Øygarden 19-21 May 2023 - Brents on the move

 I took things pretty easy for a few days but still caught up on a few bits and pieces in the world of birds.

On 19 May I just did a walk at Tjeldstø where just the usual species were present including the male Wigeon brunnakke that has been around for some time now and the first Common Whitethroat tornsanger locally this year. Plenty of new Tjeldstø species though:)

At home a few Greylag families turned up sporting this year's crop of goslings - one pair had just two young in tow whereas another pair still had eight going strong. Twite bergirisk, Goldfinch stillits, Cuckoo gjøk and the other usual suspects also seen from the garden.

I barely did anything the following day but saw the first Lapwing vipe chicks of the year at Kollsnes. Lesser Whitethroat møller still singing "everywhere". A Merlin dvergfalk was a promising find - indicating that this species might still manage to breed in the area from time to time. 

Lapwing vipe chick at Kollsnes

Lesser Redpoll brunsisik in the garden (along with Siskin grønnsisik, Golfinch stillits and more)

Best sighting of the day was from the terrace in the form of about 20 White-sided Dolphins:)

Atlantic White-sided Dolphins (kvitkjeving) photographed from the terrace

On 21st May I had planned for Skogsøy but there was fog early on when I got up so I went back to bed and did a late and lazy round at Herdlevær - here I had 820 pale-bellied Brent Geese ringgås heading north in the space of an hour - the first of the year and, as usual now, somewhat earlier than the traditional movement at the end of May. Several Velvet Scoter sjøorre also headed north along with a selection of the usual species including my first Arctic Terns rødnebbterne for 2023. I really should have gone to Skogsøy:)

Just about record shots of some of the Brent Geese ringgås that passed

I also picked up my first local Sedge Warbler sivsanger of the year - over a month later than the first I had offshore:)

Herdlevær 18 May 2023 - Finally home again!

 A late and lazy stroll. Good to be home again:=

A couple of flocks of Barnacle Geese hvitkinngås headed north in the twenty minutes I stopped for a coffee. 

Song Thrush måltrost at Herdlevær

Common Sandpiper strandsnipe now "everywhere" as are Goldfinch stillits - one of the few species that have "moved in" on Øygarden and are actually increasing in number in stark contrast to many / most other species.

Goldfinches stillits in the garden)

A male Wigeon brunnakke on Husvatnet was the first I have seen locally this year (!), other new species included Lesser Whitethroat møller (various places). 

A pair of Tufted Duck toppand now present at Tjeldstø - can't be long before they actually breed there.

Kristin 05 May - 16 May 2023 - Two good sightings in the North Sea

Another couple of weeks spent offshore, once again missing a number of quality sightings back home.

The best birds of this trip were a Peregrine vandrefalk and a Slavonian Grebe horndykker. Other species included several species of wader, and three species of skua - Great, Pomarine and Arctic. The only passerines identified were two Meadow Pipits heipiplerke, a Swallow låvesvale and a Wheatear steinskvett.

A few "blue" Fulmar havhest joined the normal ones early in the trip but none seen later. 

Up to four Basking Shark brugde were seen simultaneously and a Porbeagle Shark hårbrann was also seen a couple of times.

Fulmars havhest, Kristin field, 08 May

Gannet havsule, Kristin field, 08 May

Herring Gull gråmåke, Kristin field, 08 May

Kittiwake krykkje, Kristin field, 08 May

Lesser Black-backed Gulls sildemåke 08 May 

2cy Peregrine vandrefalk, Kristin 08 May

Basking Shark brugde, 09 May

Slavonian Grebe horndykker, Kristin, 10 May 2023

This is a rare species offshore and may even be the first I have seen from a vessel in the North Sea

Turnstone steinvender, Kristin, 10 May 2023

A common enough migrant in the North Sea

Basking Sharks brugde, 11 May 2023

Fulmar havhest, 14 May

Kittiwakes krykkje, 14 May

Some scenery on our way south.....

