Dåvøy and Nautnes 19 February 2024 - More signs of spring

Damp and grey day to start with, clearing up nicely after I got home.

I had to purchase some items that required me to go half way into the city today - Ågotnes. I stopped in at a site close to the shops where a colour ringed Moorehen sivhøne was present. This bird was rescued at Mongstad in late 2022 and after being cleaned up from oil it was ringed and released. Nice to see it doing well. A pair of Mute Swans knoppsvane tried to keep a few Whoopers sangsvane away at the same site.

The Moorehen sivhøne at Kårtveit. Rather skulky it kept hidden most of the time.

A drive-by at Dåvøy on the way home produced a real surprise it the form of a very early Lesser Black-backed Gull sildemåke, winter records need to be documented around here so I took a few photos. It does look very black indeed but apparently within the range of intermedius. The unusual date did ring an alarm bell or two though...

A rather black looking Lesser Black-backed Gull sildemåke

A very early date and hardly surprisingly the first in the county this year

Heron gråhegre feeding by the roadside

Back home I went out to fill the bird feeders and the first Skylark sanglerke of the year flew over purposely heading north.  Sparrowhawk spurvehauk, Guillemot lomvi, White-tailed Eagle havørn and the usual also seen from the terrace.

Øygarden 19 November - Northerly gale and another new for the year

 Strong northerly gale with short hailstorms.

Started at Hellesøy where gulls were feeding in the high winds, mostly Herring Gulls gråmåke but a couple of Kittiwake krykkje and a few Common Gulls fiskemåke with them. At least two White-tailed Eagle havørn here.

Redwing rødvingetrost at Herdlevær

Scaup bergand at Herdlevær

Next up was a family walk at Herdlevær, here the wind was if anything even stronger. A female Scaup bergand was one of the very few birds seen here although a few Redwing rødvingetrost, a Snipe enkeltbekkasin and a Sparrowhawk spurvehauk were among the sightings.

Lots of Blackbirds svarttrost and Starling stær flocks pretty much all over.

First year Moorehen sivhøne on Blomvatnet

Best bird today was the first Moorehen sivhøne of the year on Blomvatnet.

Common Scoter svartand at Nautnes

A few Common Scoter svartand were "surfing" in front of the house when I got home.

Herdlevær and Tjeldstø 14 April 2019 - Local rarity

Another glorious calm and sunny day.

I stayed in bed late - around 0630 - and went to Herdlevær for breakfast. There was again a steady, if distant, passage of the usual suspects. At least four Guillemots lomvi were on the sea but not much of note. Most of the usual migrants noted here including a couple of Chiff-chaff gransanger

I stopped for a coffee at Tjeldstø on the way home and spent some time watching the area to get an idea of how many Lapwing vipe and Curlew storspove pairs there were. A bare minimum of three pairs of each with a likely fourth pair for both.

Shortly before beer o'clock I noticed that the Moorehen sivhøne that was reported at Tjeldstø on FB some days ago had been seen by visiting birders. Needless to say beer o'clock was delayed and good views of this locally relatively rare bird were obtained.

Soon peak season for Moorehen in Øygarden - though perhaps aided by the fact more birders are out and about from mid April onwards?

Moorehen sivhøne

I phone scoped a short video. This is (obviously) hand-held without an adaptor, but still does the job. Maybe I should go for the adaptor soon...

Nautnes and Blomvatnet 05 December 2017 - Calm after the storm pays off.

Strong onshore winds and rain for most of the daylight hours today.

Moorehen sivhøne

Above and below: Female Scaup bergand (right hand bird) together with four Tufted Duck toppand and a Goldeneye kvinand

Four Tufted Duck toppand

Still too much to do to be out and about but whilst running errands I popped in at Blomvatnet - this proved quite successful with the first Moorehen sivhøne of the winter (and the year for that matter) - quite possibly a returning bird from the east of the country. A female Scaup bergand was another good find here. Otherwise it was just four Tufted Duck toppand along the usual Goldeneyes kvinand, Mallard stokkand etc.

Very often I am almost surprised how many birds there are about as soon as the weather calms down - today was yet another example of this.

Around 1430 I noticed the wind had dropped and it had stopped raining and whilst waiting for several pages of work documents to go through my scanner I looked out of the window to see what I have looked for many times before - a Hawk Owl haukugle sitting in trees a fair distance off. I managed to confirm the observation in the scope but it flew before a camera could be brought to bear....Species 131 from the house:) Also in the area a couple of Willow Tit granmeis and a small flock of Parrot Crossbill grankorsnebb.

