Øygarden 13.09-17.09.2026 - Good Dad rewards

During this period I was restricted both by work and looking after an absolutely not birding dog.

However, although I am not supersticious, birding karma seems to be a thing - something I call "good dad birds". If I do something nice for my children I am often rewarded with some good birds. This time was no exception.

With Yellow-browed Warbler gulbrynsanger and other goodies at the coast and a Roller blåråke a few hours drive away inland there was obviously plenty of potential. Looking after the dog meant that I had to leave work behind for a bit each day.

On 13th I went off the reservation for a guiding trip which was great fun. Herdla produced a lot of birds, including some of interest. A couple of Curlew Sandpipers tundrasnipe, a Black-throated Diver storlom, two Grey Plover tundralo, two Black-tailed Godwit svarthalespove, at least 10 Bar-tailed Godwit lappspove and a late Wood Sandpiper grønnstilk were among the best sightings here.

A short walk at Hellesøy on 14th produced at least one of the Rosefinches rosenfink that had been reported there on 12th September. A couple of Lapland Buntings lappspurv were also present here, although I only ever saw them in flight.

Common Rosefinch rosenfink at Hellesøy

An even shorter walk at Herdlevær produced nothing much. An obviously unwell Snipe enkeltbekkasin was still too well to catch.

Common Snipe enkeltbekkasin

The only birds of note on the 15th were a couple of Grey Plover tundralo at Tjeldstø where there were a couple of Wheatear steinskvett and a small flock of Wigeon brunnakke.

The dog dragged me around Herdlevær on 16th where a Grey Plover tundralo gave good views, a couple each of Dunlin myrsnipe and Ringed Plover sandlo were present along with two adult White-tailed Eagles havørn. 

Grey Plover tundralo

Ringed Plover sandlo

White-tailed Eagle havørn with prey, Nautnes

A Greenshank gluttsnipe flew over the house at dusk and a White-tailed Eagle havørn flew over the terrace carrying something interesting - perhaps a lumpsucker rognkjeks.

On17th the briefest of checks at Sæle showed there were some migrants about with a few Chiff-chaff gransanger present. Small flocks of Ringed Plover sandlo and Meadow Pipits heipiplerke passed during the morning.

In the afternoon I thought I would be kind and drop the dog off and save my daughter some driving. This paid off very nicely with a relatively early Richard's Pipit tartarpiplerke at Breivik. Grey Plover tundralo, a flock of Golden Plover heilo and a flyover Lapland Bunting lappspurv were among the other species here.

Richard's Pipt tartarpiplerke.

I think this is the first one I have found without hearing it first - and unusually also seen quite well on the ground instead of the usual flyover views. It was very vocal at times.

On the way home I was rewarded with a few Pinkfeet kortnebbgås at Tjeldstø.

Hernar 23 May 2024 - Singing Common Rosefinch

Yet another calm, sunny and very hot day.

I spent the morning on Hernar which was full of activity - unfortunately many small birds remained unidentified as they disappeared into bushes or simply flew off and there was little in the way of overhead migration.

Pretty much the first thing I heard on arrival was the song of Common Rosefinch rosenfink - "pleased to meet you" was a nice welcome to the island. The bird was very mobile, singing a few times before moving on to another song post. After a few hours it finally showed well enough for some decent photos.

Singing Rosefinch rosenfink 

Other sightings included my first Swift tårnseiler of the year and a number of new species for the island for 2024. Sedge Warbler sivsanger, Lesser Whitethroat møller and all the usual suspects put in an appeance

Heavily cropped and distant record shot of the Rosefinch

2cy Rosefinch rosenfink

Hernar 20 May 2022 - Late migrant bonanza:)

 Light SE winds, seafog in the night / early morning, clearing during the morning to a sunny day.

When I got up this morning and took my coffee on the terrace I was in two minds about heading to Hernar - which had been my plan. The low-level sea fog could prove disastrous or it might just have brought some stuff down. However, I made the decision to give it a go and met two other birders in the car park at Hellesøy who were obviously thinking along the same lines.

