Nautnes 10 October 2016 - I know I gave up but it isn't easy.

Light SE and sunny (tempting to say "as usual"!)



I know I announced that I have officially stopped birding some days ago, but things aren't that simple from my house. I didn't go anywhere to do any birding anywhere BUT I did take a short walk down the road with the dog and a cup of coffee on the terrace.

Cat looking at Cormorant storskarv looking at Cat

Looks like the Cormorant is in the middle of a wood but is only two metres from the high water mark

Migrating Dipper fossekall on the shore in front of my house

The cup of coffee from the terrace produced the first Dipper fossekall of the autumn in Øygarden, a flock of four Goldfinch stillits (new for the house list - species #125), a migrating Bullfinch dompap, a Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett and a small flock of Twite bergirisk to name but a few. But at no point was I doing any birding whatsoever. Honest.



Another thing from the terrace was an interesting cat / Cormorant face-off. Yesterday the Cormorant storskarv was resting on the shore in front of the house. Today it had moved up to the tree I cut down yesterday (doing my bit for the removal of removal of Sitka spruce!). A cat came by and sat on the same log. I didn't have time to see how it would end so I went outside to see what would happen, The Cormorant stayed put and the cat left at a run.

Common Sandpiper strandsnipe

Curlew storspove

Guillemot lomvi

The walk with the dog produced a late Common Sandpiper strandsnipe, a Curlew storspove and a Guillemot lomvi. Lots of Common Crossbill grankorsnebb and Redpoll gråsisik flying over,

Øygarden 09 October 2016 - Still given up.

Light SE and sunny.

Incredibly frustrating to not be able to get out and about in the fantastic conditions.

Starling stær feeding on the rapidly disappearing rowan berries

Plenty of Wren gjerdesmett moving through now

Lots of activity over the house around dawn with several species of finch, Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett and so on. A Great spotted woodpecker flaggspett over the garden in the afternoon was the first I've had in Øygarden this year! Amazing that the occurrence of this species can be so variable - some autumns they appear in large numbers, others barely at all. A couple of adult White-tailed Eagles havørn also put in an appearance.

A quick walk with the dog at Herdlevær produced a small flock of Goldfinch stillits and generally lots about at first light but most stuff seemed to clear out quickly.

Nautnes 08 October - It's official, I've given up

Light SE and sunny. Again!

Short-eared Owl jordugle at Nautnes

One of my ancient beat up DSLRs has come out of retirement.....

And today I didn't even try to get out. Life is really, really getting in the way of birding. I took a very short walk close to my house at Nautnes. Highlight was a Short-eared Owl jordugle seen at some distance from the house (new species for the house list) but came right overhead later on.

Other stuff included a couple of Grey Wagtail vinterle, a Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett, Twite bergirisk and the now usual Common Crossbill grankorsnebb, Brambling bjørkefink and so on.

Gadwall snadderand at Tjeldstø

A trip to the shops later in the afternoon produced a nice Gadwall snadderand on Husvatnet at Tjeldstø.

Today I used my chainsaw at lot more than my binoculars or camera. Hopefully the improved view will give some payback in more birds seen from the house.....

Herdlevær 07 October 2016 - Finally a Red-throated Pipit they can't argue with!

Calm and sunny AGAIN.

Indisputable Red-throated Pipit lappiplerke

Once again I received a telephone call just as I left the house. So I went to Herdlevær instead of where I had intended...FINALLY a Red-throated Pipit lappiplerke in the hand. This is very important in Øygarden (and Hordaland in general) as fly-over birds on call are NEVER accepted. I have had this species a number of times over the years but they are impossible to document when not on the ground. My latest record, almost a year ago to the day was recently rejected. Why exactly is this? Had I heard the same call in eastern or northern Norway it would be safe. I learnt the call at Falsterbo where birds are often just fly-overs. Nevermind - it is finally in the bag now.

Redpoll gråsisik.

Check out the bill on this thing. Mega.

Also a lot of Redpolls gråsisik of unknown origin about - quite a number of them with very large bills but not rostrata - I've had these things in my garden before and it would be great to know where they come from....

Didn't really get out today but had Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett, a Bullfinch dompap and plenty more besides from the house during the course of the day.

Herdlevær 06 October 2016 - GH Woodpecker on the move

Calm and sunny again.

A more down to earth and normal day today after the Red-flanked Bluetail blåstjert on Hernar yesterday.

Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett

However, there was still stuff on the move - including at least one very vocal Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett. It is nearing peak occurrence time for this species which moves through in the late autumn.

