits, Cuckoo gjøk and the other usual suspects also seen from the garden.

I barely did anything the following day but saw the first Lapwing vipe chicks of the year at Kollsnes. Lesser Whitethroat møller still singing "everywhere". A Merlin dvergfalk was a promising find - indicating that this species might still manage to breed in the area from time to time. 

Lapwing vipe chick at Kollsnes

Lesser Redpoll brunsisik in the garden (along with Siskin grønnsisik, Golfinch stillits and more)

Best sighting of the day was from the terrace in the form of about 20 White-sided Dolphins:)

Atlantic White-sided Dolphins (kvitkjeving) photographed from the terrace

On 21st May I had planned for Skogsøy but there was fog early on when I got up so I went back to bed and did a late and lazy round at Herdlevær - here I had 820 pale-bellied Brent Geese ringgås heading north in the space of an hour - the first of the year and, as usual now, somewhat earlier than the traditional movement at the end of May. Several Velvet Scoter sjøorre also headed north along with a selection of the usual species including my first Arctic Terns rødnebbterne for 2023. I really should have gone to Skogsøy:)

Just about record shots of some of the Brent Geese ringgås that passed

I also picked up my first local Sedge Warbler sivsanger of the year - over a month later than the first I had offshore:)

Øygarden 28-31 January 2021 - Winter!

 Cold, calm, mostly sunny with snow showers.

Abnormally cold and snowy for the west of Norway. Temperatures mostly around freezing, down to a few degrees below at night and up to a few degrees above during the day.

On 28 January all I managed was a late afternoon walk west of Rong. Just a few White-tailed Eagle havørn, six Velvet Scoter sjøorre and some of the usual suspects. Generally rather quiet - and hard to walk on the snow/ice never knowing if it is rock or ice below the snow.

Dethloff hytta, Rong

A walk at Herdlevær with Sonia on 29 January was rather more productive - potentially a LOT more. Highlight was a probable Grey Phalarope polarsvømmesnipe at long range in the scope - a small. pale bird fluttering around in circles low over the sea. Worth claiming? Maybe - not sure what else it could have been. A light passage of auks heading north were too far off to identify. Birds that were identified included a Razorbill alke on the sea, Snipe enkeltbekkasin (despite staying away from the most likely spots) and a Velvet Scoter sjøorre.

Elsewhere Woodcocks rugde at a couple of locations, Starling stær and Fieldfare gråtrost struggling in the snowy conditions and 12 Blackbird svarttrost in the garden.

Moon over Nautnesvågen, before dawn on 29 January - picture taken whilst putting food out for the birds in my garden

Early on Saturday morning (30 January) I did my usual Skogsøy walk and seawatched for an hour. Very quiet, just a couple of flocks of Common Crossbill grankorsnebb and a Woodcock rugde on the way out. Seawatching was largely unproductive though a distant flock of 40 auks was the biggest flock thus far this year. A flock of 20 Guillemot lomvi headed the same way and a couple of Gannet havsule stopped to look at something.

Cormorant storskarv with the wrasse too far

Raven ravn moving in on an eagle

Seawatching never stops....

Whoopers sangsvane at Alvheim at 0815 - 45 minutes before the sun came up. ISO 5000 and upper image lightened considerably....

One of at least three White-tailed Eagle havørn over the lookout point at SKogsøy on 30 January. This one is a 3cy bird.

As usual a few White-tailed Eagles havørn were seen and a Cormorant storskarv struggled with a wrasse sp that was right on the limit of what it could manage:)    A flock of 24 Purple Sandpiper fjæreplytt was probably the best sighting here.

On my return to the car the local Hoodies kråke panicked and a flock of Herons gråhegre took to the wing. Despite looking frantically around I didn't get onto the raptor that scared them - I was thinking Goshawk hønsehauk but given the timing of a reported Gyrfalcon jaktfalk a kilometre to the north it may well have been this that scared them

Other stuff seen during the day included a couple of Whoopers sangsvane at Alvheim well before dawn, Woodcock rugde and Curlew storspove from the house and the flock of 20 Greylag grågås at Breivik.

Needless to say on 31 January I was thinking raptors - even though I have had my eye open for them the last couple of weeks. This paid off quite well with a Goshawk hønsehauk at Tjeldstø, Sparrowhawk spurvehauk at Oen and from my terrace and best of all - a cracking male Merlin dvergfalk at Solberg

It is rare to see so much snow out here in Øygarden! Here looking north over the reserve at Tjeldstø (I saw 5 White-tailed Eagles havørn from this point)

The Merlin dvergfalk showed well in the scope - I really need on of those mobile/scope adaptors!

Heavily cropped image from the DSLR

A couple of different Snipe enkeltbekkasin that were not flushed.

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Nautnes 27 April 2020 - The terrace strikes again

Another day of very limited activity with the best sightings coming in the evening from my terrace.

A series of drive-bys during the day resulted in a flock of Golden Plover heilo at Breivik along with a selection of the usual migrants.

Barnacle Geese hvitkinngås passing through the sunset

Greylags grågås with young on the sea in front of my house

Merlin dvergfalk with prey

In the evening an hour or so sitting on my terrace with my scope and a beer or two produced a nice movement of 630 Barnacle Geese hvitkinngås, a Merlin dvergfalk flying over with prey, over 40 Red-throated Diver smålom and some passage of Common Gulls fiskemåke and Eider ærfugl. Just shows that migration can continue until dusk.....

The first Greylag grågås chicks of the year also turned up outside my house. The parents must have sat through some pretty tough conditions to achieve such an early outcome!