7th August

A perfect, flat calm morning which, after the spell of easterlies in the last few days you would hope that there would be some birds in the nets but it was a little disappointing with 32 new birds including single Garden Warbler, Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat with 16 Willow Warblers (we are just starting to catch the first juvenile Warblers which have finished their post-juvenile moult so hopefully they will start moving through in bigger numbers now!).

                There were a few bits and pieces around through the morning with the first Red-necked Grebe of the autumn close inshore, 2 Spotted Redshanks, a decent flock of 71 Curlews in the fields, 15 Crossbills, a Green Woodpecker, a Sparrowhawk, a Peregrine, small numbers of waders passing offshore and 300+ Greylag Geese also heading south.

                The rest of the day was pretty quiet as I stayed away from the coast and had a couple of Tree Pipits, a few Red-backed Shrikes and some more Greylag Geese heading south late afternoon.

 

 

 

There were no photo opportunities today so here are a few from Razo in the Cape Verdes where I went in November 2009 specifically to colour ring the endemic Razo Larks there

 

Male and female Razo Larks; they have different sized bills to reduce foraging competition on this barren island

Juvenile male Razo Lark

It had been abnormally wet just before we arrived so the Larks were breeding like Rabbits; this is the first ever recorded nest with four chicks!

Boyd's Shearwater

Cape Verde Shearwater

 

6th August

A light easterly wind and a few hours of light rain from dawn should have been perfect for some passerine migrants but it was the sea that held all the attention through the morning with a good and varied southward wader passage as totals included 653 Oystercatchers, 59 Knot, 122 Dunlin, 57 Redshank, 11 Turnstone, 14 Curlew, 10 Bar-tailed Godwits, 2 Little Stints, 4 Sanderling and 3 Grey Plover (the totals would have been a bit larger but the weather forecast tricked me into opening some nets a few hours in and by the time I’d opened, waited around and closed when it started raining again I’d lost two hours!).  

There was a good selection of other bits and pieces over the sea as well including a Long-tailed Duck (very scarce at this time of year), a dark adult Arctic Skua, a Bonxie, a juvenile Tystie, an Arctic Tern, a Red-throated Diver, a Tufted Duck and 4 Red-breasted Mergansers.

A walk round the coast produced, as expected more waders including a Spotted Redshank, 8 Bar-tailed Godwits, 15 Greenshank, 11 Wood Sandpipers and 26 Common Sandpipers.   Back out again in the late afternoon where the highlights were excellent views of an Osprey which was hovering over Verevågen and then an hour later flew right over my head in Vågsvollvika carrying a large fish and incredibly brief views of the Eagle Owl again in Lebeltet – basically just a huge shape flushed out of a tree which disappeared instantly deeper into the wood; other bits included 9 Crossbills, 4 Red-backed Shrikes, 7 Whinchats and a Pied Flycatcher while hirundines are noticeably starting to build up with 40+ Swallows out over the fields.

 

Osprey with big fish and big Gull

The light was obviously rubbish but this is the perfect silhouette!

Yellowhammer

Mr Linnet and his family

 

5th August

Overcast with a light easterly breeze made perfect netting conditions but the birds didn’t agree with only 22 birds caught including a Whinchat and a Pied Flycatcher; there was a bit of passage at sea with 225 Oystercatchers and 217 Greylag Geese heading south in small flocks along with a single Tystie.   A few waders were around Vågsvollvåien as usual while 13 Crossbills came out to the lighthouse and a big adult female Peregrine was cruising around.

                The day’s highlight came as I headed out into the area late morning when I flushed an awesome EAGLE OWL from the corner of Lebeltet which backs onto Seviksmarka, it flew up to the top of the plantation but instead of flying away straight away it perched on a spindly branch to glare at me for a few minutes before eventually heading away over the wood – brilliant!     Other birds inland included a Green Woodpecker, a Wryneck, a couple of Red-backed Shrikes, 2 Sparrowhawks, 40+ Swifts, 2 Spotted Flycatchers and a couple more small flocks of Crossbills.

