Skogsøy 03 May 2025 - The loonatic season continues

Another day, another seawatch:) This time under much calmer conditions and with a lot less rain. And with a scope this time!¨

A typical seawatch for the time of year with decent varierty but without big numbers of anything. Bonus species was a pod of Orcas spekkhogger feeding actively offshore.

Red throated Diver smålom N 62

White Billed Diver gulnebblom N 13

Northern Gannet  havsule N 39, S 23

Great Cormorant storskarv N 8, S 1

Eurasian Shag toppskarv N 6, S 69

Barnacle Goose hvitkinngås N 9 (25 more flew north over land on my way out)

Long tailed duck havelle N 18

Common Scoter svartand N 10, S 34

Velvet Scoter sjøorre N 3

Merganser siland N  4, S 2

Oystercatcher tjeld N 5, S 12

Whimbrel småspove N 8

Arctic Skua tyvjo N 3 (2 pale, 1 dark) , S 1 (dark)

Common Gull fiskemåke N 9

Black-legged Kittiwake krykkje N 7

Common Guillemot lomvi N 1

Auk N 2

Gannet havsule

Raven ravn heading back to its nest with something

Part of a flock of Red-throated Diver smålom

Velvet Scoter sjøorre

Skogsøy 03 May 2023 - Salvaging the loonatic season

 With only a couple of days at home between offshore trips it was important to get a seawatch in at Skogsøy. This is one of the few times a year I actually meet other birders so it was magic to spend 7 hours seawatching in prime time with prime company:)

A total of 34 White-billed Divers gulnebblom was of course the highlight. Other stuff included the first Whimbrel småspove, a Great Skua storjo, a dark phase Arctic Skua tyvjo and relatively decent numbers of a variety of duck species heading north along with over 400 Red-throated Diver smålom.

Common Scoter svartand

Gannet havsule

Oystercatcher tjeld

Oystercatcher tjeld and a Whimbrel småspove

Red-throated Diver smålom flocks

White-billed Diver gulnebblom

Red-throated Diver smålom N 405, S 2

White-Billed Diver gulnebblom N 34 (all adult)

Northern Gannet havsule N 35, S 3

Great Cormorant storskarv N 9

Eurasian Shag toppskarv N 34, S 89

Shelduck gravand N 1

Tufted Duck toppand N 6

Eider  ærfugl S 4

Long tailed duck havelle N 133

Common Scoter svartand N 261, S 1

Goldeneye kvinand N 8

Merganser siland N 19, S1

Oystercatcher tjeld N 95

Whimbrel småspove N 7

Arctic Skua tyvjo N 1

Great Skua storjo N 1

Common Gull fiskemåke N 82

Lesser black backed Gull sildemåke N 1

Black-legged Kittiwake krykkje N 3

Common Guillemot lomvi N 1, S 3

Razorbill alke N 36

Black Guillemot teist N 1

Atlantic Puffin lunde N 4

Skogsøy 01 May 2022 - Never Leave!

Light Northerly winds and sunny.

Another day, another cracking seawatch - along with a lesson we never learn: Never Leave.

1st May is traditionally a date where birders other than myself make the trek out to Skogsøy. A relatively poor turnout of just six birders sat and enjoyed a very decent passage of divers. We talked about the dangers of leaving but left anyway. One turned back and had an extra 21 WBD in just one hour!! This took the day total to 45 - so over 90 in JUST TWO DAYS!!!

I started seawatching at 0530, others joined shortly after 0600 and still others after that. Turning up early bags the variety as many species slow right down not long after dawn. Not the divers though, these normally reach a peak late morning / early afternoon. The hourly stats showed things definitely slowing down so we chose to leave. How wrong we were!

The totals for 0530-1300

Red throated Diver smålom N 1234

Great Northern Diver islom N 2 2K. +One adult feeding

White Billed Diver gulnebblom N 23 (+21 14:30-15:30!!) And an adult on the sea earlier on

Northern Gannet havsule N 47, S 2

Great Cormorant storskarv N 10, S 2

Eurasian Shag N 13, S 74

Shelduck gravand N 4

Mallard stokkand N 3

Eider ærfugl N 2

Common Scoter svartand N 63

Merganser siland N 48, S 2

Oystercatcher tjeld N 78

Dunlin myrsnipe N 1

Bar tailed Godwit lappspove N 1

Whimbrel småspove N 2

Eurasian Curlew storspove N 3

Black headed Gull hettemåke N 1

Common Gull fiskemåke N 175

Black-legged Kittiwake krykkje N 15

Common Guillemot lomvi N 1

Razorbill alke N 3

Black Guillemot teist N 2

Other species included 4 Teal krikkand resting on the sea and a hunting Merlin dvergfalk.

Before I left the house I heard the first Common Sandpiper strandsnipe of the year from my terrace.

A Bar-tailed Godwit lapppove joined a flock of Oystercatcher tjeld heading north - not a common bird during the spring migration

Common Gulls fiskemåke continue to pass in much smaller numbers with rather more non adult birds among them

A few Curlew storspove headed north - well past the peak now

A Dunlin mysnipe tagged along wth some much larger Oystercatcher tjeld

As usual Gannets havsule gave some good photo opportunities

Adult Great Northern Diver islom on the sea

...and the same bird with sunlight flashing off it's bill. Could easily be confused with another species based on a one off photo!

A good day for Mergansers siland - just under 50 passed

Some of the Red-throated Diver smålom came by at close range

...others didn't but made up for it by forming large flocks:)

Some obligatory heavily cropped WBD shots

Later in the afternoon some came a lot closer

A couple of Whimbrel småspove

Hjelme Vest 07 January 2019 - Visibility pays off

The gale force winds continue but today much clearer and no rain - which meant there was enough visibility to give the sea another go.

