Øygarden 30 May 2012 - cute theme

Sunny with northerlies

 Lapwing vipe chick near Kollsnes

 Above and below: female Teal krikkand with 13(!) young

Started the day with an abortive trip to Hernar. Ferry now on summer timetable so half day is no longer Wednesday - wish I'd had time to check! The trip to Hellesøy was not completely wasted though as the first Merlin dvergfalk I have seen in Øygarden this year flew over.

The day then took a further downturn with yet more work....but still managed a couple of very short walks which produced a flock of 30 pale-bellied Brent Geese ringgås heading north past Skogsøy and a variety of newly hatched young birds.

Øygarden 29 May 2012 - Eagle Owl

Sunny with northerly winds again.

Yet again only a very short time spent at a few localities.

Eagle Owl hubro

Solberg was better for mammals than birds today. In addition to the usual Otter oter there were also several Orcas spekkhogger offshore - difficult to judge an exact number.  Otherwise just a pair of Common Tern makrellterne, several Arctic Tern rødnebbterne and the usual suspects.

Elswhere an Eagle Owl hubro was seen near fresh prey.

Øygarden 26 May 2012

Glorious weather but no time to get out and about birding.

Common Tern makrellterne at Tjeldstø

Despite not birding I caught up with many of the species that arrived whilst I was away including Common Tern makrellterne, Arctic Tern rødnebbterne, Cuckoo gjøk, Whitethroat tornsanger and Sedge Warbler sivsanger.

Lesser Whitethroat møller singing at Tjeldstø, a single White-billed Diver gulnebblom heading north at Herdlevær and most of the usual suspects for the time of year.

Herdlevær 07 May 2012 - Seawatching still rules...

Light southerly winds and sunny.

Yet another short trip out, grabbed an hour's seawatching which once again proved quite productive:

All heading north:
Gadwall snadderand: 2 (with Barnacle Geese)
Red-throated Diver smålom: 66 (passage must have been well into triple figures today)
White-billed Diver gulnebblom: 1
GN /WB Diver kjempelom: 1
Barnacle Goose hvitkinngås: 440
Tufted Duck toppand: 9
Velvet Scoter sjøorre: 11
Common Scoter svartand: 9
Whimbrel småspove: 9
Oystercatcher tjeld: 28

A Lesser Whitethroat møller was seen in one of the gardens - first in Øygarden this year.

Tjeldstø 06 May 2012

North westerly winds, mostly sunny but some wintery showers.

Not really out today but picked up a Greenshank gluttsnipe beside Husvatnet and in the evening a Carrion Crow svartkråke flew over the garden.

Otherwise plenty to see without anything out of the ordinary. At least two Greylag grågås pairs with newly hatched goslings and a female Mallard stokkand also seen with young

Herdlevær 05 May 2012 - More short seawatches

Strong northelies yet again after gales in the night. Regular heavy snow / hail showers

A forty minute seawatch between 1020 and 1110 hit a lucky break in the weather and really produced the goods - during this short seawatch two White-billed Diver gulnebblom, a flock of seven Pomarine Skua polarjo, several  Arctic Skua tyvjo and at least one Great Skua storjo were seen.

Over 400 Barnacles Geese hvitkinngås also passed (three flocks) along with decent numbers of Kittiwake krykkje, the usual seaduck and small numbers of Red-throated Diver smålom.

An equally short return visit later in the day produced another Pomarine Skua polarjo, another Great Skua storjo and a couple more Arctic Skua tyvjo.

In the evening a surprise bird in the garden was a Hawfinch kjernebiter - the second from the house and only the third I have seen in Øygarden.

Herdlevær 04 May 2012 - Short seawatch

Fresh northerly winds continue.

Managed to grab an hours seawatch at Herdlevær which produced two White-billed Diver gulnebblom, 19 Red-throated Diver smålom, several Razorbill alke, over 60 Barnacle Geese hvittkinngås, a Fulmar havhest and  two dark phase Arctic Skua tyvjo.

Øygarden 03 May 2012 - Golden Eagle

Northerly winds continue.

Obviously some movement stilll going on.

A very quick look at Solberg proved that the day should have been spent at Skogsøy - obviously good numbers of divers passing.

