Øygarden, Herdla and Bergen 14-18.05.2025 - Guiding

I arrived home from an offshore trip on the evening of 14 May.  The only birds of interest were a couple of Wigeon brunnakke on Husvatnet, Tjeldstø where Common Sandipiper strandsnipe, Sand Martins sandsvale and the usual were present. A Common Whitethroat tornsanger sang from my garden.

On 16 May I left the house briefly and picked up the male Gadwall snadderand that was found on Husvatnet whilst I was away.

Male Gadwall snadderand on Husvatnet

The next two days were spent guiding in two enjoyable (and very different) ways.

I spent Norway's national day guiding two enthusiastic Americans, seeing around 75 species during the course of the day. We visited Herdla first which was teeeming with life, the highlights being the first Temmincks Stint temminkssipe of the yeat, a flavissima Yellow Wagtail gulerle, a pair of Shoveler skjeand,  a Ruff brushane, a good selection of other waders, Crested Tit toppmeis, Twite bergirisk and plenty more!

This Cuckoo gjøk was at Nautnes as I set off for a day of guiding. On the camera the images looked black (wrong settings!) but in fact contained a completely identifiable bird:)

Lots of Lapwing vipe chicks at Herdla

After this we headed in to my old birding areas east of Bergen picking up Whinchat buskskvett, Swifts tårnseiler, Goshawk hønsehauk, House Martins taksvale, Tree Pipit trepiplerke, Garden Warbler hagesanger, Blackcap munk, Grey Wagtail vintererle, Willow Tit granmeis, White-tailed Eagle havørn and lots more. However, Dipper fossekall failed to show.

On the way home I picked up the first Arctic Terns rødnebbterne of the year at Tjeldstø

What a day:)

On 18 May it was guiding again in a rather different context. Herdla produced a similar selection of species - plenty of youg Lapwing vipe around, Mallard stokkand chicks, a couple of distant White-tailed Eage havørn, a Canada Goose kanadagås.

A neck ringed Greylag, UK7 turned up. This bird has previously been sighted in the Netherlands and Denmark after initially being ringed in SW Norway.

Incidental birds seen in Øygarden on the way to and from town included White-tailed Eagles havørn, the long-staying male Gadwall snadderand, Sedge Warblers sivsanger and the usual.

Dogger Bank 09-13 May 2025 - Spring migration on a windfarm

I spent about a week on the Dogger Bank C development and once again there were quite a few birds to see. Maybe it had something to do with the size of the vessel (MUCH larger than the usual ones I work on) but the "island effect" was obvious with a disproportionate number of "good" birds compared to the commoner species.

A female Marsh Harrier sivhauk turned up on the evening of the 10th May and was present again the following morning.

Good numbers of insects and moths seen - the birds took advantage of these and seemed to catch quite a lot.

Gannet havsule - small numbers most days

Kittiwake krykkje - small numbers most days

Fulmar havhest - small numbers a few times

Marsh Harrier sivhauk  - female seen 09-10.05

Kestrel tårnfalk - a female present on 10.05

Peregrine vandrefalk - one hunting around the vessel on 12.05. Not the first time I've seen these on Dogger Bank - it could be that these birds regularly hunt far offshore?

Wheatear steinskvett (one male on the helideck 09.05)

Robin rødstrupe - one turned up on 13.05

Common Redstart rødstjert - a male onboard 12-13.05

Black Redstart svartrødstjert - a cracking male was seen on 13.05

Pied Flycatcher svarthvit fluesnapper - a female turned up on 12.05 and stayed until the next day

Tree Pipit trepiplerke - one onboard 12-13.05

Swallow låvsvale - one on 11.05

Willow Warbler løvsanger - one onboard 12.05

Chiff-chaff gransanger (including singing birds and a potential tristis) 2+ present daily

Common Whitethroat tornsanger  11-12-05

Reed Warbler rørsanger 11-12.05

Male Black Redstart svartrødstjert

Chiff-chaff gransanger with tick

Female Marsh Harrier sivhauk

Female Pied Flycatcher svarthvit fluesnapper

Some Racing Pigeons brevdue turned up as they so often do

Male Common Redstart rødstjert

Reed Warbler rørsanger with a freshly caught moth - I saw it catch several during it's stay onboard

Tree Pipit trepiplerke

Tristis Chiff-chaff sibirgransanger candidate. Looked good in every way but I didn't hear it call

A rare spring sighting! Normally these are an autumn thing....

A couple of the moth species seen onboard

Answers on a postcard please:)

Angle Shades (thanks Alf Tore!)

Øygarden 05 May 2025 - Taking things easy

With upcoming trips to prepare for there was just not the time to get out much and all I managed were some brief visits to various places.

The day started with the first Common Terns makrellterne of the year from my terrace where Cuckoo gjøk, Common Sandpipers strandsnipe, Snipe enkeltbekkassin and more were seen - including three unseasonal Bullfinch dompap at the feeder.

Next up was Tjeldstø where most of the breeding waders were seen along with a flock of 13 Golden Plover heilo. Skylark sanglerke were also present here.

Hjelme produced singing Blackcap munk and most of the usual suspects for this locality.

A female Blackcap munk showed quite well at Sæle.

Female Blackcap munk at Sæle

More Common Tern makrellterne were among the species seen at Dåvøy. 

