Herdlevær 18 October 2012

Relatively calm and overcast.

Little on the move today and generally much quieter on the ground. Small numbers of Common Scoter svartand heading south and a couple of Little Auks alkekonge were the only things over the sea.

 Common Gull fiskemåke

 Herring Gull gråmåke - quite a southward movement of this species the last week or so

 Skylark sanglerke

 White-tailed Eagle havørn - several seen at Herdlevær today

Both at Kollsnes and Breivik there were some good flocks of Meadow Pipits heipiplerke feeding on the heaths but didn't see anything else with them other than a Skylark sanglerke that made me look twice.

Hernar 17 October 2012 - no rarities?

Calm and sunny.

A decent enough morning on Hernar produced the usual selection of late autumn stuff including a Water Rail vannrikse, a Waxwing sidensvans, a Goldfinch stillits and a flock of 11 Tree Sparrows pilfink - obviously migrants.

This was about as good as views got....Reed Bunting sivspurv skulking in long vegetation

At least six Reed Bunting sivspurv were present and a "tick" bunting was heard a few times but never seen anything like well enough. Another bird that got away was a pipit that sounded rather like Tree Pipit trepiplerke but could just as easily been somewhat more interesting....

Other migrants included a few Chiff-chaff gransanger, a couple of Blackcap munk, a Skylark sanglerke and various thrushes and finches. Twite bergirisk numbers now dropped to around five birds.

A flock of seven Waxwing sidensvans flew over the house as I got home.....obviously on the move now.

Herdlevær 16 October 2012 - Stonechat mayhem

Another day of light easterly wind and sunshine.

Today there was plenty of action to go with the superb conditions - even more so than yesterday. The Siberian Stonechat Asiasvartstrupe was present again but rather more flighty and sometimes in the company of a "normal" Stonechat svarstrupe (still a county rarity in its own right).

 Siberian Stonechat asiasvartstrupe

 Above and below: heavily cropped record shots of Stonechat svartstrupe

 Another excessively cropped shot of a Waxwing sidensvans

One of the Chiff-chaffs gransanger present at Herdlevær today

Plenty of other good birds seen including a Waxwing sidensvans, a Lesser-spotted Woodpecker dvergspett, at least one Yellowhammer gulspurv, a few Goldfinch stillits and more.

Other migrants included at least three Chiff-chaffs gransanger, some small flocks of Twite bergirisk and Brambling bjørkefink. 

Herdlevær 15 October 2012 - The first to Dip? / Sibe Stonechat

Stronger Easterly winds with high cloud cover.

Started the day at Herdlevær where pretty much the first bird I found was an apparent Siberian Stonechat Asiasvartstrupe! Initially I "dismissed" this bird as a European Stonechat svartstrupe (still an excellent find locally!) but late in the evening when I looked more closely at the downloaded pictures I saw the rump was clearly unstreaked. The bird promptly disappeared but I relocated it later with another birder and several birders twitched it later in the day.

 No obvious eyebrow in this shot but clearly pale underparts

This flight shot clearly shows the unstreaked rump

This shot shows the rather white throat - and a hint of an eyebrow

 Red-throated Diver smålom

Rock Pipit skjærpiplerke

Wigeon brunnakke at Tjeldstø

Some birders, including at least two from Stavanger made the long drive up to try for the Buff-bellied Pipit myrpiplerke but as far as I know were unsuccessful. This is therefore the first day this bird failed to show.

Three patient birders waiting for the pipit to show (these guys are easily identifiable on the original image!)

Other good birds reported from Tjeldstø inlcuded the first Waxwing sidensvans of the autumn, a flock of 20 Goldfinch stillits, a Merlin dvergfalk and the first Woodcock rugde of the autumn. A Yellowhammer gulspurv was another good bird in a local context.

Skogsøy 14 October 2012 - Good but should have stayed at home

Hard frost, clear sky and a light easterly.

