Øygarden 01 March 2018 - Cracking weather unless you have a long probing bill

Freezing calm and sunny.

Fantastic weather for humans, less so for those creatures who like to find their food in the upper layer of the soil. Calm and sunny but frozen. It did not feel cold but it never got warm enough to thaw much even in the middle of the day.

Took a lazy walk at Skogsøy but the lagoons which were the target area today were pretty much frozen. Just a couple of Whoopers sangsvane along with the usual duck. Over the sea a solitary Gannet havsule, a single White-tailed Eagle havørn and not a lot else were to be seen.

Fieldfare gråtrost

Redwing rødvingetrost

Starling stær - probably a returning migrant and quite possibly the only time this year I will bother photographing this rather photogenic species.

A drive-by at Herdlevær gave perhaps the best photographic opportunities of the day with Starling stær, Redwing rødvingetrost and Fieldfare gråtrost feeding on a patch of ground that looked like it had a chance of thawing.

Snipe enkeltbekkasin are having a hard time of things now

Most of the Whooper sangsvane family

Whoopers sangsvane

Tjeldstø was rather better with a family of Whoopers sangsvane, at least two Woodcock rugde, a Snipe enkeltbekkasin, a fly-over Greylag grågås and many of the usual suspects.

Another Woodcock rugde turned up very close to my house at Nautnes. They will start dying very soon if the weather remains as cold as is forecast.....

Øygarden 31.01 - 02.02.2018 - Bits and bobs

Fieldfare gråtrost

Redwing rødvingetrost

Part of the Fieldfare gråtrost flock feeding in the snow

Three of the four albifrons Whitefronts tundragås

Rain and snow on the last day of January combined with a heavy workload meant I limited things to a drive-by at Tjeldstø. Plenty of thrushes feeding in the fields and four albifrons Whitefront tundragås at Harkestad were pretty much the only sightings.

Crested Tit toppmeis - a common woodland bird that I don't tend to photograph very much

Tufted Duck toppand

Whitefront tundragås

I try not to take too many White-tailed Eagle havørn photographs but it would have been downright rude to ignore this poser

February started with very nice conditions indeed - calm and sunny with some frost. A quick trip out to Hjelme Vest produced pretty much the usual with a few Great Northern Divers islom, a couple of Kittiwake krykkje feeding, a few Black Guillemots teist and several White-tailed Eagles havørn among the sightings. Long-tailed Duck havelle now up to more than 40 birds - pathetic numbers compared to relatively few years ago.

An aythya duck at Husvatnet fooled me for a while and needed closer inspection - it turned out to be a Tufted Duck toppand. However, the effort was not wasted as some Whitefronts tundragås flew in right over my head.

Parrot Crossbill furukorsnebb weightlifting

Razorbill alke

A quick walk at Skogsøy in stunning conditions on 2nd February gave little out of the ordinary - at least three White-tailed Eagle havørn, a Great Northern Diver islom and a massive eight Gannet havsule heading north. A Razorbill alke was feeding close in and some Parrot Crossbills furukorsnebb put in an appearance.

Øygarden 28 October 2017 - The X factor

Strong northerly winds with occasional short showers.

Male Parrot Crossbill furukorsnebb showing wingbar

Female Parrot Crossbill furukorsnebb

Male Two-barred Crossbill båndkorsnebb

It is not often I see all three crossbill species in one day but Øygarden is heaving with crossbills at the moment. Parrot Crossbill furukorsnebb were the dominant species today with a number of flocks seen - at least two of them numbering 20. Some mixed flocks too - the first flock I got onto today was seven Parrot Crossbill furukorsnebb with one Two-barred Crossbill bånkorsnebb - a cracking male. It did not give the typical trumpet call of the species but when the flock flew it went in the opposite direction and right over where I was standing - the flight call was typical of the species and obviously different from the other crossblls heard today. Other flocks contained a mixed bag of Common Crossibll grankorsnebb and Parrots.

Yellow-legged Gull gubeinmåke at Tjeldstø

The Yellow-legged Gull gulbeinmåke, which some have doubted the ID of,  turned up at Tjeldstø again. I only managed a few distant shots but it is obvious that P9 and P10 have almost grown back in again. A very easy bird to pick out from the crowd for a number of reasons.

Lots of Redwings rødvingetrost feeding in the fields now

The only other migrants were Redwings rødvingetrost with flocks feeding on the ground at a few places - most berries have already been cleaned out. A flock of eight Meadow Pipits heipiperke at Breivik proved that there is still some migration going on.

Other stuff included a several White-tailed Eagles havørn, all juveniles, Willow Tits granmeis and many of the usual suspects.

Herdlevær 10 November 2016 - Dead interesting

Although only a degree or two up from the last few days it felt a lot warmer.

Dead deer hjort - obviously someone has had a successful hunting season....

Remains of Snipe enkeltbekkasin

...and Woodcock rugde

The cold weather has obviously made some things easier for predators to catch, there was quite a bit of dead stuff about today including a Snipe enkeltbekkasin and a Woodcock rugde. These, along with other recently killed birds makes it looks like there is a raptor living the dream at Herdlevær....

Still quite a few Common Gull fiskemåke present - won't be long before these disappear and the species becomes hard to find in Øygarden. Crazy as large numbers overwinter in Bergen.

Small numbers of Common Scoter svartand around but no real movement

Linnet tornirisk

Redwing rødvingetrost

Shag toppskarv - so common it tends to get a bit neglected from the photo side of things

One of a couple of Snipe enkeltbekkasin that were still alive

What would have been a nice shot of Wren gjerdesmett had it not been for the fence

However, there were quite a few birds still very much alive. The most unusual sighting was the first November record of Linnet tornirisk for Øygarden. Otherwise is was very much the usual November fare with Red-throated Diver smålom, Long-tailed Duck havelle, a couple of Snipe enkeltbekkasin and so on.

Two male Scaup bergand

Scaup bergand (front right), Tufted Duck toppand (front left) and Wigeon brunnakke (back)

Two Scaup bergand and two Tufted Duck toppand

Two Tufted Duck toppand in the middle with Scaup bergand on either side

Drive-bys at Tjeldstø and Alvheim produced a few Scaup bergand and five other species of duck.

Early morning Razorbill alke at Nautnes

A Razorbill alke swam past the terrace early in the morning.