Øygarden 11-12 October 2025 - Let the games begin

The start of a few days off and some days of getting out birding😊

Light westerly winds on 11th October had me trying Skogsøy again in case there was some movement over the sea. This proved rather disappointing with just a few Great Northern Divers islom, a couple of Velvet Scoter sjøorre and small numbers of Gannets havsule and Kittiwake krykkje.

On the way home I checked a few localities. Breivik produced a few Jack Snipe kvartbekkasin, several Common Snipe enkeltbekasin, a flock of 9 Parrot Crossbill furukorsnebb and the 18 Taiga Bean Geese taigasædgås.

Sæle was hard going with everything being rather skulky but Chiff-chaff gransanger, Blackcap munk, 30 Redwing rødvingetrost and the usual were present.

A late Oystercatcher tjeld was pretty much in the garden when I returned home. Other stuff included good numbers of tits, Siskin grønnsisik, Goldfinch stillits and a variety of thrushes.

Sunday 12th October was sunny with light northerly winds and I spent the day birding in good company. Starting with "Herdlevær light" things felt quiet but there was a good variety of birds included a real surprise in the form of a Sandwich Tern splitterne heading over calling and out to sea - something of a rarity these parts and no doubt a victim of Amy. Bullfinches dompap were on the move as were a few Grey Wagtails vintererle.

Breivik was up next and a frustrating fly over pipit sounded very like Pechora. No claiming going on though. A Lesser Spotted Woodpecker dvergspett was quite vocal, Skylark sanglerke, a Pinkfoot kortnebbgås with several Greylag grågås, at least one Goshawk hønsehauk, a Twite bergirisk, 12 Parrot Crossbill furukorsnebb and 32 flyover Crossbill spp were among the sightings.

Over exposed Twite bergirisk at Breivik

At Tjeldstø another Grey Wagtail vintererle, several Sparrowhawk spurvehauk heading south, another Twite bergirisk and a variety of other migrants were seen.

A Yellow-browed Warbler gulbrynsanger at Sæle was the best of the birds there but there were a number of other migrants including Chiff-chaff gransanger, Blackcap munk and Willow Tit granmeis.

Chiff-chaff gransanger at Sæle

The only YBW gulbryn of the autumn for me thus far.....

The next three days were also spent birding so in effect this was the first part of my autumn birding.

Øygarden 12.10-16.10.2024 - Salvaging the autumn

Work continues to be relentless - next year I will book holiday - I was naive enough to think I could take leave after the offshore trip a few weeks back but this was absolutely not the case.

So it continued as situation normal  - grabbing an hour or two outside most days.

On 12th October it was rather wet but I did my usual round at Herdlevær without anything of great interest. A Dunlin myrsnipe resting on the shore was probably the best find

The next day was again rather wet. I started in the north of Øygarden. A flock of 70 Woodpigeon ringdue at Hjelme was a large flock for these parts. A message regarding a Red-breasted Flycatcher dvergfluesnapper at Herdlevær (thanks Bert!) meant that I headed there and after a long search in the rain we finally connected with it - rather flighty probably due to the fact it was chased by Robins rødstrupe whenever it showed itself. Yellow-browed Warblers gulbrynsanger showed well - at least four present with two close to the flycatcatcher and another two at the other end of the island. Several Blackcap munk and Chiff-chaff gransanger also around.

Part of a flock of Greylag Geese grågås that headed south during the hunt for the flycatcher

Female Mallard stokkand with Wigeon brunnakke in the background - ducks love flooded fields:)

Mallards stokkand in a flooded field at Tjeldstø

Starling stær eating berries at Hellesøy - the main reason there are no berries left out here at the coast for the interesting stuff that like to eat berries later in the autumn / winter

Wigeon brunnakke feeding in a flooded field at Tjeldstø

Nice shot of some sycamore seeds....

Obviously finding plenty to eat:)

Yellow-browed Warblers gulbrynsanger at Herdlevær

On 14th October I was barely out of the house but during a five minute stop at Breivik I clearly heard a calling Richard's Pipit tartarpiplerke three times, but having not actually seen the bird felt that I couldn't claim it. A species that seems to have become rarer in recent years....

