Øygarden 01.10-06.10 - tristis time

 On 01 October a quick pre-work sortie to Herdlevær produced a reasonable selection of migrants without anything very special. A Grey Wagtail vintererle, several Chiff-chaff gransanger, a couple of White-tailed Eagles havørn and the usual selection of finches were present. 

The drive to Herdlevær produced the best sighting of the day in the form of a Grey Plover tundralo at Tjeldstø - not often they turn up at fresh water localities out here.

Grey Plover tundralo at Tjeldstø

The next day all I managed was a quick look at Sæle where the usual Blackcaps munk, Chiff-chaff gransanger turned up along with Goldfinches stillits which have become a regular feature and reasonable numbers of migrant thrushes and finches.

A morning spent on Hernar on 03 October was quite productive with two tristis Chiff-chaffs sibirsanger, a couple of Yellow-browed Warbler gulbrynsanger, Water Rails vannrikse, a migrant Great-spotted Woodpecker flaggspett, flyover Lapland Bunting lappsurv, a couple of Grey Wagtails vintererle and a good selection of other migrants. Winter visitors are starting to arrive with Common Scoter svartand, Velvet Scoter sjøorre and Long-tailed Duck havelle showing up.

Two of Bergen's finest full of early morning optimism

A massive seven birders covered the island today

One of two tristis Chiff-chaff sibirsanger on Hernar

Documentation video of the call taken with my mobile phone. The bird shows briefly towards the end:)

The following day I was not out in any meaningful way but a couple of drive-bys to and from the shops produced a calling Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett at Tjeldstø, a small flock of Parrot Crossbills furukorsnebb at Hatten. From the terrace a migrating White Wagtail linerle, Nuthatch spettmeis and a Great Spotted Woodpecker flaggspett were among the sightings.

A strongly marked Herring Gull gråmåke at Dåvøy made me look twice

Parrot Crossbills furukorsnebb at Hatten

A couple of hours seawatching at Skogsøy on 06 October proved quite productive with a male Scaup bergand heading south and a Little Stint dvergsnipe feeding with three Sanderling sandløper as the highlights. Passage wise there were plenty of Gannets havsule, Red-throated Divers smålom, small numbers of Common Scoter svartand, Velvet Scoter sjøorre and a light passage of gulls including several Lesser Black-backed Gulls sildemåke.

Common Scoter svartand

A way too common sight - Gannet havsule with fishing line attached

Lesser Black-backed Gull sildemåke

Red-throated Divers smålom

Herdlevær 24 October 2019 - Jack Snipe at last

Strong southerly winds and overcast again.

I did the usual Herdlevær round again - still plenty of Rock Pipits skjærpiplerke and some thrushes and finches. Best bird was a nice Jack Snipe kvartbekkasin - a species that often turns up in wet and windy conditions.

At Hatten a flock of nine Two-barred Crossbills båndkorsbnebb turned up but were typically difficult to photograph in the tree tops where they were joined by a flock of at least 20 Brambling bjørkefink.

Common Scoter svartand from my terrace at Nautnes

Jay nøtteskrike at Hatten

A few of the Two-barred Crossbills båndkorsnebb

Whoopers sangsvane at Tjeldstø

Nautnes and Dåvøy 01 January 2019 - Stormy!!

North westerly storm easing to strong gale with hail showers later.

Mildly put difficult conditions due to the wind - it wasn't really possible to stand up (or at least stand still) in the wind. My bird feeder and an outside light were destroyed and I lost a roof tile too.

First bird photograph of the year - Common Scoter svartand

Barely even the usual species from the house - with a Cormorant storskarv being the first species of  2019 for me. There was a nice Common Scoter svartand on the sea  in the relatively calm waters there.

At Dåvøy I picked up a Slavonian Grebe horndykker and an adult White-tailed Eagle havørn had a good go at a Herring Gull gråmåke.

The most surprising bird was a Collared Dove tyrkerdue at Tjeldstø - an unusual time of year to see this species here.

Herdlevær 19 October 2018 - Jack Snipe

A quick visit just before the light went showed there were plenty of birds on the move. At least 400 Fieldfare gråtrost were feeding in the fields along with plenty of the other usual thrushes.

Common Scoter svartand

As usual I stopped for a coffee and had a 10 minute seawatch, Common Scoters svartand, a couple of Velvet Scoter sjøorre and a late Oystercatcher tjeld put in an appearance.

The walk back to the car produced several Common Snipe enkeltbekkasin and one Jack Snipe kvartbekkasin - the first of the autumn for me, although people who get to go birding had them at least a couple of weeks back.

Hjelme Vest 11 November - Another day in paradise

Strong southerly winds and not feeling as mild as it was!

I took a late and lazy stroll at Hjelme Vest, a locality best suited to calm conditions.

One of the best birds was a Peregrine vandrefalk that came past at close range but I was so caught up in the bird that I failed to reach for my camera. Nice, Other stuff included a flock of 20 Purple Sandpipers fjæreplytt and small numbers of the usual seaduck.

Migrating Whooper Swan sangsvane

White-tailed Eagle havørn

A Whooper sangsvane headed south and a couple of obviously well fed White-tailed Eagles havørn put on a show (this was in addition to at least three more more distant birds).

Common Scoter svartand are quite easy to photograph at the moment

The afternoon trip to the shops showed that yesterday's Scaups bergand were still present at both Alvheim and Tjeldstø. And still quite a lot of Common Scoter svartand close inshore.

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.