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.

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.