A couple of White-tailed Eagles havørn over my terrace were a distraction during one of the many meetings that day....

Same story the following day, had to make do with a Blackcap munk in my garden and a few species of dabbling duck at Tjeldstø.

I left Øygarden on 16th October but two five minute stops along the way produced two Jack Snipe kvartbekkasin at Tjeldstø and a Richard's Pipit tartarpiplerke at Breivik - quite possibly the same bird from a couple of days earlier. This time it called repeatedly and I managed a few short but decent flight views. Otherwise a couple of Rock Pipit skjærpiplerke in my garden.

Wren gjerdesmett at Tjeldstø

Øygarden 07.10-11.10 Barred Warbler and more

 On 07 October all I managed was a very brief visit to Sæle whch resulted in several Blackcap munk and a couple of Chiff-chaff gransanger in the way of migrants. Several Goldfinch stillits and a flock of 50 Brambling bjørkefink were also present.

The next day was another day of not birding though a couple of White-tailed Eagles havørn and a Swallow låvesvale were seen from the terrace. A couple of Tufted Duck toppand turned up on Husvatnet together with several Wigeon brunnakke in the evening.

No birding on 09 October either but picked up a couple of Stonechat svartstrupe during routine errands.

Male Stonechat svartstrupe

On 10 October I managed to get out for an hour or two but only picked up a Purple Sandpiper fjæreplytt at Solberg as the first of the autumn. At Hjelme a tristis Chiff-chaff sibirgransanger was very vocal, gave good but brief views and refused to be photographed. Back home a flock of four Oystercatcher tjeld together with a Purple Sandpiper fjæreplytt were a nice observation from the terrace.

White-tailed Eagle havørn at Tjeldstø before the sun came up

tristis Chiff-chaff calling

A day of guiding on 11 October was great fun and shows what is actually around if one can get out birding:)

We started at Turøy with just the usual suspects present but White-tailed Eagle havørn and a Blackcap munk showed up. Next up was Herdlevær where a couple of Yellow-browed Warblers gulbrynsanger gave good views. Bonus birds here were a flock of 37 Barnacle Geese hvitkinngås heading south. A good variety of the usual autumn migrants were also seen here along with a couple more White-tailed Eagles havørn. A Stonechat svartstrupe at Kollsnes was the first I've seen at this locality for quite some time. We tried to do Tjeldstø but a message about a Barred Warbler hauksanger at Sæle meant we had to move on rather more quickly than intended. It was a rather skulky bird which gave good but all to brief views most of the time - it took a while before I managed some reasonable shots with the point and pray:) After this it was off to Hjelme where the tristis Chiff-chaff was still present and just as unphotographable as the previous day. A few Common Crossbill grankorsnebb, another White-tailed Eagle havørn and a decent flock of Woodpigeon ringdue were among the other species seen here.

The first attempts at photos of the Barred Warbler hauksanger looked like this

...but finally it gave some good views for more than a few seconds

Øygarden 24.09-30.09.2024 - High hopes

I was quite optimistic to be home in Øygarden during the last week of September. Work put a massive brake on things as usual, there were plenty of birds about but nothing mega.

A couple of hours out on 24.09 produced just a few late(ish) Ruff brushane at Brevik, some decent flocks of Starling stær, Chiff-chaffs gransanger, Blackcaps munk and the usual.

Two of the three Ruff brushane at Breivik

I found this Toad in a bucket on my terrace, no idea how it managed to climb in or how long it had been there but I set it free in the garden where I hope it will eat a few pests before it hibernates:)

The next day I did my usual round at Herdlevær where things were quiet until they weren't. I'd seen little of note until a Snow Bunting snøspurv turned up right in front of me. As soon as I started trying to take pictures a Merlin dvergfalk and a Grey Wagtail vintererle flew over simultaneously, closely followed by a Grey Plover tundralo. Back home to work where I had a Jay nøtteskrike flying over, a Grey Plover tundralo on the shore and a White-tailed Eagle havørn.

