Tjeldstø 24 April 2012 .- Ring Ousel!

 Ring Ousel ringtrost

Only time for a quick walk around the reserve but managed to pick up a new Tjeldstø species for me in the form of a Ring Ousel ringtrost.

Obviously plenty of stuff arrived since my last time out here with Chiff-chaff gransanger and a few Dunnock jernspurv singing as well as several Redshank rødstilk.

Tjeldstø 09 April 2012

Southerly winds and light rain

A Mealy Redpoll gråsisik which joined the finch flock in the garden was the first of the year (!).

Common Gull fiskemåke and Lesser Black-backed Gull sildemåke numbers increased to around 60 and five respectively. Otherwise the only migrants seen was a mixed thrush flock of around 50 Fieldfare gråtrost and Redwing rødvingetrost.

A Skylark sanglerke sang out in the reserve.

Skogsøy 07 April 2012 - Common Gull migration picks up the pace

Sunny with light northerly winds.

 Common Gull fiskemåke

 Cormorants storskarv

 Above and below Curlew storspove

Ideal migration conditions once again - which meant sub zero temperatures for the first couple of hours. It was rather tricky keeping track of everything today as birds were passing both high and low, over the sea and overland behind the lookout point.

As usual for early April it was Common Gull fiskemåke that dominated - approximately 2700 headed north (over 1600 of these in the first 1 1/2 hours). Other northbound migrants included 156 Cormorant storskarv, 30 Curlew storspove, several Black-headed Gull hettemåke and only 10 Red-throated Diver smålom.

Best of the stationary stuff was a Great Northern Diver islom on the sea.

Tjeldstø 06 April 2012 - Ringed Redpoll

Fresh northerly and sunny.

Not out at all. Came frustratingly close to reading off the ring number of one of three Lesser Redpoll brunsisik in the garden. It bore a Norwegian ring with 128H as the last digits.....

Øygarden 05 April 2012 - more arrivals

Light southerlies, low cloud and rain

Barely out of the house so only new species today was Lesser Redpoll brunsisik in the garden and another Redpoll, presumably also Lesser flying over at Breivik.

An alba Wagtail linerle was heard several times at Breivik but I never got onto the bird.

Luckily a carload of birders from Bergen did a bit more looking than I did - reporting some auk and gull passage from Herdlevær and the first Redshank rødstilk beside Husvatnet, Tjeldstø.

Hernar 04 April 2012

Calm and sunny. Hard frost again in the night.

A Twite bergirisk - one of the Hernar specialities

Wonderful weather so ideal migration conditions which meant that a lot of stuff was moving north over the sea again. Typically for early April this mean Oystercatchers tjeld, Common Gull fiskemåke and Cormorants storskarv.

The island itself was very quiet indeed with little in the way of passerines present. Of saving grace were the first Twite bergirisk I have seen this year, a single Linnet tornirisk and a Skylark sanglerke. A few Meadow Pipits heipiplerke singing added to the feeling of spring.

Skogsøy 03 April 2012 - Morning after the day before

Light northerlies and sunny after a few days of unsuitable migration conditions.

 Cormorant storskarv

 Above and below: 3rd year Iceland Gull grønlandsmåke

 Above and below: A steady stream of Oystercatcher tjeld passed during the first few hours

Part of a flock of Shelduck gravand

A perfect migration day and the birds took advantage of it. Aiming to hit such days is not always easy but today was never going to go wrong. A very hard frost and temperatures below freezing for the first couple of hours meant I was glad I had plenty of warm clothes. In a little of five hours of seawatching I logged the following (among other things):

All heading north:
Common Gull fiskemåke 1200
Oystercatcher tjeld 900
Cormorant storskarv 285
Iceland Gull grønlandsmåke 1 (3 cy bird - pale eye)
Red-throated Diver smålom 21
Shelduck gravand 5

There was some auk passage today too, however, most passed at long range. Those identified included small numbers of Puffin lunde, Little Auk alkekonge, Razorbill alke, Guillemot lomvi and a single Black Guillemot teist.

All in all a much more typical early April seawatch than a couple of days ago!

Tjeldstø 02 April 2012

Fresh northerly, sunny in between snow showers.

Little change though Greylag grågås numbers now up to 70. Usual selection of Teal krikkand, Goldeneye kvinand etc on the lakes.

Only new bird in was a single Linnet tornirisk flying over. Now nine Tree Sparrow pilfink and over 20 Chaffinch bokfink among the birds at my feeder.