Herdlevær and Nautnes 04 May 2023 - A big migration day and a new species for Nautnes

Unfortunately not out in any significant way but still caught up with at least part of a massive day of migration - 45 minutes with the scope at Herdlevær gave 237 Barnacle Geese hvitkinngås on their way to Svalbard, 173 Red-throated Diver smålom, a Great Northern Diver islom and a White-billed Diver gulnebblom along with some of the usual suspects. 

Record numbers of Red-throated Divers smålom (>1300) and White-billed Divers gulnebblom (50) passed today !!

Barnacle Geese hvitkinngås

Curlew storspove

Golden Plover heilo

Horse Mackrel hestemakrell

Small numbers of Golden Plover heilo were present at Herdlevær and a flock of around 80 were at Breivik.

The rest of the day was spent just trying to catch up on life before the next trip. In the evening a flock of five Mute Swan knoppsvane turned up on the sea in front of the house - a new for the house list (#158) and Nautnes in general. This species was once a real rarity in Øygarden but has been more and more regular in recent years in line with the species expansion in the Bergen area. This bird has been seen in downtown Bergen on a number of occasions since October 2021, most recently on 22 April this year.

Mute Swan knoppsvane - a new species for the house list which is now at least 158

Above picture taken with compact superzoom

A few snaps using an older DSLR

Much rarer than White-billed Diver!!

Skogsøy 03 May 2023 - Salvaging the loonatic season

 With only a couple of days at home between offshore trips it was important to get a seawatch in at Skogsøy. This is one of the few times a year I actually meet other birders so it was magic to spend 7 hours seawatching in prime time with prime company:)

A total of 34 White-billed Divers gulnebblom was of course the highlight. Other stuff included the first Whimbrel småspove, a Great Skua storjo, a dark phase Arctic Skua tyvjo and relatively decent numbers of a variety of duck species heading north along with over 400 Red-throated Diver smålom.

Common Scoter svartand

Gannet havsule

Oystercatcher tjeld

Oystercatcher tjeld and a Whimbrel småspove

Red-throated Diver smålom flocks

White-billed Diver gulnebblom

Red-throated Diver smålom N 405, S 2

White-Billed Diver gulnebblom N 34 (all adult)

Northern Gannet havsule N 35, S 3

Great Cormorant storskarv N 9

Eurasian Shag toppskarv N 34, S 89

Shelduck gravand N 1

Tufted Duck toppand N 6

Eider  ærfugl S 4

Long tailed duck havelle N 133

Common Scoter svartand N 261, S 1

Goldeneye kvinand N 8

Merganser siland N 19, S1

Oystercatcher tjeld N 95

Whimbrel småspove N 7

Arctic Skua tyvjo N 1

Great Skua storjo N 1

Common Gull fiskemåke N 82

Lesser black backed Gull sildemåke N 1

Black-legged Kittiwake krykkje N 3

Common Guillemot lomvi N 1, S 3

Razorbill alke N 36

Black Guillemot teist N 1

Atlantic Puffin lunde N 4

Herdlevær 01 April 2023 - Family first

 Today I took things very easy and just did my usual walk at Herdlevær quite late with my daughters.

Nothing remarkable noted here other than a few White-tailed Eagles havørn attempting to lift a large Pollack lyr out of the sea. After repeated attempts they gave up, it just kept dropping back into the sea - perhaps to large for them to cope with.

Cormorant storskarv passage was better than it has been with several small flocks heading north - best day of the year so far but peak passage for this species tends to be a bit later.

White-tailed Eagles havørn trying to lift a pollack out of the sea

Looks like the Cormorant storskarv migration has started:)

The journey to and from Herdlevær proved more productive with a male Stonechat svarttrupe seen for a few seconds and my first Kestrel tårnfalk of the year flying over the road.

From the house before I left a Goldfinch stillits flew around a few times and a flock of 20 Blackbirds svarttrost came in off the the sea.