Øygarden 21-24.04.2026 - Counting down!!

The week was spent counting down the days until the start of what will be the longest period of time off since I stopped working offshore full time. May should be a month to remember for a long time to come!

Although I was glued to my computer all week I did manage short trips out before and after work most days and there was plenty to see including a good dose of new arrivals.

An early morning round on 21st produced the first Willow Warbler løvsanger, Sand Martin sandsvale and Golden Plover heilo of the year along with the first local Swallows låvesvale, Brambling bjørkefink and Wheatear steinskvett.

Picking up a package at the local shop after work (repaired binoculars returning home) produced four Canada Geese kanadagås on Husvatnet - a species that is considerably rarer here in northern Øygarden than Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett.

Crazy but in an Øygarden context these invasive Canada Geese kanadagås were a much rarer sighting than the woodpecker below:)

Female Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett in the early morning sun

In this very short video I managed to capture the call of GHW

A bonus sighting was a pod of around 20 Porpoise nise, a common species in Øygarden but normally seen in much smaller groups.

On 22nd April I checked Tjeldstø before work. Some Curlews storspove holding territory but only a couple of pairs at most, luckily they are still widespread in Øygarden and will hopefully remain so. I'm hoping it is still a little early and that more will arrive at what was once a stronghold for this struggling species. Lapwings vipe are liking the area where the sikta spruce have been removed. Fingers crossed that they increase in numbers following this improvement. Snipe enkeltbekassin are back too and displaying "everywhere". Redshank rødstlk numbers seem low, again I hope more will arrive and take up territories.

Norway in a nutshell - an FPSO out in the fjord and Hurtigruten heading south...

The next day I spent slightly longer out of the house as I had to get my wheels changed over to summer tyres. A short walk at Tjeldstø whilst I was waiting for this to be finished resulted in a nice Peregrine vandrefalk flying over. A Green Sandpiper skogsnipe was a bonus on the way to the garage - a regular enough species here during the autumn migration but much fewer turn up in the spring.

Male Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett sticking its tongue out at me:)

Green Sandpiper skogsnipe

"My" Herring Gulls gråmåke spend a large part of their day waiting for me to give them some food.

Wheatear steinskvett at Tjeldstø

White-tailed Eagle havørn over my terrace. Pity the photo is not in focus:(

Otters are still pretty much a daily sight. Soon they'll become more nocturnal and harder to see. Filmed from my terrace in between meetings.

On 24th I did a quick trip out after work to buy some beers to celebrate the start of my holiday. This resulted in a male Wigeon brunnakke at Tjeldstø and a Carrion Crow svartkråke at Breivik where there was also a nice flock of 30 Linnet tornirisk - biggest flock so far this spring:)

Carrion Crow svartkråke

Fieldfare gråtrost - some are holding territories while there are still some flocks moving through to other places.

Redwing rødvingetrost

Much the same status as Fieldfare - many are singing but there also flocks obviously just passing through

Bring on the next several weeks😊 Work won't be the problem from here on in!!

Skogsøy 24 March 2024 - More than 1100 on the move

Sunny with fresh northerly winds

I spent a few hours seawatching at Skogsøy, slow going on the way out as there was some light frost.

Plenty of movement and a typical early spring day with Oystercatcher tjeld and Common Gull fiskemåke dominating. A Carrion Crow svartkråke headed out to sea shortly after dawn and a couple of Snow Bunting snøspurv headed north. A couple of White-tailed Eagle havørn flew over and were harassed by the local Raven ravn pair.

Red throated Diver smålom N 3

Northern Gannet havsule N 15

Great Cormorant storskarv N 14, S 1

Eurasian Shag toppskarv N 9, S 120

Greylag Goose grågås N 1

Eider ærfugl S 12

Long tailed duck havelle N 3, S 1

Merganser siland  N 2, S 1

Oystercatcher tjeld N 518

Common Gull fiskemåke N 319

Lesser black backed Gull sildemåke N 2

Black-legged Kittiwake krykkje N 2

Common Guillemot lomvi N 4, S 3

Black Guillemot teist N 1

Auk N 49, S 65. Undoubtedly a lot more than this, rather distant.

On the way home a short stop at Husvatnet showed that Greylag grågås numbers had suddenly increased to 80 - a big arrival during the last day or two.

Today I took my "proper" camera rather than the point and pray with me.

Common Gulls fiskemåke

Cormorants storskarv

Gannet havsule

Great Black-backed Gull svartbak

Lesser Black-backed Gull sildemåke

Oystercatchers tjeld

Skogsøy 04 June - Last bananabills of the spring

Another day, another seawatch. With work and personal trips coming up it was time for the last seawatch of the loonatic season.

Nothing remarkable noted but given the time of year there was plenty going on:) Frustratingly a number of wader flocks passed just too far out to clinch ID.

