Tjeldstø 09 December 2012

Southerly winds and snow - clearing up nicely after I came home.

Goshawk hønsehauk

 Struggling with gloves meant this photo is nothing like as good as it should have been...

 Both Snipe enkeltbekkasin chose to creep away rather than fly today

Starling stær

Strolled around the reserve and had a decent enough day given the conditions. Highlights were a Goshawk hønsehauk, a couple of Snipe enkeltbekkasin, two Redwing rødvingetrost and a Starling stær.

08 December 2012 - Herdlevær

South easterly winds, everything very frozen.

Back to reality. The cold weather has obviously resulted in a fair bit of stuff moving on.

 Peregrine vandrefalk at Herdlevær

It wasn't completely dead though - had four species of raptor today including Goshawk hønsehauk and Peregrine vandrefalk. A Curlew storspove out on the rocks, lots of Snipe enkeltbekkasin and Woodcock rugde tracks in the snow - both species obviously having a hard time of things at present.

Just about record shot of one of the Snipe enkeltbekkasin at Tjeldstø

 At Tjeldstø the only birds of note were a couple of Snipe enkeltbekkasin.

01-07 December - Not birding in the UK

Spent a week catching up with family. Not really out much but the family are strategically placed so there were still some decent sightings.

Mediterranean Gull svartehavsmåke

Hopefully one of the next new species in Øygarden.

 Ringed Plover sandlo

Turnstone steinvender

Colour ringed Sanderling sandløper

A few half hour strolls outside the house at Newbiggin - the Med Gull svartehavsmåke capital of the NE - paid dividends: loads of Med Gulls, a few of which were ringed, including a colour ringed bird that without scope and time didn't get read...Other birds here inlcuded a colour ringed Sanderling sandløper among the decent numbers of waders on the shore, Iceland Gull grønlandsmåke, Merlin dvergfalk, Waxwing sidensvans and plenty more besides.

Grey Plover tundralo at Seahouses

Bar-tailed Godwit lappspove at Seahouses

Mistle Thrush duetrost at Bamburgh

Part of a decent flock of Linnet tornirisk at Stag Rocks, Bamburgh

Further north in the Bamburgh / Seahouses area there were plenty of birds to see too - including roadside Barn Owls tårnugle, Stonechat svartstrupe and good numbers of waders and wildfowl.

Birding Northumberland makes it all too easy...

Øygarden 29 November 2012

Light southerly winds with some light showers.

Rock Pipit skjærpiplerke at Dåvøy

At Dåvøy the Heron gråhegre roost had increased to 26 birds, a Red-throated Diver smålom on the sea, a Little Auk alkekonge and a Snipe enkeltbekkasin.

Solberg was rather quiet but a flock of 16 Velvet Scoter sjøorre flying north was notable. Otherwise just five Purple Sands fjæreplytt and an Otter fishing.

Alvheim was virtually dead on the sea - just a single Velvet Scoter sjøorre in the channel there.

Below Herring gulls gråmåke of various ages:

Øygarden 28 November 2012 - Work

Perfect conditions for finding stuff on the sea - flat calm and sunny.

Red-throated Diver smålom at Dåvøy

Completely predictably work reared its ugly head and I wasted spent the day at work. A quick dash around in the near dark before I left proved that there were indeed some birds about including two Red-throated Diver smålom at Solberg and another at Dåvøy.

Goldfinches stillits were seen at Dåvøy and Tjeldstø (these whilst I was running for the bus).

Also at Tjeldstø a Little Auk alkekonge, 11 Common Scoter svartand and a first year Kittiwake krykkje.

Tjeldstø 27 November 2012 - Stuck

Calm AND sunny today. Predictably stuck at home in the decent weather.

Not to be deterred we spent the morning ringing in my garden - and caught more birds in three hours than they did on Utsira over the whole weekend. Best bird was a Blue Tit blåmeis with a ring on its leg that indicates it has probably come north up the coast from Lista. Just goes to show...Otherwise just the usual plus a fly over Lapwing vipe.

 Razorbill alke

Guillemot lomvi

A quick dash to the shops - prompted by the discovery of two auks on the sea outside my house - produced a Razorbill alke and a Guillemot lomvi.

Thrush numbers seem to be dropping but still at least six Redwing rødvingetrost present among larger numbers of Fieldfare gråtrost.

Øygarden 26 November 2012 - Grey-headed Woodpecker

Fantastic weather again. Light easterly breeze and mild.

Red-throated Diver smålom

A decent enough morning out. Started at Hjelme West where there were several White-tailed Eagles havørn and small numbers of the usual seaduck. Best bird here was a Red-throated Diver smålom.

 Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett

 Fieldfare gråtrost

Robin rødstrupe

A short stop at Sæle produced a Grey-headed Woodpecker gråspett - the first I've seen for a while - and a small flock of Waxwing sidensvans.

 Just look at the beak on this thing - massive!

At Hatten a flock of around 20 Parrot Crossbills furukorsnebb fed right beside the road.

