1st November

Overcast again but the wind had dropped right away and switched round to the west; the nets were disappointing with 16 new birds caught including a Blackcap.   I didn’t really look at the sea for any extended time but I did see 2 Great-northern Divers and a single Scaup along with small flocks of Red-throated Divers, Razorbills, Common Scoters etc. while other birds through the morning included a Black Woodpecker which came out to the lighthouse, a single Snow Bunting over to the south, 6 Grey Wagtails and a Merlin which came in off the sea carrying prey.

                The afternoon was very pleasant with the sun coming out later on and birds around the coast included the Slavonian Grebe in Sevika, a Wheatear still on Skarvodden, the Lapland Bunting and a few Little Auks dotted around.   The Three-toed Woodpecker reappeared in Lebeltet and presumably the same 1^st winter White-tailed Eagle was sat in a field at Vatnemarka but otherwise it was very quiet inland.

 

Little Auks

Wren foraging in the seaweed

The Three-toed Woodpecker was again obliging, often being too close to fit the whole bird in the picture!

 

29th October

Pretty much identical conditions to yesterday – overcast with a blazing, cold easterly wind; I spent the first three hours seawatching  where there were again thousands of birds passing SE with the highlights being 3 White-billed Divers, 12 Great-northern Divers and an increased 3,363 Razorbills.   The rest of the totals comprised 62 Red-throated Divers, single Red-necked Grebe and Slavonian Grebes, 4 Brent Geese, 542 Common Scoter, 48 Velvet Scoter, 20 Red-breasted Merganser, 4 Purple Sandpipers, 20 Common Gulls, 158 Kittiwakes, 11 Guillemots, a Black Guillemot and a good 447 Little Auks.

                The area was then fairly quiet with a Slavonian Grebe in Sevika, a Red-necked Grebe in Verevågen, an increase to 44 Goldeneye, a Great-spotted Woodpecker, 4 Woodlarks at Bakkan, a Chiffchaff and 2 Lapland Buntings.   There were then 17 Pink-footed Geese and 3 Great-crested Grebes on Kvilljobukta (but not yesterday’s Bewick’s Swans!) and 3 Slavonian Grebes and 2 Great-northern Divers in Nordhasselvika.

                Another hour’s seawatch in the afternoon revealed far fewer birds passing but a 1^st winter Little Gull went SE along with 11 Red-throated Divers, 3 Tufted Ducks, 175 Common Scoter, 3 Velvet Scoter, a Black-headed Gull, a Lesser Black-backed Gull, 41 Kittiwakes, 124 Razorbills and another 25 Little Auks.

                A little look in Vågsvollvika late afternoon then produced a good flock of 11 Herons, 53 Wigeon and 2 lingering Wheatears.

 

A rapidly disappearing Little Auk

 

28th October

A real autumnal feeling day with complete cloud cover and a strong, cold easterly wind; I went out and about for the first few hours but there wasn’t much passing Steinodden although a Purple Sandpiper, a Great-northern Diver, a Slavonian Grebe, a Jack Snipe and 2 Wheatears were out along the coast while birds inland included a Rough-legged Buzzard, a good looking Siberian Chiffchaff in Lebeltet, 3 Northern Bullfinches, 6 Woodlarks at Bakkan, 150+ Fieldfares, 4 Grey Wagtails, a Great-spotted Woodpecker and a Short-eared Owl along with much reduced number of Bramblings, Siskins etc.

                I got back to the lighthouse mid-morning where there were thousands of birds streaming SE at sea – they annoyingly must have been taking a line that missed out Steinodden – typical!   The rest of the day was dominated by seawatching where my highlights were a Leach’s Petrel and a White-billed Diver while other bits that I saw included 2 Red-necked Grebes, 2 Scaup, 6 Purple Sandpipers and a Curlew.

                The rest of the days totals (which I saw a good proportion of) were made up of 144 Red-throated Divers, 170 Gannets, 17 Teal, 7 Tufted Ducks, 13 Long-tailed Ducks, 115 Eiders, 100 Velvet Scoter, 1,510 Common Scoter, 27 Red-breasted Mergansers, 16 Black-headed Gulls, 123 Common Gulls, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 580 Herring Gulls, 90 Great Black-backed Gulls, 471 Kittiwakes, 53 Guillemots, 2,010 Razorbills and 148 Little Auks.   A pod of 4-5 Pilot Whales also showed well late morning.