Grey Plover tundralo at Nautnes

Snow Bunting snøspurv at Herdlevær

On 26 September I spent the morning on Hernar - WAY too long since I last managed to get there. My first Yellow-browed Warbler gulbrynsanger of the autumn was the best bird. There was plenty to see with good numbers of Brambling bjørkefink (100+), Twite bergrisik (30++), a Water Rail vannrikse or two, most of the usual thrushes and finches, a couple of Grey Wagtail vintererle, several Reed Bunting sivspurv, a couple of Swallows låvesvale and plenty more. A great morning in great company with Bert de Bruin and Roald Hatten:)

After this I was not really out in any meaningful way.

Herdlevær 05 October - BOOM! And then some:) 1st for Norway and 2nd for WP

I often think birding is a rather random thing, the choice of where one goes, when one goes and even the direction one looks in all play a part.

Although I do not twitch at all I have tried to remove one part of the randomness - I live in a place where rarities can and do turn up. Apart from that all bets are off.

Yesterday evening I looked at recent sightings and the weather forecast. As usual at this time of year "everyone else" was reporting an endless string of rarities and scarce migrants. Even a Red-eyed Vireo rødøyevireo not that far north of Øygarden. All I've managed this autumn is to catch up with a Woodchat Shrike røhodevarsler found at Herdlevær and a few of the expected Yellow-browed Warblers gulbrynsanger, also at Herdlevær.

Calm winds and clear skies implied that stuff could well clear out but the chances of some reasonable vis-mig were high.

When rarity hunting I normally opt for the island of Hernar, also close by and Thursdays are a good day to do this as there is a boat home at midday so it doesn't need to eat up a whole day. This would normally have been option one, however:

a) I had visited earlier in the week without any luck on the rarity front and nothing dramatic had happened with the weather. 

b) I also (correctly) assumed the island would be covered by others

So I went elsewhere. This was also partly due to the fact I had a plane to catch in the afternoon and needed to sort some stuff out before I left.

I opted for Herdlevær and did my usual round thinking it would only take a couple of hours and I'd be back home in plenty of time to pack and sort stuff out. Maybe even get some work in too. How wrong could I be!

The usual round turned out quite nicely picking up my first local Ring Ousel ringtrost and Yellowhammers gulspurv of the year and enjoying the influx of Goldcrests fuglekonge and other migrants that must have turned up overnight. The calls of Fieldfare gråtrost, Redwing rødvingetrost, Brambling bjørkefink and Twite bergirisk and other species were heard more or less constantly and a nice Red-throated Diver smålom fed close in so all in all a decent enough day. 

I had just picked up a Yellow-browed Warbler gulbrynsanger when I met Bert de Bruin, an Øygarden regular. We chatted for a bit, even mentioned the lucky streak some other birders seem to be on at the moment (EA, you know who you are). We also mentioned that this goes in cycles and it will be our turn again sometime, we just had no idea about how close our time would be:). I felt the first Gull-billed Tern sandterne for the county that I found back in late June counted for something and left it at that.

We headed back towards our cars birding as we went. On the second last garden before we were done I picked up a flycatcher low down in an oak, called it as a Spotted and then immediately said there was something off and the game was on. The bird kept disappearing but we knew we had to see more and hopefully obtain some photos. After many nerve-wracking minutes we re-found it, saw it quite well and I managed to take a few record shots.

This did not help much as it was nothing like anything on the conventional radar. We discussed the possibility of a recently fledged Spotted but Bert kept coming back to Dark-sided (or Siberian) Flycatcher. I was rapidly running out of time, felt I had good enough shots to sort things out later, and didn't want to set birding Norway in motion for something stupid. I said my goodbyes and left, thinking I would look at the images later and release if they looked good for something. Bert, however, had one last look at his images before driving home and put it out there.

Long story short after uploading some images and having a quick skim through some literature it turned out to be a Dark-sided Flycatcher gråflankefluesnapper.

As EA wrote - this is likely to be the rarest bird we will see in our lifetimes on our home turf:)

I'm not going to get into the ID nitty gritty now, but all the features (undertail coverts, extent of yellow on the underside of the bill, eyering, wing length etc) fit and it looks like a good record. Various sources have assisted the ID too - big thanks for that!!