Skogsøy 25 November 2012 - At last a change in the weather

Finally the weather changed. A fresh easterly with high cloud cover, even some blue sky at times.

The changing conditions seemed to have an immediate effect on the birding - sat at Skogsøy for just over two hours and had an excellent late November seawatch notching up the majority of what can be expected at this time of year:

Great Northern Diver islom, 2S, 1N
Red-throated Diver smålom 3S
Red-necked Grebe gråstrupedykker 1S
Eider ærfugl 149S
Velvet Scoter sjøorre 1S
Common Scoter svartand 26S
Long-tailed Duck havelle 22S
Red-breasted Merganser siland 8S
Goldeneye kvinand 1S
Little Auk alkekonge 27S
Black Guillemot teist 2S
Iceland Gull grønlandsmåke 1S
Kittiwake krykkje 2S
Common Gull fiskemåke 8S
Cormorant storskarv 37S
Shag toppskarv 31S

 Second winter Iceland Gull grønlandsmåke - first of the autumn for Øygarden

 Cormorant storksarv

Great Northern Diver islom

Other birds of note included a Snow Bunting snøspurv flying in off the sea, Curlew storspove, Purple Sandpiper fjæreplytt, a Guillemot lomvi on the sea and a couple of fly over Redpolls gråsisik.

The walk to and from the lookout produced two flocks of Waxwing sidensvans, 20+ Common Crossbill grankorsnebb and some very fresh Woodcock rugde tracks.

This gull headed south. Initially in flight I took it to be a Common Gull fiskemåke and took a few record shots. A quick check in the field made me change my mind to Herring gull gråmåke. Downloading the images later has me scratching my head.....answers on a postcard please

Herdlevær 24 November 2012

Strong southerlies, some showers but a glimt of sunshine.

No real change in the birds - a few Little Auk alkekonge, a couple of Kittiwake krykkje and the usual Snipe enkeltbekkasin, White-tailed Eagles havørn, thrushes etc.

 Part of a feeding Fieldfare gråtrost flock

Herring Gull gråmåke

Raven ravn

Plenty of Fieldfare gråtrost knocking about with flocks seen at Herdlevær, Breivik and Tjeldstø.

Weather forecast set to change tomorrow - we can but hope....

Tjeldstø 23 November 2012 - on my way out now

It now goes without saying that there were very strong southerly winds, that it was pouring with rain and very dull.

Spent the morning updating some pages on my website - this mornings updates were all from Australia and include this total stunner:

 White-tailed Tropicbird

Rainbow Lorikeet

More pictures of birds and other wildlife off Western Australia in August / September 2012 can be seen on this link.

Around 13:00 the weather improved slightly and a stroll around the reserve proved quite productive with highlights being a nice Goshawk hønsehauk, a Lapwing vipe and two flyover Whooper Swans sangsvane. Other stuff inlcluded a big flock of Fieldfare gråtrost (around 300 - not bad for the time of year!), 12+ Redwing rødvingetrost, Waxwings sidensvans and small numbers of Starling stær.

Rather more down to earth image of today's Lapwing vipe
 

Øygarden 22 November 2012

Somewhat predictably strong southerly winds, dull and wet.

Didn't get out and about that much today.

Solberg was quiet but a fly-over Waxwing sidensvans and a feeding Otter were seen here.

Breivik produced around 70 Fieldfare gråstrost, a couple of Redwing rødvingetrost and the usual suspects. A flock of four Common Gull fiskemåke flew over - a big flock in Øygarden this late in the year.

Hjelme West 21 November 2012 - Crossbill headaches

You guessed it! Yet again strong southerly winds, dull with some rain. Still the best weather thus far this week. At least it remains mild.

Tried Hjelme West today which was relatively quiet on the sea but made up for it to some degree ashore. Several White-tailed Eagles havørn, a Black Guillemot teist and small numbers of Long-tailed Duck havelle and Common Scoter svartand were pretty much all that was to be seen offshore.

 Lots of Crested Tit toppmeis about today. Arty movement effect was of course carefully planned...

 Male Parrot Crossbill furukorsnebb - actually appeared to be singing to the female pictured below

 Female Parrot Crossbill furukorsnebb

 Above and below - more presumed Parrot Crossbills furukorsnebb

Common Crossbill grankorsnebb

 Peregrine vandrefalk

 Purple Sandpiper fjæreplytt - auto function (and therefore flash)

 Purple Sandpiper fjæreplytt - surprisingly good results for ISO1000

A couple of small flocks of Waxwing sidensvans flew south, two Woodcock rugde flushed from woods and a few flocks of Crossbills - one flock was obviously Common Crossbills grankorsnebb but a few smaller flocks appeared to be Parrot Crossbills furukorsnebb. I might just be finally getting to grips with the calls.....

A short stop at Sæle produced another decent Parrot Crossbill furukorsnebb flock but a Peregrine vandrefalk flew over and flushed them just as I was getting into a decent position to photograph them. Other stuff here included a female Blackcap munk, a Nuthatch spettmeis and a couple of Redwing rødvingetrost.