 

Goldcrests

Little Auk

Record shot of the Siberian Chiffchaff

 

27th October

Perfect conditions through the morning; overcast with a light but increasing easterly breeze.   The nets however were much quieter than yesterday with only 33 new birds caught including single Blackcap and Chiffchaff.   It was another great morning for overhead passage though with at least 3,200 Bramblings heading SE dominating along with smaller numbers of the usual autumn species including Goldfinches, Siskins, Chaffinches, Redpolls, Yellowhammers and c730 Fieldfares in two large flocks.

                Other bits and pieces through the first half of the good morning (until the increasing wind reached a point that stopped the passage) included 16 Waxwings, the first Whooper Swan of the autumn, 2 Northern Bullfinches, 33+ Crossbills, a Great Grey Shrike which flashed by, a 1^st winter White-tailed Eagle low over the lighthouse, a female Goshawk sat on the edge of Lebeltet, 2 Mistle Thrushes, 4 Grey Wagtails and at least 14 Sparrowhawks also heading SE.

                The wind gradually died down through the afternoon producing very pleasant conditions to be out in and birds along the coast included the female Surf Scoter still in the same place, three exhausted and skinny Little Auks resting in funny places (including one picked up off the road being attacked by Magpies!), 3 Wheatears, 6 Twite in Sevika and a Lapland Bunting.   Inland, birds of note included now 9 Woodlarks at Bakkan along with 6 Waxwings and another Northern Bullfinch, 2 Great-spotted Woodpeckers and a general continuation of this morning’s birds with little flocks of Finches mooching around and a couple more Sparrowhawks.

 

Twite

Blue Tit

Stranded Little Auks - they were pretty skinny but quite feisty and flew off strongly when released back out to sea

Goshawk

White-tailed Eagle

Waxwings

Velvet Scoter

 

21st October

The weather finally broke with a moderate but increasing SW wind and a few showers in the morning giving way to extended rain in the afternoon; I wasn’t ringing today so an hour spent out on Steinodden produced a few birds heading SE including 2 Great-northern Divers, 2 Little Auks, 4 Red-throated Divers, 62 Common Scoters, 4 Velvet Scoters, 3 Kittiwakes, 31 Razorbills and a late juvenile Common Tern.

                The Gyrfalcon was still lurking around Skarvodden before the rain moved in and pretty much ended the day with a single Wheatear still here and the Scaup still in Vågsvollvika with the Goldeneye.

 

Great-northern Diver

Red-throated Diver

Little Auk

 

19th October

Same same with the weather, cloudless with the merest hint of a breeze meant that the nets were again pretty quiet with 20 new birds caught; there was a big flock of 170 Fieldfares floating around through the morning, a Northern Bullfinch was heard trumpeting, a Little Auk flew along the shore and a Great-spotted Woodpecker came out to the lighthouse.

                The coast was very pleasant in the tropical conditions at lunchtime with the female Surf Scoter still hanging out with the Goldeneye off Fuglejønna, a big female Goshawk unsuccessfully chasing Teal in Verevågen (actually the first one I’ve seen for a while but judging by the new piles of Short-eared Owl feathers which keep appearing there has been at least one around), 2 more Little Auks, a Jack Snipe and a Slavonian Grebe in Sevika while in Lebeltet there were 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker and presumably the same Three-toed Woodpecker.

                The total of 32 Goldeneye for the whole area was an increase with 20 in Vågsvollvika noteworthy where there was also a female Scaup, a decent flock of 27 Twite, a Wheatear and a single remaining Brent Goose.  

 

Little Auks

Dark-bellied Brent Goose

Scaup

and Tufted Duck

Jackdaw looking at me funny

House Sparrow puffed up in the morning sunshine

The Gyrfalcon's favoured method of hunting seems to be going after birds flying over the sea - this time a Razorbill