Good migration conditions again and a couple of hours seawatching at Skogsøy paid off pretty well. Definite wintery feel to the day with quite a few winter species putting in an appearance:

Gadwall snadderand 1 S new species for Skogsøy!
Great-crested Grebe toppdykker 1 S new species for Skogsøy!
Glaucous Gull polarmåke 1 3K S
Great Northern Diver islom 2 S
Red-throated Diver smålom 14 S
Velvet Scoter sjøorre 8 S
Common Scoter svartand 168 S
Eider ærfugl 52 S
Cormorant storskarv 58 S
Shag toppskarv 21 S
Gannet havsule 21 S
Razorbill alke 9 S
Guillemot lomvi 3 S
Little Auk alkekonge 2 S
Black Guillemot teist 1 S
Kittiwake krykkje 4 S

Other birds included a Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett, a couple of White-tailed Eagles havørn and the first Purple Sandpipers fjæreplytt of the autumn. Three pale grey waders were the ones that got away today.

White-tailed Eagle havørn

Whilst I was seawatching I missed a Common Buzzard musvåk which flew over my house! Should have stayed at home....The buzzard was seen by some of the approximately 13 visiting birders that came to see the Buff-bellied Pipit myrpiplerke which remains faithful to the same fields it was found on several days ago. Birders travelled from as far away as Lista to see the bird today.

In the evening I left the house to give directions to some birders who had come to see the pipit. This short walk proved very productive - a pipit with a short tree pipit like call flew in and landed in a tree - showing a very prominent whitish eyestripe. It promptly disappeared but was heard again. The chances that this was an Olive-backed Pipit sibirpiplerke were very high indeed. Other good birds in a local context seen during this walk were eight Goldfinch stillits and 10 Long-tailed Tits stjertmeis.

Tjeldstø 13 October 2012

Light easterly and sunny again.

The Buff-bellied Pipit myrpiplerke remains and was seen by at least two new birders today.

A short stroll in the reserve produced a flock of seven adult Whooper Swans sangsvane - the first of the autumn. Other birds included a Lapland Bunting lappspurv and a probable Great Snipe dobbeltbekkasin.

Also of interest was a Ring Ousel ringtrost that turned up in the garden.

Dipper fossekall - a migrant bird

Late news from yesterday included more new for the year in Øygarden - a Dipper fossekall I found at Hjelme Vest, a Bullfinch dompap at Sture and a Yellowhammer gulspurv at Tjeldstø. 

Tjeldstø 12 October 2012 - In the Buff on TV!

FANTASTIC weather conditions. Sunny with light easterlies.

Thousands of thrushes, mainly Redwing rødvingetrost flew south at dawn. The sky was full of flocks and the sounds of thrushes and Bramblings bjørkefink on the move. Small numbers of Woodpigeon ringdue also migrating and later in the day a flock of 80 Greylags grågås flew south.

Spent the morning trying to get some better pictures of the Buff-bellied Pipit myrpiplerke and showing a TV crew the bird. Anybody interested can see NRK this evening at 18:40. The program will also be shown on net tv (no link yet).

Unfortunately the bird stayed in the shadows feeding in long grass for the vast majority of the time. With patience it came very close indeed but was difficult to actually photograph. However, managed to obtain some good documentation shots - a selection shown below:

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Hernar 11 October 2012 - Long-tailed Tits

Light easterlies and sunny - ideal conditions!

Quite a lot of movement today but little in the way of rarities. A fly over Richard's Pipit tartarpiplerke being the best bird. Frustratingly another fly over pipit may have been Tree Pipit trepiplerke but given the time of year Olive-backed pipit sibirpiplerke is almost as likely.

 Male Blackcap munk

 Part of a flock of Common Scoter svartand

 Garden Warbler hagesanger with an earwig

 Above and below - Long-tailed Tits stjertmeis - a new species for Hernar

New for the island were a couple of small parties of Long-tailed Tits stjertmeis - and the first of the year in Øygarden. Loads of Blue tit blåmeis on the move again.

Other birds included a Merlin dvergfalk, a Garden Warbler hagesanger, several Blackcap munk, a few Chiff-chaff gransanger - one of which sounded (and looked!) like a tristis.

Good numbers of Brambling bjørkefink, thrushes etc and still 30 Twite bergirisk present.

Back at Tjeldstø the Buff-bellied Pipit myrpiplerke performed well for several birders who tried for it and a Jack Snipe kvartbekkasin was the first of the autumn.