Before I left I spent a couple of hours on a Skype call with work and had a massive Goshawk hønsehauk fly over the house - surely a female. Other birds seen during the call were a couple of White-tailed Eagles havørn and a Raven ravn or two. No bad start to the day.

Close inspection of this photo should reveal the White-billed Diver....

Obscene levels of cropping give this kind of image

Actually out and about the highlight was a cracking 2cy White-billed Diver gulnebblom. Although it gave excellent views in the scope it proved impossible to phone scope (no adaptor and too much movement). This bird looked very similar to the one I saw in the same place on 25 December. Although relatively regular locally in small numbers in the winter it is much less predictable at this time of year than during the spring passage and anyway is always a good bird to see.

Around 25 Long-tailed Duck havelle, a Black Guillemot teist and a couple of Purple Sandpipers fjæreplytt were among the other sightings along with the obligatory White-tailed Eagle havørn.

Øygarden 23.05 - 25.05 Catch-up

I spent a few days R&R in Oslo 18-21.05 on my way back from Dubai and reunited with my binoculars I had a couple of very relaxed a pleasant walks with my better half and caught up with many migrants in the Oslo including Wood Warbler bøksanger, Swift tårnseiler, Redstart rødstjert, Tree Pipit trepiplerke, Common Buzzard musvåk, Black-throated Diver storlom, Garden Warbler hagesanger, Pied Flycatcher svarthvit fluesnapper and more. Other birds included Black Woodpecker svartspett and what seems to be the first Pintail stjertand away from the overwintering bird at Østensjøvatnet.

Back in Øygarden I found out I had missed out on all sorts including Ortulan Bunting hortulan, Bluethroat blåstrupe, Rosefinch rosenfink, Pomarine Skua polarjo , Corncrake åkerrikse, and much, much more. Now that I have effectively lost the best part of the spring it remains to salvage what I can and catch up with a few things....

Predictably there was not much time to get out but on 23.05 my terrace provided a string of local year ticks including Cuckoo gjøk, Common Tern makrellterne and Common Whitethroat tornsanger.

Pale-bellied Brent Geese ringgås heading north

Male Linnet tornirisk. As usual both Twite bergirisk and Linnet tornirisk are breeding at Skogsøy.

Rock Pipit skjærpiplerke

Southbound Shelduck gravand - failed breeders and thus the first of the autumn migrants?

White-billed Diver gulnebblom (or no-billed diver as they should be termed under such conditions)

I didn't get out at all on 24.05 but on 25.05 I managed just over 2.5 hours seawatching at Skogsøy. Here I was rewarded with a flock of 43 Brent Geese ringgås of the pale-bellied form hrota returning from my home turf back in north Northumberland to Svalbard. Other stuff passing included almost 50 Red-throated Diver smålom, a single White-billed Diver gulnebblom, four Shelduck gravand heading south, small numbers of Arctic Terns rødnebbterne, 18 Kittiwake krykkje, a couple of Black Guillemot teist and a Velvet Scoter sjøorre.

Back home at Nautnes it was back to work and chores but five minutes from the terrace showed that migration continued to well into the afternoon with a single flock of 16 Red-throated Diver smålom and at least 15 Kittiwake krykkje.

Skogsøy 30 April 2018 - ....and somewhat predictably

Northerly winds and sunny.

It may come as something of a shock but today's trip out went to.....wait for it.....SKOGSØY.

The conditions looked good and it is peak season so it was yet another early start (but still a lot later than the boys from town).

The only new species for the year were a couple of Dunlin myrsnipe heading north together with some Oystercatcher tjeld. They were not yet in breeding plumage.

A total of 10 White-billed Diver gulnebblom passed - mostly at a very nice telescope range.

I managed quite a remarkable photograph today - almost totally lacking in any photographic qualities I managed to capture three species of diver in the same frame - Great Northern, Red-throated and White-billed. Mega.

Two Dunlin myrsnipe (top right)

Obligatory Gannet havsule spam

A 2cy Great Northern Diver islom (right) together with three Red-throated Diver smålom

A flock of summer plumaged Long-tailed Duck havelle

It was a good day for Red-breasted Merganser siland migration - at least by the standards of recent years

THIS IS THE PHOTO of the day (if clicked on). Three species of diver in one shot. From right to left:

White-billed Diver, Red-throated Diver, Great Northen Diver, and two more Red-throats.

Some random White-billed Diver gulnebblom shots.

It was the best day so far this year for a number of species including Red-breasted Merganser siland.

The totals for the six hours of seawatching were as follows:

Red throated Diver N	239
Great Northern Diver N (2cy)	2
White Billed Diver N	10
Northern Gannet N	27
Northern Gannet S	1
Great Cormorant N	37
Great Cormorant S	4
Eurasian Shag N	2
Eurasian Shag S	33
Grey Heron N	1
Wigeon N	3
Eider N	4
Eider S	1
Long tailed duck N	33
Long tailed duck S	3
Common Scoter N	31
Common Scoter S	9
Merganser N	32
Oystercatcher N	5
Common Gull N	99
Lesser black backed Gull N	1
Black-legged Kittiwake N	1
Common Guillemot N	13
Common Guillemot S	1
Razorbill N	4
Black Guillemot N	1
Black Guillemot S	1
Auk N	19
Auk S	9

The weather forecast tomorrow is such that Skogsøy may not be the best place to be, it is conceivable that I will cover places that have been neglected of late......rest my legs and get another hour or two of badly needed sleep...