FINALLY some northerly wind!
The very first birds to pass just as I arrived at 06:00 were a flock of 75 pale-bellied Brent Geese ringgås heading north. Things became very quiet after that but 40 Red-throated Diver smålom, 15 Barnacle Geese hvitkinngås and small numbers of Long-tailed Duck havelle also passed.
Perfect weather - a fresh North westerly breeze with some clouds.
The light changed constantly from full on sunshine to overcast and back again - the first of two challenges today. The second being that, at least for the first few hours, there was a lot going on a long way out whilst at the same time interesting stuff was passing in binocular range - no doubt I missed stuff at both distances:)
I sat from 05:45 until 13:00. Thought about leaving a few times but never quite brought myself to quit. Managed to avoid the "dead hour trap" and kept going without any regrets:)
Although far from a mega day there was a lot more going on than recent visits - highlights being of course two Pomarine Skuas polarjo, a Great Skua storjo and six Arctic Skuas tyvjo. A couple of Knot polarsnipe were another first for the year for me and there was plenty of interest most of the time. Two decent sized wader flocks escaped ID but I suspected Turnstone steinvender for the first and Sanderling sandløper for the second, another small flock of Turnstone steinvender came past later.
Small numbers of pale-bellied Brents ringgås, decent numbers of Kittiwake krykkje, Gannets havsule, Fulmar havhest, a 2cy Great Northern Diver islom, almost 70 Red-throated Diver smålom and more meant there was never a dull moment (with the exception of the dead hour between 09:00-10:00).
Red throated Diver smålom N 68
Great Northern Diver islom N 1 2cy
Northern Fulmar havhest N 13
Northern Gannet havsule N 127, S 3
Eurasian Shag toppskarv N 7, S 44
Brent Goose ringgås N 151
Common Scoter svartand N 28, S 27
Merganser sland N 4
Red Knot polarsnipe 2
Turnstone steinvender N 5
Pomarine Skua polarjo N 2 (1 dark, 1 pale)
Arctic Skua tyvjo N 6 (3 dark and 3 pale)
Great Skua storjo N 1
Common Gull fiskemåke N 2
Lesser black backed Gull sildemåke N 6
Great black backed Gull svartbak N 4
Black-legged Kittiwake krykkje N 75
Arctic Tern rødnebbterne N 29, S 4
Common Guillemot lomvi N 2
Razorbill alke N 21 For some reason Razorbills have vastly outnumbered Guillemots this year - possibly something to do with the big movement last autumn that pushed them further south than usual?)
Little Auk alkekonge N 1 Freak record! Not often I see this species so far out in May!
Atlantic Puffin lunde N 7
The 22nd May was always going to be about visibility. The forecast was for sea fog early on clearing by 0900. Pretty much the opposite happened:)
Before I left the house a Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett sang a couple of times - a good start to the morning:)
No massive numbers passing but steady and with some quality (pale-bellied Brent Geese ringgjess, White-billed Diver gulnebblom, a Black-throated Diver storlom, Merlin dvergfalk and more).
We sat for a couple of hours after the fog rolled in as it seemed like it would clear at any moment. Fog is the #1 seawatch nightmare in the spring and unfortunately resulted in an update to my seawatch junky page:)
When it was finally deemed safe to leave we checked out a couple of places including Tjeldstø - in glorious sunshine - typically the fog affected only the sea and a couple of hundred metres inland. Best birds were a couple of Wood Sandpipers grønnstilk and the first Sand Martin sandsvale of the year for me at least. At least five Lesser Whitethroat møller were heard singing at various places:)
The following day the forecast was better with a fresh northerly breeze and sunshine on the cards. Normally a recipe for a good day at this time of year but passage was slow and the hopes of unprecedented numbers of skuas were dashed. Not a complete waste of time though with good views of Brent Geese ringgjess, White-billed Diver gulnebblom and Black-throated Diver storlom as the best sightings. Two Ringed Plover sandlo migrating north were the first I've seen locally this year - two of the usual breeding sites have remained unoccupied so far this year.....
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.
Best sighting of the day was from the terrace in the form of about 20 White-sided Dolphins:)
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:)
I also picked up my first local Sedge Warbler sivsanger of the year - over a month later than the first I had offshore:)
Southerly gale.
A great seawatch - and the longest I have done for ages. We sat from 0830 to 1400 and although things slowed down towards the end there was almost always something passing.
The highlight was undoubtedly a decent movement of geese, things kicked off with a couple of flocks of hrota Brent Geese ringgås and then went over to the more expected Barnacle Geese hvitkinngås. All heading south from Svalbard to their wintering grounds in the UK and Europe.
A good variety of other species passed, largely wildfowl which included a Pintail stjertand, Velvet Scoters sjøorre and Long-tailed Ducks havelle. A single Great Northern Diver islom passed along with small numbers of Red-throated Diver smålom.
The totals were as follows:
Red-throated Diver smålom S 31, N 5
Razorbill alke S 8
Gannet havsule S 36, N 41
Lesser Black-backed Gull sildemåke S 4
Herring Gull gråmåke S 25
Great Black.backed Gull svartbak S 17
Cormorant storskarv S 10, N 2
Shag toppskarv N 16
Common Gull fiskemåke S 20
Common Scoter svartand N 1, S 28
Kittiwake krykkje N12, S 6
Velvet Scoter sjøorre S 18
Long-tailed Duck havelle S 6
Tufted Duck toppand 2
Teal krikkand S 3
Pintail stjertand S 1
Brent Goose ringgås S 36
Barnacle Goose hvitkinngås 452
Grey Plover tundralo S1
Guillemot lomvi S2
Wigeon brunnakke S 22
Great Northern Diver islom S 1