Dark-sided Flycatcher gråflankefluesnapper

The following pictures probably won't even be looked at but would have normally constituted enough for a normal posting:

"Peek a boo"

Goldcrests fuglekonge are very energetic and always on the move. So quite happy that I managed even these images with my point and pray. Shutter lag is a bitch if one is used to using a DSLR:)

First year Red-throated Diver smålom. Always a favourite with me:)

Also-rans today also included Grey Wagtail vinterle.

Øygarden 29.09-04.10 Some migrants at last!

After a couple of days at work in Aberdeen I was back home again. 

A  quick look at Sæle on 29.09 proved quite productive with the highlight being a 1cy Arctic Redpoll polarsisik - no photos as it disappeared too quickly but the white rump and unstreaked undertail coverts were seen. Other birds included my first local Garden Warblers hagesanger of the year and several Blackcap munk.

A Goshawk hønsehauk hunted past the home office window later in the day.

On 30th September I gave Skogsøy a go in, to put it mildly, challenging conditions. A strong onshore wind and showers didn't help and the birds were mostly flying either a long way out or with their backs to me or both. Several flocks of Red-throated Diver smålom and a flock of Barnacle Geese hvitkingås headed south as did a probable large shearwater, pale back and dark wings were the only features noted.

A flock of 30 Purple Sandpipers fjæreplytt at Tjeldstø were the first of the autumn for me whilst a Woodcock rugde at Hjelme was probably one of the local breeders.

It was a different story on 1st October with (finally) some passerines on the move. As I took my morning coffee on the terrace I had my first local Grey Wagtail vintererle and Bramblings bjørkefink passing over. 

I spent the morning out and about doing my usual round at Herdlevær first - here at least two Yellow-browed Warbler gulbrynsanger, a Yellow Wagtail gulerle, Whinchat buskskvett, Blackcaps munk, Garden Warbler hagesanger, Wheatear steinskvett, Common Sandpiper strandsnipe, Chiff-chaff gransanger and Reed Bunting sivspurv were among the many migrants noted. Flocks of finches and Meadow Pipits heipiplerke passed overhead constantly.

Whinchat buskskvett

Next up was Breivik which was fairly quiet - but flocks of Chaffinch bokfink and Meadow Pipits heipiplerke continued to pass. The usual Snipe enkeltbekkassin and Skylark sanglerke were also present.

At Tjeldstø a young White-tailed Eagle havørn gave good views as did a Dunlin myrsnipe together with two Golden Plover heilo. The first Goldeneye kvinand of the autumn also turned up here.

Dunlin myrsnipe with Golden Plover heilo

Young White-tailed Eagle havørn at Tjeldstø

On Monday I took the day off work and made an all too infrequent trip to Hernar. The southerly winds were rather stronger than forecast but there were plenty of birds about at least during the morning. Things tailed off after lunch and birds became harder to find. One interesting warbler evaded ID as it flew up from the grass and disappeared into sitka spruce never to be seen again - quite possibly a Reed Warbler rørsanger.

Birds that I did manage to identify included the first Tree Sparrows pilfink (a flock of six) for the island this year along with a female House Sparrow gråspurv which hung around for a bit. Migrants included several small flocks of Brambling bjørkefink, a Merlin dvergfalk, several Blackcap munk, a Willow Warbler løvsanger, a  Chiff-chaff gransanger, a few flyover Skylark sanglerke and a feeding Ruff brushane. Small numbers of Twite bergirisk remained, five White-tailed Eagle havørn simultaneously, the long-staying Great spotted Woodpecker flaggspett and a passage of Common Gulls fiskemåke, Lesser Black-backed Gulls sildemåke and Red-throated Diver smålom were among the other sightings.

Female House Sparrow gråspurv - an island rarity - probably not even annual on Hernar

Just one Linnet tornirisk left on the island

Ruff brushane

Didn't really leave the house on Tuesday and concentrated on work.

A walk at Breivik on 04 October was quite productive with at least four Jack Snipe kvartbekkassin, 10 Common Snipe enkeltbekkassin, Goldfinch stillits and more.

On the way home Tjeldstø produced no less than three Pintail stjertand. Sæle held at least five Blackcap munk and a couple of Chiff-chaff gransanger.

Pintails stjertand on Husvatnet