20th October

Still very calm but with plenty of cloud cover coming and going with a few heavy looking showers surrounding us but never actually raining here; the nets were saved by a flock of 27 Bramblings which were caught together early on while a big female Northern Bullfinch and a Common Redpoll were also noteworthy.

                There were a few birds around as well with Robins, Blackbirds and Song Thrushes calling from dawn and some good overhead passage unfortunately going NW slightly inland from the lighthouse so counts were very inaccurate with 300+ Bramblings dominating along with a few Goldfinches, Redpolls, Yellowhammers and Skylarks amongst others.   A late juvenile Arctic Tern flew south offshore and the Gyrfalcon did a close flypast before having a bit of a tussle with a Raven.

                There was little new along the coast with the Surf Scoter still in the same place, the Gyrfalcon cruising around, the Slavonian Grebe still in Sevika, a Jack Snipe, a Wheatear and a Lapland Bunting while there was a Black Woodpecker and 35 Fieldfares in Lebeltet Nord.   The female Scaup was still in Vågsvollvika along with 18 Goldeneye, another Wheatear, the Brent Goose and 99 Wigeon.

 

Brambling

Northern Bullfinch

Gyrfalcon making friends with a Raven

Surf Scoter

Common Scoter

Black Woodpecker

 

17th October

Crystal clear with a very light but very cold northerly breeze produced a frosty start to the day after a single Tengmalm’s Owl was again the result of many hours effort overnight; we managed 50 new birds through the morning with a little pulse of 20 Goldcrests (taking the total to a record autumn for this species!) along with 2 Common Redpolls, a Goldfinch and a sprinkling of Robins, Wrens, Blackbirds etc.   It was quiet out at the lighthouse through the morning with a juvenile Kittiwake and a female Scaup on the sea while over the land birds included 21 Crossbills, a Hen Harrier, a Great-spotted Woodpecker and a few Finches especially Goldfinches.

                I then did the coast in the now gloriously warm, sunny conditions where the highlight was finding a female SURF SCOTER close inshore off Fuglejønna with a little group of Goldeneye; other birds included incredible views of the Gyrfalcon out on Steinodden, a single Little Auk which came and landed close in and tempted the Gyr to have a go (the first of the autumn), a Great-northern Diver and 3 more Scaup south offshore, an increase to 23 Goldeneye, a Slavonian Grebe in Verevågen, 2 Jack Snipe  and a Lapland Bunting on Steinodden.

                A single Black Woodpecker was the highlight in Lebeltet before a very late Spotted Redshank dropped into Vågsvollvåien for five minutes (actually the joint latest ever record here with one on the same date in 1998) and the first 5 Barnacle Geese of the autumn  flew north.

 

Awesome views of an awesome bird; its much more confiding than any Peregrine

Surf Scoter

Jack Snipe

Slavonian Grebe

Record shot of the Spotted Redshank