Yet another calm and sunny day, light easterly winds and some frost on the ground.
Probably the best bird of the day was seen on the walk out in the form of a Short-eared Owl jordugle, amazingly this seems to be the first for Øygarden this year. A couple of Sparrowhawk spurvehauk chased a Great Spotted Woodpecker flaggpett and a lone Waxwing sidensvans flew over.
A couple of hours behind the scope showed there was a lot moving but most of it was very distant - mostly auks but some seaduck too.
Birds that I actually mananged to identify were:
Little Auk alkekonge 74 S, 5 N
Guillemot lomvi 1 N
Razorbill alke 1 S
Merganser siland 9 S
Common Scoter svartand 53 S
Eider ærfugl 11 N
Long-tailed Duck havelle 6 S
Red-throated Diver smålom 7 S
Great Northern Diver islom 1 S
Cormorant storskarv 8 S
Gannet havsule 5 S
Common Gull fiskemåke 4 S
A couple of Kittiwake krykkje fed offshore as did a school of Tuna makrellstørje which hammered what I presume were mackerell on the surface.
A week spent in my inland home away from home:) I managed to cover most of my usual spots in between work and other stuff.
My impression was that things were a lot quieter than normal for this time of year. Waders were rather thin on the ground - very small numbers of Whimbrel småspove compared to normal, most tringa waders well down on normal numbers and a some of species of wader were simply not present. Yellow wagtail gulerele, normally extremely common, were present in much lower numbers than usual. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the spring was rather late and there was a long period of cold weather that stopped just a couple of days before I arrived.
That said, a decent variety of species (at least 82) were seen including a couple more new Engerdal species for me - a Hawfinch kjernebiter in the garden and a female Hen Harrier myrhauk. Other highlights including breeding Short-eared Owl jordugle, excellent views of singing Icterine Warbler gulsanger, Common Buzzard musvåk and Great Grey Shrike varsler seemingly holding territory.
Hawfinch kjernebiter - a new species for me in Engerdal.
This bird was seen in the garden at Heggriset.
Female Hen Harrier myrhauk - another new species for me in Engerdal - one of the first birds seen on my "farewell tour" on the morning I left.
Common Buzzard musvåk, Heggeriset
This shot shows the effect of the light with one pupil much larger than the other one:)
Short-eared Owl jordugle.
There was quite a lot of evidence of rodents in the hills, Kestrels tårnfalk were pretty much everywhere so it seems like not too bad a year for these birds in the mountains
Great Grey Shrike varsler - normally I see this species in the autumn / winter but they also breed in the area. Another pointer towards a reasonable rodent year higher up.
Icterine Warbler gulsanger - this bird at Heggeriset and another at Galten were the only two I saw during the week in Engerdal.
A couple of unseasonal sightings at Drevsjø were a flyover Jackdaw kaie and a Starling stær which looked like it was visiting a nest hole - this is a species I have normally seen as an autumn migrant in Engerdal.
Common Tern makrellterne at Sorken.
Arctic Tern rødnebbterne is the commonest tern in Engerdal
Yellow Wagtail gulerle at Heggeriset
This species was noticeably less numerous than normal this time round
Bullfinches dompap with young were still visiting the garden feeder
Great-spotted Woodpecker flaggspett, Engerdal
Siskin grønnsisik at the feeder
Bullfinch dompap at Heggeriset
Merganser siland, Galten
Raven ravn, near Drevsjø
Brambling bjørkefink - one of the commonest breeding birds in Engerdal
Strong southerly winds, overcast and with light drizzle most of the time I was seawatching.
Today was much more about what was seen away from the seawatching than what was going on migration wise. A Dipper fossekall, the second for Skogsøy (the first was in January this year) was out close to the lookout point - an unusual location but there is plenty of food in those pools:)
On my way back in a fly-by Short-eared Owl jordugle, three Parrot Crossbills furukorsnebb and three Slavonian Grebes horndykker were the best finds.