Skogsøy 01 April 2012 - April Fools seawatch

Strong northerly with light but persistent rain. Snow later.

A return to wintry conditions and winter birds to go with it! Not the most pleasant of seawatching conditions - but if you have to you have to....

 Gannet havsule

 omissus type Herring gull gråmåke with yellow legs

Typical flock of Kittiwakes krykkje - hard to pick out against the sea at times

An unusual and interesting three hour seawatch produced some remarkable sightings:
Kittiwake krykkje 244 north (VERY high total for recent years)
Little Auk alkekonge 106 north. Again an amazing number for the time of year. This species is not rare in April but numbers tend to be in single rather than triple figures!

Other than that just nine Red-throated Diver smålom, a flock of eight Curlew storspove and small numbers of Puffin lunde, Razorbill alke and Guillemot lomvi.

Virtually no migration whatsoever of the usual early spring species.

A set of yellow legs on a Herring Gull gråmåke meant that this needed to be checked further. "Just" an omissus type bird - no chance at all of turning it into anything more interesting....

Øygarden 31 March 2012

Northerly winds and mostly sunny

 Chaffinch bokfink singing in the garden

 Siskins grønnsisik are continuing to turn up in the garden and elsewhere

A quick trip to Solberg was enough to confirm a decent passage of migrants north - mostly Common Gulls fiskemåke, but also a Red-throated Diver smålom and a couple of Siskin grønnsisik among other things. A single Ringed Plover sandlo sat on the rocks here.

My best observation in an Øygarden context was a very vocal Nuthatch spettmeis at Sture.

The Gadwall snadderand pair remained at Alvheim and the first Wigeon brunnakke of the year was reported.

Tjeldstø 30 March 2012 - Gadwall relocated!

Light northerly and overcast.

Today was never going to match yesterday and despite a thorough check at Tjeldstø nothing much of note was to be found. Small numbers of the usual migrants moving through or setting up territories - now a couple of singing Song Thrush måltrost present, a small flock of Fieldfare gråtrost dropped in, new Meadow Pipits heipiplerke continue to arrive and Siskin grønnsisik numbers at the feeder increased - the latter mirroring the situation in the Shetlands.

The first Lesser Black-backed Gull sildemåke I have seen this year also turned up, the first for Øygarden were reported about a week ago.

Hordaland's keenest twitcher predictably made the trip out and relocated the Gadwall snadderand pair on Husvatnet at Alvheim (rather than the lake of the same name at Tjeldstø). This tied in very well with the direction the birds disappeared in yesterday.

Evening update:
It seems that the Gadwall pair are shuttling between Rotevatnet at Tjeldstø and Husvatnet at Alvheim as they were seen on Rotevatnet yesterday evening. They must have moved back to Alvheim during the night. Obviously anyone trying for these birds should check both localities.

Tjeldstø 29 March 2012 - Unblocking Gadwall!

Fresh northerly and overcast

 Male and female Gadwall snadderand - male centre and female on right hand side. Mallard stokkand on the left.

 Above and below Albrifrons Whitefront tundragås - bottom photograph taken first as it flew in.

After being stuck inside all week I finally got a breath of fresh air. The  walk around the reserve exceeded all expectations with a pair of Gadwall snadderand on Rotevatnet being the highlight - finally unblocking one of my Øygarden bogey birds. The male was easy to spot but I only saw the female in photographs at first and returned for a better look - it was then that the birds took off at long range but looked that they may not have gone far. Gadwall are something of a rarity with up to a several years between records (though I missed the previous one last November).

Shortly the first Whitefront tundragås of the year put in an appearance - a rare March sighting for the area.

Other birds included a sinensis Cormorant mellomskarv on Husvatnet.

Tjeldstø 28 March 2012

For the third day in a row work commitments prevented any time out of the house.

However, I couldn't help noticing the first Siskin grønnsisik I've seen this year in the garden. This winter has been unusual with none of the usual winter finches turning up.

Sunflower seed consumption has gone through the roof the last week or so - almost 3kg a day as the Greenfinches grønnfink prepare for the breeding season.

Skogsøy 25 March 2012 - Great Northern Divers

Dullish and barely a breath of wind.

Very quiet indeed migration wise with a light but a steady trickle of Common Gulls fiskemåke heading north. Small numbers of Oystercatcher tjeld, a pair of Teal krikkand, four Red-throated Diver smålom and several auks of various species also seen.