Newly arrived Common Tern makrellterne

Great Black-backed Gull svartbak on eggs

Greylag grågås chicks at Dåvøy

Heron gråhegre at Dåvøy

Oystercatcher tjeld at Dåvøy - they share an island with Common Tern makrellterne and Great Black-backed Gull svartbak

Skogsøy 04 May 2025 - Third day in a row!

Another morning of seawatching in great company, the hours flew passed as did plenty of birds!

Light northerly winds and glorious sunshine made for good conditions, nothing out of the ordinary but some excellent views of some cool species:)

A second year Great Northern Diver islom fed on the sea as did various auks. Singing Lesser Whitethroat møller, White-tailed Eagle havørn and more were seen on the way to and from the lookout point.

Red throated Diver smålom N 88

Great Northern Diver islom N 2 (1 adult, 1 2cy)

White Billed Diver gulnebblom N 7 (all adults)

Northern Gannet havsule N 81

Great Cormorant storskarv N 2

Eurasian Shag toppskarv N 7, S 85

Greylag Goose grågås N 2

Barnacle Goose hvitkinngås N 88 (some flocks overhead)

Shelduck gravand N 2

Mallard stokkand N 5

Eider ærfugl N 3

Long tailed duck havelle N 14

Common Scoter svartand N 6, S 12

Velvet Scoter sjøorre N 3

Merganser siland N 2

Oystercatcher tjeld N 42

Whimbrel småspove N 1

Redshank rødstilk 2

Black-legged Kittiwake krykkje N 15, S 4

Common Guillemot lomvi N 2

Razorbill alke N 8

Black Guillemot teist N 3

Auk N 6, S 5

Some Barnacle hvitkinngås flocks came right overhead

Gannets havsule gave good views as usual

This 2cy Great Northern Diver islom shows how photos can deceive, seen well in the scope the pale bill was just an effect of the strong sunlight.

Some Oystercatcher tjeld still on the move

Razorbill alke

Shelduck gravand

Some cracking views of White-billed Diver gulnebblom!

On the way home a couple of Carrion Crow svartkråke turned up at Breivik.

Skogsøy 03 May 2025 - The loonatic season continues

Another day, another seawatch:) This time under much calmer conditions and with a lot less rain. And with a scope this time!¨

A typical seawatch for the time of year with decent varierty but without big numbers of anything. Bonus species was a pod of Orcas spekkhogger feeding actively offshore.

Red throated Diver smålom N 62

White Billed Diver gulnebblom N 13

Northern Gannet  havsule N 39, S 23

Great Cormorant storskarv N 8, S 1

Eurasian Shag toppskarv N 6, S 69

Barnacle Goose hvitkinngås N 9 (25 more flew north over land on my way out)

Long tailed duck havelle N 18

Common Scoter svartand N 10, S 34

Velvet Scoter sjøorre N 3

Merganser siland N  4, S 2

Oystercatcher tjeld N 5, S 12

Whimbrel småspove N 8

Arctic Skua tyvjo N 3 (2 pale, 1 dark) , S 1 (dark)

Common Gull fiskemåke N 9

Black-legged Kittiwake krykkje N 7

Common Guillemot lomvi N 1

Auk N 2

Gannet havsule

Raven ravn heading back to its nest with something

Part of a flock of Red-throated Diver smålom

Velvet Scoter sjøorre

Skogsøy 02 May 2025 - No scope challenge

Strong onshore winds with heavy showers meant that this was very likely to be a good day. And it was:)

New species for the year seen en route were Sedge Warbler sivsanger and Lesser Whitethroat møller.

However, when unpacking my rucksack I discovered that my trusty scope was not there! So a bins only seawatch was the only option. The conditions meant that a lot of stuff came by quite close and I managed to identify most things that past, though inevitably there were some that got away and no doubt a lot that was missed altogether.

There were Poms at the end of the rainbow:)

No scope challenge.

I've always said using a scope makes things too easy, not sure I mean it though:)

Highlights were four Pomarine Skua polarjo,  four Pintail stjertand and 16 White-billed Diver gulnebblom. A bonus sighting was at least one Orca spekkhogger feeding quite close in - though difficult to follow in the rough seas.

Red throated Diver smålom N 132

White Billed Diver gulnebblom N 16

Northern Gannet havsule N 67, S 33

Great Cormorant storskarv S 2

Eurasian Shag toppskarv N 10, S 17

Pintail stjertand N 4

Long tailed duck havelle  N 55

Common Scoter svartand N 36, S 36 (lots of small flocks north, one flock south)

Goldeneye kvinand N 1

Oystercatcher tjeld N 3

Whimbrel småspove N 4

Turnstone steinvender N  3

Pomarine Skua polarjo N 4

Arctic Skua tyvjo N 6 (four pale and two dark)

Lesser black backed Gull sildemåke N 1

Black-legged Kittiwake krykkje N 3

Common Guillemot lomvi N 3

Razorbill alke N 1

Auk N 7

Arctic Skuas tyvjo

Small flocks of Common Scoter svartand headed north, one larger flock south

GBBG svartbak

Four Pintail stjertand

Pomarine Skua polarjo

and a few more Poms polarjo

White-billed Divers gulnebblom passing in the wide variety of lighting conditions today!