Kollsnes/Tjeldstø 19 April 2022 - Off comms / Out of Øygarden

 Had a lovely walk in Gullfjell with my youngest. Still a lot of snow but possible to get up to Redninghytten on foot:)

Not much in the way of birding there but a Ptarmigan fjellrype was new for the year and it was nice to see Dippers fossekall too. Otherwise some migrants had returned here too - mostly Dunnock jernspurv, Meadow Pipit heipiplerke and White wagtail linerle. No telephone coverage meant all kinds of grief for bird news and a family issue that came up.

Heavily cropped Ptarmigan fjellrype

On my way out of Øygarden (never safe to leave) I received a tip off regarding five Crane trane that had landed at Kollsnes. Magic. If memory serves correctly this is the biggest flock of Cranes ever in Øygarden:)

Crane trane at Kollsnes

Whilst in the mountains not only did I have no coverage but my phone died too. Bliss in some ways but I missed news of a Great Egret egretthegre that turned up at Tjeldstø. Luckily it was still present in the evening on my return. I only tool pictures of this notorious short-stayer at very long range as I knew others would be on their way.

Great Egret egretthegre at Tjeldstø

Skogsøy 29 April 2018 - Loonatic season

Calm and sunny to start with. Increasing northerly winds later.

Spent almost six hours seawatching today. The rarest sighting was SEVERAL OTHER BIRDERS.

Apart from this the best birds of the seawatch were two Cranes trane and a pair of Shoveler skjeand heading north - both the first of the year for me, although both have already been reported from Øygarden this year.

Migrating Cormorants storskarv

Gannet havsule

As usual many of the Red-throated Diver smålom flocks went high - especially later in the morning

There are 10 Red-throated Diver smålom in this picture - not that easy to see.

White-billed Diver gulnebblom

But today it was all about the divers - a total of six White-billed Diver gulnebblom, a single Great Northern Diver islom and around 200 Red-throated Diver smålom headed north. Amongst the other sightings there was also a relatively good number of auks passing - though most were quite distant. Black Guillemot teist, White-tailed Eagle havørn and most of the usual suspects also put in an appearance.

At least four Orcas spekkhoggere fed offshore. Fantastic.

Later in the afternoon I dipped on an adult Little Gull dvergmåke that was seen rather briefly at Husvatnet, Tjeldstø.

Eastern Norway 21-23 July - Run to the hills

One of many young Bluethroat blåstrupe at Fokstumyra

A few days of guiding in eastern Norway gave some birding. We started the ball rolling at the well-known Fokstumyra nature reserve. There were virtually no waders or wildfowl but a number of good birds put in an appearance including Hen Harrier myrhauk and Crane trane. There were good numbers of young Bluethroat blåstrupe about with some of these attended by adults. Best bird here, however, was a completely unexpected species in the form of a singing Quail vaktel.

Female Red-backed Shrike tornskate

The next day we headed on to Valdresflye. The journey there gave cracking views of Siberian Jay lavskrike, a pair of Red-backed Shrikes tornskate at a much higher altitude than I ever expected to see them at, Rough-legged Buzzards fjellvåk, Ring Ousels ringtrost and plenty more besides. Perhaps the best sighting was an adult Bar-tailed Godwit lappspove at Ovre Sjodalsvatnet.

Dotterel boltit

Shorelark fjellerke

Young Snow Bunting snøspurv

Stunning scenery....

Valdresflye itself was a bit on the quiet side but good numbers of Dotterel boltit inculding plenty of young birds were very nice to see having heard little other than doom and gloom about the breeding season up north this year. Other species here included Shorelark fjellerke, Snow Buntings snøspurv and more Rough-legged Buzzard fjellvåk.

Østensjøvatnet, Oslo

We finished the trip with a visit to Østensjøvatnet in Oslo where we picked up Green Sandpiper skogsnipe, had point blank views of Reed Warblers rørsanger and added plenty of new species to the trip list.