November is a good month to see migrating Dipper fossekall in Øygarden
Parrot Crossbill furukorsnebb, Skogsøy
The bay at Skogsøy, the slav grebes should be visible in here somewhere
Slavonian Grebes horndykker came swimming over from Herdlevær
I sat from 0930-1110 and had a decent passage of gulls (mostly Herring Gulls gråmåke, Common Gulls fiskemåke and Kittiwake krykkje) and Common Scoter svartand plus a Red-throated Diver smålom, a late Oystercatcher tjeld and a few Velvet Scoter sjøorre. Most stuff passed very close in indeed - visibility was awful and it was not possible to see very far.
Migrating Common Gulls fiskemåke
Many Common Scoter svartand headed south at close range today
Herring Gull gråmåke (picture taken with the new superzoom, the rest of the flight shots with an older DSLR)
Kittiwake krykkje
Velvet Scoter sjøorre
On the way home I picked up a Goshawk hønsehauk hunting thrushes at Kollsnes. At Tjeldstø best sightings were a male Blackcap munk, a few Snipe enkeltbekkassin, three Whoopers sangsvane and a selection of duck including a few Wigeon brunnakke and a Teal krikkand.
Back home the latest ever Linnet tornirisk to be recorded in Øygarden fed in my garden:)
The latest Linnet tornirisk ever recorded in Øygarden
Also shows why "weeds" are so important to wild birds.
Unfortunately it was not possible to get out as much as I would have liked (or even much for that matter).
Grey Wagtails vintererle continued to show "all over" and it was the same for the Parrot Crossbills furukorsnebb that are currently probably the commonest crossbill in the area. At home Bramblings bjørkefink were ever present in the garden along with the usual suspects and the male Long-tailed Duck havelle remained on the unusual fresh water location at Tjeldstø.
Long-tailed Duck havelle, Husvatnet, Tjeldstø
On 15 October I spent a couple of hectic hours seawatching at Skogsøy. Other than a couple of Great Northern Diver islom, a flock of Barnacle Geese hvitkinngås and a fly over Snow Bunting snøspurv there was nothing terribly special but the passage was constant and there was a good gull migrations - with hundreds passing south - mostly Common Gull fskemåke and Herring Gull gråmåke but also 50 Lesser Black-backed Gulls sildemåke and several Black-headed Gulls hettemåke. A decent passage of auks, Red-throated Diver smålom, Common Scoter svartand and Long-tailed Duck havelle. A few flocks of waders passed too far off to identify but one flock of pale coloured waders with prominent wing bars got the pulse racing...
Black-headed Gulls hettemåke with LBBG sildemåke
Hundreds of Common Gull fiskemåke headed south
Several flocks of Common Scoter svartand passed
Good numbers of LBBG sildemåke heading south, mostly adults
Almost 50 Red-throated Diver smålom passed in the couple of hours I spent seawatching
A quick dash around a number of localities on 16 October produced a lovely Short-eared Owl jordugle at Breivik where a couple of Golden Plover heilo and a Dunlin myrsnipe also turned up. Decent flocks of Meadow Pipit heipiplerke still around too - 40+ were seen here. Flocks of Redwing rødvingetrost finally showing up all over the place after a slow start for this species this autumn.
Red-throated Diver smålom flying over Herdlevær
Short-eared Owl jordugle at Breivik
I managed my usual round at Herdlevær on 17 October where migration over the sea was obviously in full swing - very much the same as at Skogsøy a couple of days previously. Purple Sandpiper fjæreplytt, a few flocks of Barnacle Geese hvitkinngås, Peregrine vandrefalk, Merlin dvergfalk and Golden Plover heilo were among the species seen here.
Barncacle Geese hvitkinngås on their way back from Svalbard
Brambling bjørkefink in my garde
Plenty of birds about with Blackcaps munk turning up alongside thrushes and other species.
A fleeting visit to Solberg on 18 October produced barely even the usual suspects but a Merlin dvergfalk and a Barnacle Goose hvitkinngås flew over and a lone Purple Sandpiper fjæreplytt fed out on one of the skerries. Sæle gave several Blackcap munk, a Chiff-chaff gransanger and the usual.
