Øygarden 01.10-06.10 - tristis time

 On 01 October a quick pre-work sortie to Herdlevær produced a reasonable selection of migrants without anything very special. A Grey Wagtail vintererle, several Chiff-chaff gransanger, a couple of White-tailed Eagles havørn and the usual selection of finches were present. 

The drive to Herdlevær produced the best sighting of the day in the form of a Grey Plover tundralo at Tjeldstø - not often they turn up at fresh water localities out here.

Grey Plover tundralo at Tjeldstø

The next day all I managed was a quick look at Sæle where the usual Blackcaps munk, Chiff-chaff gransanger turned up along with Goldfinches stillits which have become a regular feature and reasonable numbers of migrant thrushes and finches.

A morning spent on Hernar on 03 October was quite productive with two tristis Chiff-chaffs sibirsanger, a couple of Yellow-browed Warbler gulbrynsanger, Water Rails vannrikse, a migrant Great-spotted Woodpecker flaggspett, flyover Lapland Bunting lappsurv, a couple of Grey Wagtails vintererle and a good selection of other migrants. Winter visitors are starting to arrive with Common Scoter svartand, Velvet Scoter sjøorre and Long-tailed Duck havelle showing up.

Two of Bergen's finest full of early morning optimism

A massive seven birders covered the island today

One of two tristis Chiff-chaff sibirsanger on Hernar

Documentation video of the call taken with my mobile phone. The bird shows briefly towards the end:)

The following day I was not out in any meaningful way but a couple of drive-bys to and from the shops produced a calling Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett at Tjeldstø, a small flock of Parrot Crossbills furukorsnebb at Hatten. From the terrace a migrating White Wagtail linerle, Nuthatch spettmeis and a Great Spotted Woodpecker flaggspett were among the sightings.

A strongly marked Herring Gull gråmåke at Dåvøy made me look twice

Parrot Crossbills furukorsnebb at Hatten

A couple of hours seawatching at Skogsøy on 06 October proved quite productive with a male Scaup bergand heading south and a Little Stint dvergsnipe feeding with three Sanderling sandløper as the highlights. Passage wise there were plenty of Gannets havsule, Red-throated Divers smålom, small numbers of Common Scoter svartand, Velvet Scoter sjøorre and a light passage of gulls including several Lesser Black-backed Gulls sildemåke.

Common Scoter svartand

A way too common sight - Gannet havsule with fishing line attached

Lesser Black-backed Gull sildemåke

Red-throated Divers smålom

Øygarden 11-17 November 2023 - Crossbills can be difficult

 The calm weather with light easterlies continues.

On 11 October I spent the entire day outside, only the morning birding, the rest of the day was spent changing to winter tyres, doing stuff in the garden and fishing:)

Breivik and Herdlevær produced the usual suspects with highlight being a flock of 11 Jackdaw kaie which dropped in briefly, an uncommon migrant here November is one of the best months to see this species. Several Snipe enkeltbekkasin, lots of Crossbills korsnebb, small flocks of Redwings rødvingetrost and the usual stuff. Obviously some movement over the sea too with Common Scoter svartand and Red-throated Divers smålom on the move.

Some years I have thought that I can separate Parrot furukorsnebb and Common Crossbills grankorsnebb on call. This might have been true at times but this year it seems impossible. Most flocks I have been able to identify this autumn have been single species flocks but a group of Crossbills at Breivik seemed to be a mixture.

Common Crossbill grankorsnebb

Common Crossbill grankorsnebb

Parrot Crossbill furukorsnebb

Fishing gave me a new fish species in the form of a couple of Hake lysing!

The next day was also spent outside:) Skogsøy in the morning, fishing in the afternoon:)

A couple of hours spent seawatching showed that there seemed to be less passing than yesterday but a couple of Great Northern Diver islom, a few Little Auk alkekonge and "plenty" of Kittiwake krykkje meant it was quite worthwhile.

Great Northern Diver islom

Red-throated Diver smålom

A male Teal krikkand with Mallard stokkand at Husvatnet on the way home

On Monday 13 November it was back to work but I spent a couple of hours visiting various localities. A Willow Tit granmeis at Hatten was the first I've had in Øygarden this year:) Otherwise Jay nøtteskrike, Woodpigeon ringdue, small numbers of Waxwing sidensvans and a Slav Grebe horndykker were the highlights. Still flocks of up to 30 Redwing rødvingetrost around.