Late May is a good time for Icterine Warbler gulsanger and Rosefinch rosenfink both of which turned up today. The Icterine Warbler was hard work, making all the right sounds but singing very slowly and being ever so skulky. The Rosefinch dropped in to a bush right in front of me while I was sitting and eating a sandwich. I took a couple of record shots before I started fumbling for my phone to alert the others. During these few seconds it must have flown as it was nowhere to be seen when they arrived. A few hours of manic bush watching and the others finally refound it at the other end of the island.

A decent selection of other migrants included Garden Warbler hagesanger, Spotted Flycatcher gråfluesnapper, a thumbergii Yellow Wagtail såerle and a female Pied Flycatcher svarthvit fluesnapper. In addition to these many of the local breeders had arrived since my previous visit exactly a month ago - Common Whitethroat tornsanger, Sedge Warbler sivsanger and Common Sandpiper strandsnipe were among these.

Two species I missed were Arctic Skua tyvjo and House Martin taksvale, but the others missed several of the species I saw too:)

thumbergii Yellow wagtail såerle

Twite bergirisk

Spotted Flycatcher gråfluesnapper - these are a migrant on Hernar and do not breed there

Song Thrush måltrost, on the other hand, do breed there

2cy male Rosefinch rosenfink

Meadow Pipit heipiplerke

Linnet tornirisk

Garden Warbler hagesanger  - these birds can "look like anything" so the first few seconds of seeing this thing hopping around in cut grass had me going....

Øygarden 22-23 September 2018 - A late update....

On 22 September there were strong winds from the west so I took a late trip to Skogsøy and seawatched for just over an hour. Nothing remarkable seen but 150 Gannets havsule heading north, a couple of Fulmar havhest, several Kittiwake krykkje, 5 Red-throated Diver smålom heading south and three Guillemots lomvi north were seen.

Inevitable Gannet havsule spam

Red-throated Diver smålom

A Peregrine vandrefalk hunted over the house on my return.

Common Sandpiper strandsnipe on the road near my house - a sure sign of the conditions - normally seen on the shore in front of the terrace.....

Oystercatcher tjeld at Hellesøy

Rosefinch rosenfink at Hjelme - patience pays off.

On 23 September I briefly visited a few sites in the north of Øygarden. At Sæle I picked up a Grey Wagtail vinterle, a Chiff-chaff gransanger and a few Blackcap munk among other things. At Hjelme I caught up with the long-staying Rosefinch rosenfink and had a variety of other species including Woodcock rugde and Blackcap munk.

Engerdal, Hedmark 11-16 June 2018

The current trend of not getting any birding time in continues.

During a trip to Engerdal I managed to get out for one quite productive day camping out in the wilds and had a couple of other very short trips out of the house - one of which resulted in a couple of new species for Engerdal kommune - Common Rosefinch rosenfink and Common Whitethroat tornsanger

I also managed to add Parrot Crossbill furukornebb to my Engerdal list - despite the majority of the crossbills seen being Common Crossbill grankorsnebb.

In other respects it was a typical June trip - with Broad-billed Sandpiper fjellmyrløper, Ruff brushane and the usual breeding waders seen. A couple of Short-eared Owls jordugle, Siberian Jays lavskrike and most of the usual species were also seen.

In the "lowlands" things seemed rather quieter than usual but higher up there was at least as much activity as there usually is.

Yellowhammer gulspurv

Thumebergii Yellow Wagtail gulerle

Roding Woodcock rugde

Wood Sandpipers grønnstilk - a very common breeding bird in the area

Siberian Jay lavskrike

Ruff brushane

Little Gull dvergmåke

Goldeneye kvinand with young

Common Rosefinch rosenfink - one of two birds singing at one site - though I only actually saw this one.

Common Crossbill grankorsnebb

Male Brambling bjørkefink

Up close and personal with Broad-billed Sandpiper fjellmyrløper - this image is only very lightly cropped

Displaying Broad-billed Sandpiper fjellmyrløper

Arctic Tern rødnebbterne