Øygarden 26.05 - 27.05 The young ones and more seawatching

A very relaxing Sunday saw me and my youngest one out and about finding lots more young ones. Breeding Ringed Plovers sandlo at two locations - at least one of the pairs with four young, newly hatched Lapwing vipe at Tjeldstø and a Meadow Pipit heipiplerke nest with two young, a few Mallard stokkand with their young and hopeful were among the finds.

A very quick glimpse of the Meadow Pipit heipiplerke nest we found

Female Mallard stokkand leading her young to safety

An adult Ringed Plover sandlo keeps an eye on its young

Spotted Flycatcher gråfluesnapper

Wryneck vandehals

Other birds included a Wryneck vendehals seen very closely (but not photographed very well!) at Hatten, my first Spotted Flycatcher gråfluesnapper of the year.

On 27.05 with sunny conditions and a brisk northerly it was time to get back to Skogsøy for a couple of hours early morning seawatching before work. This resulted in the usual suspects in the form of a Great Skua storjo, 60 Gannets havsule, Kittiwakes krykkje, several Puffiin lunde and small numbers of Guillemot lomvi and Razorbill alke. Not quite as expected was a lone Temminck's stint temminkssnipe heading north. Just 17 Red-throated Diver smålom today.

A drive-by at Blomvatnet on the way into work produced a Sedge Warbler sivsanger and the usual suspects.

Herdlevær & Hatten 24 June 2017 - Some locally uncommon breeders - and another giving it a good try

An afternoon stroll at Herdlevær produced mostly the usual suspects - many species with newly fledged young including Wheatear steinskvett and Meadow Pipit heipiplerke. Worryingly three female Eider ærfugl had no young in tow. Mink are a big problem at Herdlevær and now I am without my dog I will have to find other ways of getting rid of these...

Ringed Plover sandlo pair

The Ringed Plover sandlo pair were still present and obviously guarding either young or eggs,

The Corncrake åkerrikse first heard a couple of days ago gave a brief burst of song as I walked past. Wonder if it has been displaced from somewhere else where the grass has been cut...

At Tjeldstø a male Tufted Duck toppand was an unseasonal observation. House Martin taksvale, Black-headed Gulls hettemåke and at least four Arctic Terns rødnebbterne were also present here.

Siskin grønnsisik

Spotted Flycatcher gråfluesnapper nest

Spotted Flycatcher gråfluesnapper

I popped in at Hatten on the way home and amazingly managed a year tick in the form of Spotted Flycatcher gråfluesnapper - with a nest full of well grown young. Daft that it has taken so long to see this species but great to see this species breeding in Øygarden. It is probably a lot commoner than it seems to be - the places this species breeds don't receive much coverage.

Danish Sector May 2016 - Superzoom trial and spring migrants

Although there have not been the usual regular updates from Øygarden on these pages this spring and summer I have still been out and about to a certain degree.

An offshore trip in the Danish Sector in May gave me an opportunity to try out a Canon PowerShot superzoom camera. I left my DSLR behind and took on the superzoom with me. Further information about various cameras and bird photography in general can be found on these pages.

Sinensis Cormorant, Danish Sector, May 2016

Sand Martin prospecting for nest site on back deck of a survey vessel

Spotted Flycatcher, Danish Sector, May 2016

This trip presented a good opportunity for a test of my Canon PowerShot

Sture 20 May 2014 - just 15 minutes out

A very short stroll at Sture in the late evening produced the first Spotted Flycatcher gråfluesnapper of the year in Øygarden. Otherwise just the usual Cuckoo gjøk etc.

At Tjeldstø the pair of Barnacle Geese hvitkinngås were still present - I'm beginning to suspect that these birds are actually from one of the "feral" populations further south/ east in the country...A male Tufted Duck toppand was the first I've seen there for a while.
 

Skogsøy 08 May 2011

SE winds and sunny.

It is a very rare occasion that Skogsøy disappoints. Today was one of those days. Apart from small numbers of terns terner and a few Whimbrel småspove there was very little of interest today and I eventually gave up and went home.

At home I missed out on the first Spotted Redshank sotsnipe of the year, failed to identify a Bar-tailed / Black-tailed Godwit lapp/svarthalespove and had to make do with the first House Martin taksvale of the year.

 Gannet havsule at Skogsøy

 Redstart rødstjert at Kollsnes

An evening tip-off just about saved the day - an early Spotted Flycatcher gråfluesnapper and a female Redstart rødstjert at Kollsnes.

Hernar 18 August 2010 - migrants

The bird of Hernar - Twite bergirisk. Numbers continue to build
Above and below Spotted Flycatcher gråfluesnapper

One of several Greenshank gluttsnipe seen

The first obvious passerine migration of the autumn. Highlights were at least three Garden Warbler hagesanger, two Spotted Flycatcher gråfluesnapper and a Pied Flycatcher svarthvitfluesnapper - all being the first I've seen in Øygarden this year. A couple of Whinchat buskskvett and at least 60 Twite bergirisk also seen.

Wader migration continued most of the day with several Greenshank gluttsnipe, small numbers of Ruff brushane, a couple of Whimbrel småspove and over 40 Golden Plover heilo among others.

At least one interesting large greyish warbler "got away" - typically turning up just before the boat home.....

Øygarden 26 September 2009

Spotted Flycatcher gråfluesnapper
THE bird of Hernar - Twite bergirisk

Wheatear steinskvett

Spent the day on Hernar where there was not a massive amount of activity. However, a Water Rail vannrikse was new in and a Lesser Whitethroat møller was present. Some frustratingly difficult to see phylloscopus warblers went unidentified - only a couple of Willow Warbler løvsanger and a Chiff-chaff gransanger were identified with certainty. Several Bar-tailed Godwit lappspove flew over and small numbers of other migrants were in the bushes.

An adult Common Tern makrellterne at Hellesøy was a relatively late find for this species.

At Breivik at least one Richard's Pipit tundrapiplerke remained.