Gannets havsule

Kittiwake krykkje

Above and below: Puffins lunde

Razorbills alke

Red-throated Diver smålom

Shag toppskarv

White-billed Diver gulnebblom

Red throated Diver smålom N 35, S 1

White Billed Diver gulnebblom N 2 (adult)

Northern Gannet havsule N 69, S 5

Great Cormorant storskarv N 1, S 2

Eurasian Shag toppskarv N 18, S 19

Common Scoter svartand S 2

Merganser siland N 5

Golden Plover heilo N 1

Whimbrel småspove N 1

Redshank rødstilk N 1

Common Gull fiskemåke N 33

Lesser black backed Gull sildemåke N 8

Herring Gull gråmåke N 1

Black-legged Kittiwake krykkje N 4

Arctic Tern rødnebbterne N 32, S 2

Common Tern makrellterne N 1

Common Guillemot lomvi N 3, S 1

Razorbill alke N 23

Atlantic Puffin lunde N 4, S 1

Auk N 14, S 8

On the way home I picked up a Carrion Crow svartkråke at Breivik. Such a tedious rarity but I dutifully took some pictures and even a video for documentation.

Carrion Crow svartkråke at Breivik

The long-staying Whooper Swan sangsvane put in an appearance on Husvatnet where the unseasonal Tufted Ducks toppand remained. Could young tufties be turning up in a month or two I wonder....

Breivik and Skogsøy 21-22 May 2022 - Skogsøy disappoints

 Sunny and calm on 21 May. Took the opportunity to get some stuff done and made only a brief foray out.

At Breivik a singing Icterine Warbler gulsanger was the highlight. Similar to yesterday's bird it was singing at half notch rather than the usual full on song of birds on breeding territory. It did, however, give some brief views. 

Also at Breivik two Carrion Crows svartkråke with another at Tjeldstø.

One of two Carrion Crows svartkråke at Breivik

Icterine Warbler gulsanger playing hard to get

Lapwing vipe at Kollsnes

On 22 May with slightly more wind from the south I gave Skogsøy a go. Very little passed indeed so I gave up and went home. Highlight were three Shelduck gravand heading north and nice views of a rather pale White-tailed Eagle havørn.

A small flock of Golden Plover heilo were present at Breivik on the way home.

Shelduck gravand

Rather pale White-tailed Eagle, presumed 3cy

Common Tern makrellterne fishing in front of my house

Young Greenfinch grønnfink in the garden

"My" Starling stær bringing slugs to its young.

Great work Mr & Mrs Starling! Just forage more IN my garden than anywhere else and we will all be happy:)

Herdlevær 04 April 2021 - Keep the camera OUT of the rucksack

 Light winds, light drizzle at times in the morning. Full on northerly gale with snow showers in the late afternoon.

Thinking I would save some time I had my camera in a dry bag in my rucksack on my way to Herdlevær. In other words perfect conditions to be presented with photo opportunities. Black-headed Gull hettemåke and Linnets tornirisk both gave decent chances but I drove on. Just before I parked the car a roadside Carrion Crow svartkråke should absolutely been photographed but of course flew before I could wrestle the camera out of my rucksack. A local scarcity that I still haven't managed to get excited about despite having been in Norway over half my life.

On the way home, with the camera ready on the passenger seat, I had my eyes peeled again. No sign of the crow  but a Mistle Thrush duetrost turned up in the same place. Typically flighty it moved on before I brought the camera to bear. Equally typically I chose to confirm ID with my binoculars before reaching for the camera.

A stop at Tjeldstø on the way home produced my first Redshank rødstilk of the year.

Herdlevær itself was less interesting though there was an obvious increase in Meadow Pipit heipiplerke numbers with at least eight singing and a flock of feeding birds as well. It would have been a good day for gull photography with birds passing close and the light just right, not too sunny and not too dull. However, ISO values were more suited to sunny and I didn't check. A single flock of 34 Cormorant storskarv heading north was almost as many as I saw in three hours of seawatching yesterday:) Nice to see (and mostly hear) Curlew storspove displaying again too.

Cormorant storskarv

A brute of a GBBG svartbak

Herring Gulls gråmåke

Øygarden 29-30 May 2020 - 2cy Arctic Terns

Calm and sunny.

A trip to Hernar was relatively uneventful with just the Carrion Crow svartkråke of interest. Plenty of birds on the island though and lots of activity.

View on the way to Hernar

Arctic Terns rødnebbterne including a 2cy bird.

2cy Arctic Tern rødnebbterne

Carrion Crow svartkråke

Male Eider ærfugl

Arctic Terns rødnebbterne are getting on with finding mates and on one of the usual islands there were at least three second year birds present. A fluke chance meant that I managed some decent flight shots of one of them - Arctic Terns are not the easiest of birds to photograph in flight and nigh on impossible from a small boat:)

Eiders ærfugl starting to moult and a couple of Ringed Plover sandlo dropped onto one of the islands. 

Roding Woodcock rugde in the evening - always nice to see!

On 30 May I took my usual walk at Herdlevær. Again relatively quiet but still some migration over the sea including a Black-throated Diver storlom and a flock of 30 Common Scoter svartand. Again, a few Ringed Plover sandlo dropped in briefly - "singing" as they did so before moving on after a brief period of foraging on the rocky shore.