Rain at dawn with a SE
breeze produced high hopes of a few new arrivals and so it proved; birds on the
sea during the first few hours in poor visibility included the first Arctic Tern of the year, a pair of
Shoveler south, a Great-northern Diver, 75 Oystercatchers north in three flocks
and 51 Common Scoter also north while the adult White-tailed Eagle did another close range flyby (and again I didn’t
have my camera!). I opened some nets
when the rain stopped but there were very few birds around with 2 Willow
Warblers and a Chiffchaff caught.
There were however plenty of new birds throughout the
area in the afternoon, most notably an arrival of waders with the first 7 Common Sandpipers (5 in Vågsvollvika
and 2 in Sevika) and 2 Whimbrel (in Verevågen)
of the year, a nice flock of 10 Purple Sandpipers on the tip of Steinodden, a
big influx of 52+ Redshank including a flock of 28 on Vågsvollvåien, a Dunlin
and the three islandica Black-tailed
Godwits still. Other birds around the coast included a pair
of Gadwall on Fuglejønna (an overdue
Norwegian tick!), 42+ Teal and increased totals of 55+ White Wagtails plus 3
Pied Wagtails, 200+ Meadow Pipits and 79+ Swallows plus 7 Sand Martins and 2
House Martins especially around Sevika.
Inland, new birds comprised 2 Tree Pipits, a male Pied
Flycatcher in Lebeltet and a Blue-headed
Wagtail over Gunnarsmyra which were all new for the year; also seen was a Wryneck in Lebeltet, a female Marsh
Harrier, 2 Merlins, a singing Willow Warbler in Lebeltet, a Brambling and a
Reed Bunting.
- I read a Great Black-backed Gulls ring on Vågsvollvåien
at lunchtime which illustrates many Gulls life histories; JH106 was ringed as a
chick on Rauna in 2010 and wasn’t seen again until last year when it was on a
beach near Calais and now it has become a full adult and reached breeding age it
has just returned to its natal area after wandering around for five years and
will probably attempt to breed back on Rauna or nearby.
Sand Martins and Swallows low over Sevika in the murk and fog
Purple Sandpipers
Wheatear
Same Black-tailed Godwit, same position, bit better light!
No comments:
Post a Comment