Other late autumn stuff which was earlier than normal were Bullfinch dompap and Yellowhammer gulspurv. Both of these generally have peaks towards the end of the month or into early November. Redpoll gråsisik, Reed Bunting sivspurv and Swallow låvesvale also on the move. There are strong indications that both Blue tit blåmeis and Coal tit svartmeis are starting to move through now.

At least two Yellow-browed Warbler gulbrynsanger were also busy feeding up on the plentiful insects.

Hernar 04 October - Another new species for the county!

Sunny with light SE winds, increasing later.

WHAT A CRACKING DAY!!

One of the very first birds I saw today was a "strange mistle thrush" which came out of some spruce trees and flew low into another group of trees. It was a large thrush which dwarfed an accompanying Song Thrush måltrost. I glimpsed paler outer tail feathers but it was not yet fully light. Even though I thought the behaviour was off for Mistle Thrush duetrost I thought the odds were too high for anything better. Not long afterwards I glimpsed the same bird in flight again, but this time seeing something of the dark wedge on the inside of the outer tail feathers, a hint of scaly back and together with a repeat of the same low flight into a new dense plantation I really began to suspect that this was in fact a White's Thrush gulltrost.

A couple of hours later I saw it again, once more from behind and knew then that it could not be anything common. I saw where it had landed and planned my line of attack to get the sun behind me. I was rewarded with a few seconds of view from the side in full sunlight - this view clinched it all and a short time afterwards I saw it for the last time on the ground where the scaly body pattern was more obvious. Wicked!

My camera finally gave up the ghost before this last sighting. Damn you Canon! I know I mistreat my photo gear but this was a case of very bad timing. To be honest the views were so short that I probably had not managed to take any kind of record shot anyway.

A page from my notebook - sketched in the field and coloured in later. The wing pattern isn't quite Collin's but the idea/impression is what counts!

I went back to my teenage years when I used to draw and paint a lot. I sketched up what I had seen and later in the evening after adding the colours I compared with Collins and found a reasonable likeness - I have obviously not got the wing quite right - but the impression from a few seconds of viewing still gives the right idea. The tail and the head were spot on - and were the features seen best.

Even without this mega - the second new species of the county in as many days - I would have been happy with the day's result. Multiple Yellow-browed Warbler gulbrynsanger, two Jack Snipe kvartbekkasin, a Water Rail vannrikse (first of the autumn), two Grey Wagtails vintererle, a Lesser Whitethroat møller, at least one Richard's Pipit tartarpiplerke, two Goldfich stillits and a host of other migrants including plenty of Swallow låvesvale, a Willow Warbler løvsanger, a few Chiff-chaff gransanger and at least three Blackcap munk to name but some.

The day was so hectic that I did not make it over to the east side of the island, did not do any watching for visible migration as I normally do and had to ignore a few potentially interesting birds (inlcuding a bird I supected of being a young Moorehen sivhøne which would be a Harnar mega. It was all down to priorities today.

After my "proper" camera died I tried my point and pray superzoom and discovered a couple of things that will really help in the future. I have high hopes of being able to use this camera much more.

First the superzoom pics

Chiff-chaff gransanger

Goldcrest fuglekonge

Robin rødstrupe

Willow Warbler løvsanger

Blue tit blåmeis

On Hernar even Blue tits blåmeis are migrants - and in common witj Sæle yesterday this species is obviously on the move

Chiff-chaff gransanger

And then some DSLR shots from earlier in the day before it died:

Velvet Scoter sjøorre

A few of the day's Yellow-browed Warblers gulbrynsanger

Øygarden 03 October - What autumn is all about!

A cracking day all round. Great weather and superb birding,

The first bird of the day was a Common Sandpiper strandsnipe heard from my terrace at Nautnes.

Savi's Warbler sumpsanger (DSLR shot)

Savi's Warbler sumpsanger (mobile phone)

Some very happy ringers with bags full of birds

I started the day with a quick trip to Herdlevær. I was going to do my usual round but a phone call as I left the house changed that. An unidentified warbler had been caught in the half light; by the time I got there it was light enough to identify it as the first Savi's Warbler sumpsanger for the county of Hordaland - and from what I can see from some quick checks also the first autmn record for Norway - all other records are of summer birds. THANK YOU NIGEL - sterling effort!!

Goldcrest fuglekonge are very visible at the moment

Sparrowhawks spurvehauk are common now - typcially following the thrushes on migration

Starling stær

Other migrants picked up at Herdlevær included Yellow-browed Warbler gulbrynsanger, a late Sand Martin sandsvale, Swallow låvesvale, Chiff-chaff gransanger, the first Skylarks sangelerke of the autumn and plenty of the usual thrushes and finches.