Not bad going to get two new for the year in Øygarden on a bad weather day in early December!

Herdlevær 08 March 2015 - Also on the right side of the country

Light westerlies becoming progressively sunnier throughout the day.

'

Record shot of the Moorehen - cropped from the already cropped version below where the bird just about be seen in the left-hand side of the picture.

First stop was Blomvatnet where the long-staying Moorehen sivhøne gave itself up. This bird may well have chosen to move to Øygarden from Oslo (or somewhere else in the east of the country). Fascinating stuff that a colour ringed bird in Bergen has been seen in Oslo in the breeding season. More info on this here.

At Herdlevær the only new birds seen on the usual walk were a small flock of Meadow Pipits heipiplerke flying over.

A brief look at Tjeldstø showed increases in the number of Lapwing vipe and Greylags grågås in as well as a small flock of Oystercatcher tjeld and a fly-over Skylark sanglerke. Other stuff here inlcuded a flock of around 40 Fieldfare gråtrost.

At least 70 Starling stær at Breivik and a Woodpigeon ringdue at Oen was further evidence that stuff is arriving.

Øygarden 20 April 2014 - Moorehen

Stunning weather!

Moorehen sivhøne at Tjeldstø

Highlight was a Moorehen sivhøne on Husvatnet - a barely annual species in Øygarden but mid April at Tjeldstø is the time and place to get this bird.

Migrating Red-throated Divers smålom

An hours seawatching at Skogsøy between 1200-1300 showed that there was a fair bit of migration today. A total of 45 Red-throated Diver smålom and 66 Common Scoter svartand headed north along with small numbers of Common Gull fiskemåke and Black-headed Gull hettemåke.

Twite bergirisk in the garden

Grilling in the garden at Nautnes in the afternoon gave superb views of a couple of Twite bergirisk - the first time I have ever seen this species at a feeder and another new for the house list.

Øygarden 17 January 2012

Southerly winds and overcast.

Moorehen sivhøne at Blomvåg

The Moorehen sivhøne was still present at Blomvåg.

At Tjeldstø good birds included a Goshawk hønsehauk, a single Greylag grågås and a Starling stær.

A walk in the woods beside Storevatnet produced little other than a Woodcock rugde.

Breivik 09 January 2012 - Iceland Gull

Southerly with heavy rain most of the day.

Work and familiy commitments meant there was virtually no time out and about today.

 Above and below: record shots of the adult Iceland Gull grønlandsmåke at Breivik

However, picked up the elusive Moorehen sivhøne at Blomvåg during some errands and later in the day a quick stroll at Breivik produced a cracking adult Iceland Gull grønlandsmåke feeding in the fields. Little else seen.

Øygarden 06 January 2012

Light northerly with occasional showers.

Rather little about considering the relatively good conditions.

Gannet havsule at Hjelme Vest

Hjelme Vest was again crushingly disappointing, just a few Gannets havsule and several Kittiwake krykkje of note. Very few duck and precious little else on the sea.

Much the same story pretty much everywhere I went today.

Things were somewhat better at Tjeldstø with a flock of three Greylags grågås the first of the year. Other birds inlcuded a Snipe enkeltbekkasin and a Great-spotted Woodpecker flaggspett.

Elsewhere in Øygarden the Moorehen sivhøne was seen again at Blomvåg.

Øygarden 17 December 2011 - Moorehen

Relatively calm and mild. Light rain in the afternoon.

Whooper Swans sangsvane at Tjeldstø

An unforgivable camera battery mix-up meant that the eight rossicus Bean Geese sædgås, the Great Whitefront tundragås and a Pinkfoot kortnebbgås went unphotographed at close range and in good light. It was good to see a small flock of Whoopers sangsvane in the reserve. Other birds inlcuded 10+ Starling stær and Common Crossbills grankorsnebb.

Record shot of the Moorehen sivhøne

A tip-off about a Moorehen sivhøne at Blomvatnet meant a slight diversion to pick up this hard to get Øygarden species - the last time I saw Moorehen in Øygarden was in November 2005.

A stroll at Herdlevær produced nothing out of the ordinary - the highlight being a party of three Snipe enkeltbekkasin.