At Tjeldstø I finally connected with a couple of House Martin taksvale among increased numbers of Swallows låvesvale, a second year Golden Eagle kongeørn soared over and the Pinkfoot kortnebbgås remained with the Greylags grågås.

A pair of Ringed Plover sandlo were found breeding at the same location as they did last year. Good news there at least.

Øygarden 02 May 2012 - Missing stuff....

Fresh northerly winds but sunny.

The last few days have been good with more diver migrations past Skogsøy, another Crane trane, Golden Eagle kongeørn, the first Arctic Skuas tyvjo and Whimbrel småspove etc etc.

Above and below:  Lapland Longspur lappspurv at Breivik

 Pinkfoot kortnebbgås at Tjeldstø

Rook kornkråke at Skogsøy

Still really struggling to get out and about but managed a quick dash round a few localities today - good birds present at all stops!

At Solberg a second year Great Northern Diver islom headed north and a Peregrine vandrefalk flew past.

Husvatnet at Tjeldstø produced a lone Pinkfoot kortnebbgås.

A drive by at Herdlevær/Skogsøy connected with the Rook kornkråke that has been hanging around there since 29.04.

At Breivik a cracking male Lapland Longspur lappspurv gave excellent views.

Skogsøy 29 April 2012 - Loonatics

Light northerly winds and very sunny.

With more or less ideal conditions on what is statistically the best weekend to bird Skogsøy there was a predictably large turnout of birders today - a massive seven in total.

 Obligatory White-billed Diver gulnebblom record shot

Part of a Barnacle Goose hvitkinngås flock

Almost seven hours of seawatching produced plenty of birds.

All heading north:
Red-throated Diver smålom 124
Great Northern Diver islom 2
White-billed Diver gulnebblom 15
Slavonian Grebe horndykker 2 VERY unusual spring sighting of migrating birds!
Barncale Goose hvitkinngås 61 (52+9)
Wigeon brunnakke 6
Teal krikkand 9
Tufted Duck toppand 9
Long-tailed Duck havelle 37
Common Scoter svartand 69 (+ 19 south)
Velvet Scoter sjøorre 33
Black Guillemot teist 1
Puffin lunde 17

All this plus "plenty" of auks, small numbers of Kittiwakes krykkje, Gannets havsule, etc etc.

Herdlevær 28 April 2012

Fresh northwesterly with showers.

Rather little about other than several Wheatear steinskvett and the usual suspects. A half hour seawatch without a scope produced 20 Red-throated Diver smålom and a single White-billed Diver gulnebblom in addition to small numbers of Common Scoter svartand, Kittiwake krykkje etc

Tjeldstø 27 April 2012 - Pintail

Overcast with fresh NE wind and showers.

 Heavily cropped documentation shot of the male Pintail stjertand

Pintail stjertand pair

Still struggling to get out at all but a quick dash around the reserve once again produced results, although there was clearly less going on than yesterday. Highlight today was a pair of Pintail stjertand - this species is not even seen annually in Øygarden. Today's record falls right in the peak period for this Pintail occurrences in Øygarden.

A flock of 20 Linnet tornirisk was probably an indication of new arrivals.

Tjeldstø 26 April 2012 - Crane!

Calm and overcast with light rain.

 Record shots of Common Crane trane flying over

Undisputed highlight today was a Common Crane trane that flew over heading south west.

A couple of singing Willow Warbler løvsanger were the first of the year at Tjeldstø as was a Lapland Bunting lappspurv. A Common Sandpiper strandsnipe and two Swallow låvesvale were the first I've had in Øygarden this year but both had been reported earlier in the month.

The Ring Ousel ringtrost was present again - unusual for them to hang around like this in Øygarden.

Hernar 25 April 2012 - more new migrants

Very calm and quiet both weather and birdwise. Light easterly winds with outbreaks of sun.

 Wheatear steinskvett

Willow Warbler løvsanger

The first lap of the island produced the first Willow warbler løvsanger and Blackcap munk of the year. Several singing Wheatear steinskvett but just one female.

Otherwise it was mostly the usual suspects including several Twite bergirisk.

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.