Jay nøtteskrike at Hjelme

Wren gjerdesmett at Sæle

The next day I was not out at all but clocked up a Hawfinch kjernebiter flying over my house and a Velvet Scoter sjøorre also flew over:)

Whoopers sangsvane at Kollsnes

The rest of the week was spent away from home and/or working but a female Blackcap munk turned up in the garden again for a couple of days.

Øygarden 18-21 October 2023 - Welcome home

I arrived home from the airport around 1500 on the 18th, unpacked and sat down to start work. It didn't take long before I noticed a message on the local bird alert about a Barred Warbler hauksanger at Sæle which is very close to home indeed (had I not intended to work I had thought about going there). The bird performed quite nicely, although having not used a DSLR for a year it took way too long to remember how to set up my newly purchased second hand 7D MK2. Bullfinch dompap, Waxwing sidensvans, Goldfinch stillits and more also put in an appearance here.

Initially I managed better pictures with my point and pray...

Always something in the way

Target acquired.....

photo-bombed by a wasp

First year Barred Warbler hauksanger

On Thursday 19 October I went to Hernar for the morning with a couple of other birders. Tactically it could have been a challenging day had I been on my own - there were A LOT of birds on the move but not much on the deck. Fairly quickly I chose to sit it out on a high point, exposed to the strong easterly wind. Although this proved to be the correct choice I'm not sure I would have done this without other birders doing the rounds.....

Flocks of Fieldfare gråtrost, Redwing rødvingetrost and Redpoll gråsisik passed constantly. It was really a vis mig kind of day with all kinds of stuff passing. Highlight was a Hen Harrier myrhauk but probably the best bird in a Hernar context was a female Scaup bergand that flew right over - a new species for the island😀 Still re-learning a proper camera I failed to capture what could have been excellent images:). Migrating Jack Snipe kvartbekkasin, a very late Arctic Tern rødbebbterne, Peregrine vandrefalk, a Bullfinch dompap, Velvet Scoter sjøorre, Parrot Crossbill furukorsnebb, a late Bar-tailed Godwit lappspove  and more meant that there was never a dull moment. Even with three birders sitting together different stuff was picked up depending on who was looking where. Well in excess of 50 species logged.

Two birders on the way to Hernar (photo Harald Totland)

Bar-tailed Godwit lappspove

Blackbird svarttrost, many feeding on the island and more passing over

Migrant Male Bullfinch dompap

This flock is mostly Common Scoter svartand with a Velvet Scoter sjøorre and a Long-tailed Duck havelle accompanying them

Hen Harrier myrhauk, luckily Oddvar did better:)

Bull-necked, thick billed and with the mandibles not crossing this Parrot Crossbill furukorsnebb spent some time hanging around

First year Peregrine vandrefalk

Female Scaup bergand

On the way back to Hellesøy we picked up to pale waders with wing bars, it is very tempting to think that these were Grey Phalaropes polarsvømmesnipe but they were not really claimable. Even more frustratng was a pipit that flew over which sounded dead on for Pechora Pipit tundrapiplerke. As soon as we got off the boat we tried to relocate the waders and heard the distinctive call a few times. Despite some searching we could not relocate the bird and typically I had a meeting I had to attend....

Friday saw me locked to the computer all day, although during a Teams meeting I glanced out of the window to see a Goshawk hønsehauk flying over and there was a noticeable influx of Blue Tits blåmeis. In the evening the Northern Lights put on a bit of a show.

Northern Lights from my terrace 20th October.

The point and pray does as well with Northern Lights as it does with Dark-sided Flycatcher:)

On 21 October I did my usual round at Herdlevær. Best bird was a White-billed Diver gulnebblom heading south along with a decent movement of Common Scoter svartand. Several Long-tailed Duck havelle accompnied one of the scoter flocks. A Lesser Black-backed Gull sildemåke, a Kittiwake krykkje and a few Red-throated Diver smålom also flew south.

Other sightings of interest included 20 Waxwing sidensvans at Skjold and a Tree Sparrow pilfink in my garden,