Highlights were a single Pinkfoot kortnebbgås heading south and two Great Northern Diver islom (one of which was an adult in summer plumage) heading north. Three more Great Northern Diver islom were reported on the sea off Herdlevær.

A hunting Peregrine vandrefalk also put in a brief appearance.

New for the year were a Song Thrush måltrost and a fly over alba wagtail linerle.

Yesterday's Black Redstart svartrødstjert was thoroughly looked for but not refound.

A second year Iceland Gull grønlandsmåke rested briefly beside Husvatnet.

Herdlevær 24 March 2012 - End of the "bombehagen"?

Even better weather than yesterday. Cloudless, sunny skies and a very light northerly breeze.

The day started off even better than anticipated with the first rarity of the spring - a Black Redstart svartrødstjert. It looked more like a female than an adult male but sang repeatedly - not sure whats going on there.

A fly over Lapland Longspur lappspurv which called repeatedly was rather earlier than usual and would appear to be the first March record for Øygarden! Other migrants included a small flock of Meadow Pipits heipiplerke, Golden Plover heilo, Skylark sanglerke and the first Reed Bunting sivspurv of the year.

A very brief look at the sea showed that although there was some migration (Oystercatcher tjeld, Common Gull fiskemåke and Red-throated Diver smålom) the passage was much reduced compared to yesterday.

 This Black Redstart svartrødstjert was obviously having a good day at Herdlevær - so much so that it sang repeatedly.

On the way back to the car I found the best rarity garden in Øygarden (and probably the county of Hordaland) in a rather different state than usual. The trees are being heavily cut back and / or removed and another house will be built there. This is surely the end of this gardens magical rarity pulling power. This garden has had Isabelline Shrike rødhalevarsler, Blyth's Reed Warbler busksanger and much, much more besides - perhaps the old "bombehagen" at Herdlevær will take over the title of best rarity garden in Øygarden?

Beginning of the end for the best rarity garden in Øygarden?

We can but hope that the new house also gets a productive garden.....but this will no doubt take at least a few years.

Skogsøy 23 March 2012 - Sun, migration and Orcas

Fantastic weather - sunny with a light northerly breeze.

Sat from 0640 to 1115 and had an excellent early spring seawatch. Øygarden year ticks were: Shelduck gravand (11N), Red-throated Diver smålom (3N) and Ringed Plover sandlo (3N).

Highlight was a good passage of Oystercatcher tjeld with over 1200 heading north, also almost 650 Common Gull fiskemåke, an adult Iceland Gull grønlandsmåke, 30 Black-headed Gulls hettemåke and most of the usual suspects - well over 2000 birds in all.

 Orca spekkhogger

 An overheated Cormorant storskarv heading north

 A constant passage of Common Gulls fiskemåke continued throughout the morning

 Oystercatcher tjeld

 Oystercatcher tjeld

 Oystercatcher tjeld

Virtually the first birds of the morning - Shelduck gravand

An added bonus was a pod of Orcas spekkhogger well offshore.

Tjeldstø 22 March - Mud wrestling birds

Calm and fairly dull.

A quick stroll at Tjeldstø produced a variety of displaying waders - Lapwing vipe, Curlew storspove and Oystercatcher tjeld all setting up territories as are the Herring Gulls gråmåke in their colony within the reserve. The first Teal krikkand in Øygarden this year turned up on Husvatnet.

A big flock of noisy corvids brought my attention to a female Sparrowhawk spurvehauk rolling around in the mud with a Magpie skjære. As I approached to take some photos the rest of the Magpies and Hooded Crows flew off - but up to that point at least the Magpies had been mounting a concerted common defence effort - many of them having a go at the struggling raptor. More than twenty minutes later the Sparrowhawk was finally victorious (but had in fact started eating its victim whilst it was still very much fighting back!).

 Finally some blood but the Magpie is still not dead

Both bird look to be in an absolute mess

 Ripping out feathers in order to be able to strike a fatal blow.

 Rolling around in the mud

 Go for the face is the best defence....

Tjeldstø 18 March 2012

Light southerlies and sunny.

Not quite as warm as on my recent trip to Lanzarote but still very springlike.

During a quick stroll around the reserve I caught up with a number of spring migrants that arrived whilst I was away including a flock of five Skylark sanglerke, several Lapwing vipe, quite a few Woodpigeon ringdue and a lone Golden Plover heilo.

Below are a few random holiday shots depicting species we will probably have to wait a long time before we see them in Øygarden...

Cattle Egret kuhegre

 Houbara Bustard kragetrappe

Stone Curlew triel