LANDGUARD - 4th September

 Largely overcast through the morning with a stiff NE wind becoming bright and sunny by the afternoon; the now daily scattering of migrants was highlighted by a superb Wryneck which I found in a mist-net mid-morning.   Also present were 3 Lesser Whitethroats, a Grey Wagtail, 2 Yellow Wagtails, 3 Willow Warblers, a Whitethroat and 2 Blackcaps.   

Elsewhere, a Black Tern was offshore with 94+ Sandwich Terns first thing, 30 Teal went south, 2 Knot flew north and 11 Swallows couldn’t make up their mind which way to go.   

Also of honourable mention was an Osprey scoped up the river hovering over the water opposite Trimley Marshes first thing – rubbish views and a long way outside the Obs recording area but still nice though!

Wryneck

GEDSER - 26th August

It remained hot and sunny but the now southerly wind was a bit stronger than yesterday and the nets were a bit quieter than yesterday; the 28 new birds did however include 2 Wrynecks (sixth and seventh for the autumn) and the third Wood Warbler along with single Spotted Flycatcher, Pied Flycatcher, Redstart, Icterine Warbler, Marsh Warbler and Tree Pipit.   It was quiet around the garden and overhead as well with a Sparrowhawk and a few Swifts the only signs of any migration.

                I went for a random drive around the fields looking for any raptors in the afternoon and after failing miserably to find anything I got back to the station to find a cracking juvenile Honey Buzzard flying around the garden!   This proved to be the start of a little burst of activity in the evening with 4 Marsh Harriers and 20+ Sparrowhawks coming in from the north – the harriers continued south out to sea but seemingly none of the Sparrowhawks were prepared to head out this late in the day and either turned round or angled off to the west across the fields.   Also in the evening a Temminck’s Stint flew low over the pond in the front field and two Knot flew west.

 

Wood Warbler

Wryneck

Snap shots of the Honey Buzzard

Sparrowhawks finally coming through!

 

GEDSER - 13th August

Unfortunately the wind reverted back to pre-yesterday levels limiting what we could do through the morning but the much reduced catch of 28 new birds did include the first stunning Wryneck of the autumn along with some common migrants probably left over from yesterday’s arrival.   There were 2 Red-backed Shrikes in the garden with a re-trap juvenile from two days ago and a new, unringed adult male; there wasn’t too much overhead either with a juvenile Marsh Harrier the pick.

                An hour’s look from the point (1300-1400) produced an Osprey heading south, low over the sea, 3 Black-throated Divers which landed on the sea, 3 Shoveler, 4 Teal and a single Wigeon south, 10 Common Scoter, 83 Eiders, 24 Sandwich Terns, 3 Arctic Terns, 39 Common Terns, 2 Common Sandpipers and 3 Swifts.

                Bøtø was much quieter than two days ago during a brief look in the afternoon with a distant Red Kite the only new thing of note with a similar spread of waders just in smaller numbers; there was plenty of raptor activity in the windy conditions with numerous Marsh Harriers, White-tailed Eagles and Buzzards floating around the fields.

 

No such thing as too many Wryneck pictures!

Osprey heading south

Red-backed Shrike

Juvenile White Wagtail

 

24th July

A similar day to yesterday but with the wind a bit stronger and with a bit more west in it; a couple of Bonxies were lingering offshore while around Vågsvollvåien there were 2 Bar-tailed Godwits, 8 Curlew, 2 Whimbrel, a Greenshank and presumably the same female Tufted Duck relocating from Fuglejønna.   Managed to get a couple of nets open but it was very quiet, just rescued by a smart juvenile Wryneck as I was closing!

                The coast was also quiet with waders including 3 Common Sandpipers, another Greenshank, 4 Green Sandpipers, 5 Dunlin and a Sanderling; 38+ Swifts were feeding over Verevågen before the day’s highlight came with a cracking female WHITE-BACKED WOODPECKER in Lebeltet Nord (a proper one this time with no hint of any hybridness like the thing last autumn!).

- Read consecutive Lesser Black-backed Gull rings on Vågsvollvåien this morning; J663E and J664E were both ringed as chicks on Rauna on 17^th July 2013and over two years later they were standing next to each other again!

 

White-backed Woodpecker

Wryneck - very hard to photograph in the hand as it wouldn't keep its bloody head still!

The Swifts were very photogenic today!

 

13th July

Walked round the coast first thing but there was unfortunately no sign of last night’s wader sp. it was pretty quiet in fact with birds of note just being 3 Teal, 4 Green Sandpipers, a Common Sandpiper and c14 Crossbills in Lebeltet Nord.   I also saw one of the juvenile White Wagtails which I colour ringed out at Karveneset which I thought had all been depredated!

There were 4 Wrynecks (three juveniles) and the agitated Red-backed Shrike pair in Lebeltet mid-afternoon with the pair of Blue-headed Wagtails still collecting food out in the fields before a look in Vågsvollvika produced 3 Bar-tailed Godwits, 5 Dunlin, 2 Common Sandpipers, 9 Redshank (including a juvenile)  and a juvenile Ringed Plover.

 

Redpoll

Bar-tailed Godwits

White Wagtail

Another grabbed shot of a Hare running past me

This time though it was obvious why it was running!

 

11th July

A fine, calm day produced its highlights early on with the FRANKLIN’S GULL flying NW past the lighthouse with a Black-headed Gull at 06:00 and a BEE-EATER circling high over the lighthouse for a few minutes at 08:30.   The sea was very quiet first thing (not that it really mattered!) with 7 Herons, 3 Whimbrel and a Grey Wagtail heading NW the pick with a Green Sandpiper on Vågsvollvåien.

                A walk inland then produced three separate broods of Whinchat fledglings, the pair of Wrynecks extremely agitated, 3 separate Red-backed Shrikes, 5 Crossbills (including three juveniles, one of which was a distinctive ‘wing-barred’ individual), a calling Green Woodpecker in Lebeltet Nord, 3 Spotted Flycatchers and a selection of Siskin, Redpoll, Linnet and Greenfinch family parties.   A little look in Verevågen also produced a few waders including 6 Green Sandpipers and 3 Greenshank.

                After some light rain in the afternoon a few bits and pieces had dropped into Vågsvollvåien / Vågsvollvika including 3 Ruff, a Greenshank, 4 Dunlin, 5 Whimbrel, 51 Curlew, a Bar-tailed Godwit, a Wood Sandpiper, 2 Common Sandpipers and the first juvenile Black-headed Gull of the year.   Other things of note late afternoon consisted of 7 more Herons which went north, a male Blue-headed Wagtail and 75+ Swifts feeding out over the fields in the evening.

 

More blurry record shots of the Franklin's Gull as it flew past the lighthouse this morning

I know its not their usual habitat but juvenile Crossbills should definitely think about hanging around on lichen covered rocks more often - until they moved they were almost invisible!

The flock included this unusual 'wing-barred' bird - it made me look many times at it before deciding it was just a Common Crossbill (the angle of the photo makes it look at bit slimmer and slighter than a Common but I'm 99.5% sure its not a Two-barred Crossbill!)

Juvenile Whinchat

Wryneck

Snake in the grass