                Did a bit of the coast as well where waders included at least 3 Spotted Redshanks, 11+ Greenshanks, 3 Wood Sandpipers, 26 Dunlin and 13+ Common Sandpipers; a few bits then dropped into Vågsvollvåien late afternoon including 4 Herons, 2 Ruff, 7 Common Sandpipers, 2 Greenshank and 4 Wood Sandpipers while a couple of small, tight flocks of Common Gulls headed south.

 

Not sure why he chose to just fly up and perch on the spindly tops of the trees where he could hardly keep his balance, perhaps he was groggy after I woke him up by mistake or he was wondering if he could eat me?  I wasn't complaining though - awesome!

Wood Sandpiper

Spotted Redshank

Painted Lady

 

4th August

Bright with a brisk easterly wind to start but it was a pretty short, quiet day; a Spotted Redshank was the highlight on Vågsvollvåien along with small numbers of the other Tringa’s while 4 Sanderling and a Grey Plover flew south at sea and at least 24 Crossbills made a couple of circuits out over the lighthouse.   That, unfortunately was about it really as heavy rain arrived mid-morning and didn’t let up until nightfall effectively ending the day!

- No doubt due to the cold, wet spring and summer here resulting in a poor breeding season for many species, the July ringing totals here at Lista were almost exactly half that of July 2014 with pretty much every species way down on last year with only Linnet really bucking the trend as it seems Finches in general have fared a bit better than most other things.

Didn't take any pictures today so here's a Greater Sand Plover and an Oriental Plover that I caught in Australia in 2012

3rd August

Yet again, a great flat calm start to the day with the nets having a bit more life in them than of late as in amongst the 40 new birds were single Sedge Warbler, Garden Warbler and Pied Flycatcher along with 20 Willow Warblers; there were a few other birds around as well including a Green Woodpecker, 11 Crossbills overhead, the first Sparrowhawk of the autumn over the lighthouse and the adult male Marsh Harrier and Peregrine cruising around.

                The morning was also notable for good numbers of waders passing through Vågsvollvåien with many flocks dropping in and heading off again; conservative totals included 17 Ruff, 2 Knot, 8 Greenshank, 7 Common Sandpipers, 7 Wood Sandpipers, 2 Bar-tailed Godwits, 4 Dunlin and the highlights of a juvenile Little Stint and a flyover Spotted Redshank.

                With all these waders through the morning the coast was disappointingly quiet in the rapidly increasing easterly wind at lunchtime with only a small concentration of Tringa’s in Verevågen of note  while birds inland included a Wryneck, a Tree Pipits a few scattered Red-backed Shrikes and a Kestrel over the lighthouse.

 

Sedge Warbler

 

This Garden Warbler has obviously found and early crop of berries somewhere (or been eating Willow Warblers!)

Scruffy moulting juvenile Whinchat

 

2nd August

A pleasant day with lightish winds but there was very little to mention really, a little movement of 30 very distant Commic Terns was the highlight at sea while 9 Bar-tailed Godwits and a few Tringa waders were around Vågsvollvåien.   There was the usual spread of waders around the coast as today’s totals included a single Little Stint, 2 Turnstone, 22 Common Sandpipers, 7 Wood Sandpipers, 10 Greenshank, 7 Green Sandpipers, a Ruff and 12 Dunlin along with 20 Teal.  

Greenshank

Young Spotted Flycatcher

Turnstone

1st August

Another excellent calm start to the day but the nets were pretty quiet with the obvious highlight being a smart Wood Warbler in amongst a few Willow Warblers; most of the morning’s interest was on Vågsvollvåien as there was a fine selection of waders on there at first light which included a Golden Plover, 2 Ruff, 5 Bar-tailed Godwits, 4 Curlew, 2 Greenshank, 3 Green Sandpipers, 5 Wood Sandpipers and 6 Common Sandpipers along with 5 Teal and a Heron.

                The rest of the day was unremarkable with a Green Woodpecker in Lebeltet along with the usual Red-backed Shrikes, the adult  male Marsh Harrier hunting over Seviksmarka and another little flock of waders which dropped into Vågsvollvåien late afternoon containing 5 Greenshank, 2 Ruff and a Wood Sandpipers – presumably new birds as they moved off to the SE pretty quickly.

 

Wood Warbler

In the absence of anything else - take a picture of a Red-backed Shrike!