Saturday, 17 October 2015

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
 

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