Herdlevær / Tjeldstø / Nautnes 23 October 2019 - Another new for the house list!

What a cracking day out in strong southerly winds and overcast conditions

I did my usual round at Herdlevær finally picking up a decent Siberian Chiff-chaff sibirgransanger (despite the fact it didn't call), Purple Sandpiper fjæreplytt, Goldfinch stillits and a selection of the usual stuff plus a couple of lateish Oystercatcher tjeld.

This bird ticks all the sibe chiff-chaff boxes despite the lack of vocalisation.

All black bill, jet black legs, hint of a wingband etc etc!

Oystercatcher tjeld - getting late for these now....

Grey outer tail feather says the book......my ar*e

Lots of Rock Pipit skjærpiplerke at Herdlevær now....

On my way home I stopped at Husvatnet (what a shock!) and found the Ring-necked Duck ringand had returned after a couple of days absence.

Grey Heron gråhegre at Tjeldstø

Ring-necked Duck ringand

Slightly better pictures than last time despite the light conditions

Back home I started to get back into some work stuff but something made me look up and a 1cy Glaucous Gull polarmåke flew right past the terrace. Amazingly a new species for the house....

...again obeying the golden rule of bird photography:

If the image is somehow in focus the second wing will be missing from the photograph:)

First year Glaucous Gull polarmåke - a cracking bird and a house tick to boot!

Øygarden 27 November 2014 - Good Sibe Chiff-chaffs at last

Calm and sunny.

Spent a few hours out and about at a few localities in the fantastic weather.

Started a Solberg where the calm conditions made it possible to say that there was virtually nothing on the sea. However, a late Oystercatcher tjeld, several Purple Sandpiper fjæreplytt and a Goshawk hønsehauk meant it was far from a waste of time.

Mega-cropped record shot of the Golden Eagle kongeørn at Alvheim

Next stop was Alvheim where the sea held even less stuff than at Solberg, An adult Golden Eagle kongeørn and a flock of four Yellowhammer gulspurv flying over meant that this was a most successful stop.

This bird kept rolling its eyes back in its head to keep an eye on me....

Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett at Sæle

Just about a record shot of one of the Siberian Chiff-chaffs - rather buffy. The call was the real clincher though.

A short walk at Sæle proved really productive given the time of year. Two very vocal Siberian Chiff-chaffs (tristis) gransanger were the best of the bunch. Also seen here were a couple of Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett, a male Blackcap munk and a late Dunnock jernspurv.

Hernar 13 November 2010 - Siberian Chiff-chaff

White-rumped Redpolls once again eluded positive ID but this one could be a good candidate for Arctic Redpoll polarsisik

Siberian Chiff-chaff tristis gransanger, it was the piping bullfinch-like call that gave this one away.

Very pale colouration, rather grey compared to this bird

Skylark sanglerke

Adult winter Black Guillemot teist

A last minute trip to Hernar proved quite productive. Wonderfully calm weather added to the experience.

On the sea a couple of Great Northern Diver islom, several Black Guillemot teist and Long-tailed Duck havelle numbers continue to build - still no big flocks though.

On the island best bird was a tristis Chiff-chaff tristis gransanger. Picked up on its almost Bullinch-like call it responded immediately to playback. Very pale indeed. Other stuff included a male Blackcap munk, Water Rail vannriske, two Tree Sparrow pilfink and plenty of Mealy Redpoll gråsisik - including many with pale rumps but as usual the flocks were too restless to go through. Still one Skylark sanglerke present.

Also found the remains of a Waxwing sidensvans - no doubt eated by a raptor of some sort.

Øygarden 27 October 2009 - Siberian Chiff-chaff

Plenty to eat in the garden today for this tristis-type Chiff-chaff

Note the clean underparts with no yellow tones and the faint wing-bar.

Here showing yellow "armpits" - the only place a tristis is meant to show any yellow.

Siberian (tristis) Chiff-chaff gransanger

This picture almost made us late for school...

Early morning record shot with ridiculous ISO settings...

Not a common bird at this time of year - Common Redshank rødstilk at Sæle

The afternoon was so warm that this Red Admiral butterfly put on a show

The first noise I heard outside this morning as I ventured out with my morning coffee had me dashing back inside for camera and binoculars immediately. Thinking that there was some eastern form Bullfinch dompap in the garden the coffee was soon cold. However, the bird was in fact what seemed to be a tristis (Siberian) Chiff-chaff gransanger. No yellow tones on the underparts, a wing bar and a piping call note nothing like normal Chiff-chaff at all all pointed in the right direction.

Normally I wouldn't have claimed such a bird based on the plumage alone but the piping call was really something else. Record shots were taken before doing the usual dropping off at school etc but the bird had vanished on my return.

Other passing the garden during the photo shoot included a Hedge Accentor jernspurv, a Yellowhammer gulspurv and a Great-spotted Woodpecker flaggspett.

Having completed a round of work etc I checked Sæle where there was another "piping" Chiff-chaff gransanger that I didn't see well, a few Blackcaps munk and most of the usual suspects. Best bird here was a rather unseasonal Redshank rødstilk - possibly an Icelandic bird?

Back home in the garden the Chiff-chaff put on another performance, this time enabling pictures of somewhat better quality to be taken.