Tjeldstø 10 October 2012 - Buff-bellied confirmed!

Overcast with light rain.

Yesterday's BUFF-BELLIED PIPIT MYRPIPLERKE was still present. This is only the second record of the American race for Norway.

It was heard calling again a few times today - enough to clinch the ID for my part. It was much more flighty today in the company of a couple of White Wagtails linerle.

At the time of writing only two other birders have connected with it but there are a few more looking for it.

Plenty of other birds about today including a Little Grebe dvergdykker, a Goshawk hønsehauk and a flock of at least 15 Twite bergirisk.

A Yellow-browed Warbler gulbrynsanger was also reported from Tjeldstø (heard only).

Tjeldstø 09 October 2012 - Frustrating pipit

Calm with sunny intervals.

Only got out for a short stroll around the reserve. Decent sightings included a Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett, a Goshawk hønsehauk and a couple of late White wagtails linerle.

Eight Wigeon brunnakke, a couple of Sparrowhawk spurvehauk and around 15 Tree Sparrow pilfink also about.

A rather frustrating pipit with a odd "jizz" warranted further inspection. It was relatively tame and bobbed its tail a lot giving a rather wagtail like feel to it. Plumage wise it was a mess with characters pointing all over the place...Initially I thought it could just be a freaky Rock Pipit skjærpiplerke but I'm glad I didn't give up on it.

Buff-bellied Pipit myrpiplerke

After consulting some books and after feedback from others this bird has been identified as an American Buff-bellied Pipit myrpiplerke. Not only the first for Øygarden, but also for Hordaland "county".

Øygarden 08 October 2012

Westerly with showers

Kept things rather low key today visiting a few localities very briefly. Obviously quite a lot of thrushes on the move but nothing remarkable seen.

Possibly the best bird was a late White Wagtail linerle at Tjeldstø where there were also at least 200 Starlings stær.

Herdlevær 03 October - RIchard's Pipit again

Strong southerlies, some light rain

A quick check of a couple of localities produced a Richard's Pipit tartarpiplerke at Herdlevær as the best bird. This time I actually got to see the bird as it flew over the road in front of me.

Nothing else of note but obvious that numbers of thrushes, pipits and Common Snipe enkeltbekkasin had been grounded.

Skogsøy 30 September 2012 - Red-necked Grebe

Southerly winds and mostly overcast.

Relatively quiet but a decent variety of stuff passing including the first Red-necked Grebe gråstrupedykker of the year. Other sightings of note were 11 Red-throated Diver smålom and five Brent Geese ringgås.

Plenty of Gannets havsule and large gulls heading south including three latish Lesser Black-backs sildemåke. Common Scoter svartand, Wigeon brunnakke and Eiders ærfugl also headed south in small numbers.

Brent geese ringgås

 Common Scoter svartand and Razorbill alke

Eiders ærfugl

 Above and below Red-throated Divers smålom

Wigeon brunnakke

Some passerines also on the move with Meadow Pipits heipiplerke, Rock Pipits skjærpiplerke and a Snow Bunting snøspurv passing over.

Øygarden 28 September - Sibes at last

Fresh southerlies with light rain, setting in heavier in the afternoon.

A quick check at Husvatnet, Tjeldstø produced some good birds in the form of a female Shoveler skjeand, a  late Ruff brushane and a Merlin dvergfalk.

Moving on to Herdlevær a flyover Richard's Pipit tartarpiplerke was the highlight. Not much in the way of grounded migrants other than a single Snow Bunting snøspurv. Waders included two Oystercatcher tjeld and a Common Sandpiper strandsnipe.

Further south in Øygarden a Yellow-browed Warbler gulbrynsanger was ringed near Toft.

Tjeldstø 27 September 2012 - More new for the year

Calm and overcast, some light rain.

Once again restricted to Tjeldstø but still managed to get a few more new for the year: a flock of four Grey Plover tundralo which flew over the garden as I left the house, a rather vocal Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett out in the reserve and a couple of fly-over Goldfinch stillits.

Otherwise rather quiet in the reserve, just a few each of Snipe enkeltbekkasin, Golden Plover heilo and a Lapwing vipe.

An otter fished in Rotevatnet.