Hen Harrier myrhauk at Tjeldstø

I then headed home via the shop and a drive-by at Tjeldstø - this produced a nice Hen Harrier myrhauk pursued by Hooded Crows kråke.

Yellow-browed Warbler gulbrynsanger

Today I realised I haven't taken a single picture of this species this year yet! There was a time we'd document every one of these sprites

After sorting some stuff out at home I headed out again in the afternoon and checked a few localities. Sæle produced at least 10 Blackcap munk and a small flock of Goldfinch stillits as the best birds whilst Breivik turned up another Yellow-browed Warbler gulbrynsanger.

Common Crossbills granskorsnebb, Sparrowhawk spurvehauk and White-tailed Eagles havørn were seen pretty much everywhere. Goldcrests fuglekonge very obviously on the move and a few Chiff-chaff gransanger here and there.

Checking out the new bling

Paparazzi at work

An amusing incident with a Goldcrest fuglekonge happened as I prepared to leave Herdlevær. I had left my car door open and when I sat down and started the car I suddenly noticed there was a Goldcrest fuglekonge sitting on the dashboard. I opened both doors but it seemed quite happy checking out the dog, preening on the back seat and in no hurry to leave the car. Soon everyone had their mobile phones out and were taking pictures of it inside the vehicle. With both doors open this lead to people taking pictures of people taking pictures.

Herdlevær 02 October 2016 - Lots of birds but....

Light SE winds, sunny and calm. Cracking!

Meadow Pipit heipiplerke in the early morning sunshine

The camera is still not feeling very well after the soaking it had yesterday but is just about hanging on

I took my usual round at Herdlevær and picked up a few birds typical for early October - a Jack Snipe kvartbekkasin, a Yellow-browed Warbler gulbrynsanger and a couple of migrating Grey Wagtails vintererle. Almost predictably I missed out on a Little Bunting dvergspurv which was caught in the nets.

A Peregrine vandrefalk flew over the road at Skogsøy just before I got to Herdlevær. Common Crossbill grankorsnebb are becoming more obvious and there were generally plenty of birds about - mostly thrushes.

A Whimbrel småspove heard at Tjeldstø was a very late record.

Skogsøy 01 October - Weather forecast blunder and camera disaster

The weather forecast was lightish NW and sunny. I had hoped for a good day of migration in pleasant conditions after the recent strong winds. This was not to be the case.

The wind was right and so was sun thing. Until I actually arrived at the lookout point when it started raining. And didn't stop. After 90 minutes I gave up, soaked through my so-called waterproofs.

The seawatching was a wash-out in every sense of the word with the best bird being a lone Great Northern Diver islom heading south. Other than that it was just Gannets havsule, a few auks, small numbers of Red.throated Diver smålom, a couple of White-tailed Eagle havørn and that's about it.

There was something large hunting fish offshore - I strongly suspect it may have been tuna as there was no sign of any cetacea.

Hawk Owl haukugle taken pre.dawn with ridiculously high ISO values and idiotically slow shutter speeds - before the camera gave up the ghost

However, the day was saved before I even parked the car - on the way to Skogsøy I finally connected with a local Hawk Owl haukugle - it wasn't anything like daylight and I had to use hitherto unheard of ISO values to get any kind of shot at all. With an exposure time of 1/10 and an ISO of 4000 I was quite happy.....

I haven't checked yet but I think that the Hawk Owl was my 200th species at Tjeldstø. First member of the "Tjeldstø 200 club" if I am correct.

Other stuff seen today included a Goshawk hønsehauk at Skogsøy, a Whincaht buskskvett at Breivik and a Peregrine vandrefalk at Tjeldstø in the evening.

The Peregrine produced its own set of problems . having returned from the WET seawatch at Skogsøy I found my camera wasn't working. No contact with either battery or memory card. I lit the wood-burning stove, removed card, batteries, opened everything I could and left the camera in front of the fire. After a while it started to respond and I thought all was good, Until I tried to take pictures of the (distant) Peregrine, It then transpired that the autofocus had stopped working. With the bird sitting still I switched to manual focus and did OK. For safety's sake I took a few pics with my point and pray superzoom - something that also gave acceptable images.

First the DLSR images (MASSIVELY cropped):

DSLR version of Juvenile Peregrine vandrefalk

And then the superszoom;

The first of these images was over and above the optical zoom.

All in all not that bad at all....

For more examples using this superzoom see this page

The Northern Lights put on a brief but powerful display in the evening - to the sound track of migrating Redwings rødvingetrost - a common sound after dark the last week or so