Breivik 20 October 2016 - Geese

Another calm and sunny day.

Bean Goose sædgås with Pinkfoot kortnebbgås - no doubt the same birds as a few days ago

Whitefronts tundragås

Managed a massive 45 minutes out of the house and sped round Breivik where there was a small  but interesting goose flock - a Bean Goose sægås, a Pinkfoot kortnebbgås and three Whitefronts tundragås (2 adult and a young one).

Glossy Ibis bronseibis

The Glossy Ibis bronseibis was still present and feeding constantly. Unfortunately still very much in the shade when I stopped by.

The only other bird of note was a roadside Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett that I didn't have time to stop for.

Harkestad & Nautnes 12 January 2016

Amazing weather again with no wind and temperatures around zero. Although the flu seems to be loosening its grip on me my youngest is now down with it and work isn't giving any breaks either.

Rossicus Bean Goose sædgås

The birds were sat on their feet  grazing around themselves - presumably to preserve heat

Albifrons Whitefront tundragås

Somewhat predictably therefore this was yet another day without being out in any meaningful way. However, the daily trip to the shops produced the goose flock back at Harkestad - having not been seen there yesterday either by me or others attempting to twitch them. The four albifrons Whitefronts tundragås and the rossicus Bean Goose sædgås were sat on their feet grazing around themselves. I snapped a few quick pictures and moved on without disturbing them.

A small flock of Starling stær were present there too.

The only other new for the year was from the house - in the form of a Razorbill alke heading south. Other sightings from the kitchen window included a couple of White-tailed Eagles havørn robbing an Otter oter, a couple of Porpoises nise and a couple of Long-tailed Duck havelle.

Skogsøy 23 May 2013 - Skuas forever!

Strong northerly winds and largely overcast.

A late start today didn't appear to matter as most of the interest started late in the morning. Unfortunately I had to leave just as things were picking up nicely....the last thing I saw was a flock of 17 Long-tailed Skua fjelljo heading north.

Highlights between 07:30 and 12:30 were:

Dark phase Arctic Skua tyvjo

 

Above three: Long-tailed Skuas fjelljo

Pomarine Skuas polarjo

Long-tailed Skua fjelljo  26 N (largest flock 17)
Pomarine Skua polarjo 4 N
Arctic Skua tyvjo 6 N
Great Skua storjo 3N, 1S
Barnacle Goose hvitkinngås ca 350N
Red-throated Diver smålom  16 N
Whimbrel småspove 3N

Above four pictures: flocks of Barnacle Geese hvitkinngås

Gannet havsule

Red-throated Diver smålom

Other odds and ends included:
Arctic Tern rødnebbterne ca 80N (all those identified were this species)
Puffin lunde 1N
Guillemot lomvi 2N
Razorbill alke 2N
Common Scoter svartand 3N
Kittiwake krykkje 5 N
Gannet havsule ca 60N

Similar numbers of most things also passed Herdlevær but at that location there were 76 Long-tails reported,  a couple of White-billed Diver gulnebblom, a Black-throated Diver storlom as well as 3 Manx Shearwater havlire. Think I'll give my lenses a clean before I go out next time....

Heavily cropped record shot of the White-front tundragås

An albifrons Whitefront tundragås turned up beside Husvatnet, Tjeldstø in the evening.

Tjeldstø 29 March 2012 - Unblocking Gadwall!

Fresh northerly and overcast

 Male and female Gadwall snadderand - male centre and female on right hand side. Mallard stokkand on the left.

 Above and below Albrifrons Whitefront tundragås - bottom photograph taken first as it flew in.

After being stuck inside all week I finally got a breath of fresh air. The  walk around the reserve exceeded all expectations with a pair of Gadwall snadderand on Rotevatnet being the highlight - finally unblocking one of my Øygarden bogey birds. The male was easy to spot but I only saw the female in photographs at first and returned for a better look - it was then that the birds took off at long range but looked that they may not have gone far. Gadwall are something of a rarity with up to a several years between records (though I missed the previous one last November).

Shortly the first Whitefront tundragås of the year put in an appearance - a rare March sighting for the area.

Other birds included a sinensis Cormorant mellomskarv on Husvatnet.

Breivik 19 November 2011 - Wild Goose Chase 2

Slightly less wind with very little rain but foggy. WAY better conditions than yesterday.

Altogether more successful today. A fabalis (Taiga) Bean Goose sædgås together with 13 Pinkfeet kortnebbgås were virtually the first birds of the day. At least 25 Greylags grågås joined them and in the next field seven albifrons White-fronts tundragås were a welcome bonus. Seems like my suspicions from yesterday were correct on both counts.

 First view of Taiga Bean Goose sædgås with Pinkfeet kortnebbgås in the fog

Above and below Bean Goose sædgås with Pinkfeet kortnebbgås

A late Woodpigeon ringdue shared the same fields along with Starling stær, Snipe enkeltbekkasin and Fieldfares gråtrost.

Other stuff included a Goshawk hønsehauk at Herdlevær and a Pochard taffeland and a late Meadow Pipit heipiplerke at Tjeldstø.

Small numbers of Whooper Swans sangsvane seen at both Kollsnes and Tjeldstø.