Nyttårskryss

In Hordaland it is a tradition to do a three-day bird race around new year. The county is divided into four parts. Each year the birders in the different parts compete trying to see as many birds species as possible. Usually midt-Hordaland (with Bergen) is the winner.
I can only participate two days, since I have to work tomorrow. Today I tried some spots around Bergen. Bad weather with lots of winds...However,  a Great Grey Shrike was present at the Kalandsvannet and a Sparrowhawk flew over Lysekloster. Further quite a few Whooper Swans along the road to Os and a group of ten Mute Swans at Sveiasundet near Lysekloster. Otherwise not that much...

Water Rail

Tried the Jack Snipe, that was reported yesterday at Tveitevannet, but did not succeed in finding it. Had a Water Rail though. Otherwise just Blue Tit, Great Tit, a singing Greenfinch and a couple of Siskins.
Earlier this week I had a subadult Golden Eagle in Bontveitsdalen and a group of 25 Waxwings at Landås.

record shot of Water Rail

Snow, snow and snow

Rather busy with my new jobb lately and not a lot of birds around. But at Lagunen storsenter I had a flyby Water Rail this morning. Typical winter-with-snow sighting. Further a stroll with Hickman at Stavkirken. Lots of Blackbirds...Still waiting for a Pine Grosbeak in my garden.

Pine Grosbeaks, but not on sunday

On saturday more than 100 Pine Grosbeaks were reported. I had some other things to do, but on sunday I birded from dawn to dusk on Øygarden, almost sure to see Pine Grosbeaks. But alas, I couldn't find any, neither did anybody else.
It was, however, a fine day with a good deal of Waxwings, a fly-by Two-barred Crossbill (with it's typical trumpetter-call), several Goldfinches, two Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers, a Grey-headed Woodpecker, a Lapland Bunting and lots of thrushes.

One of the two Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers. This one at Herdlevær, the other at Sele.

Lots of Waxwings

After the weather change (snowstorms) of the last few days not many birds around anymore. But there are lots of Waxwings on the move these days. Had six groups, most of which were flyby's...



young bird



So far this autumn

Today the snow came, all too early! Yesterday another visit to Turøy and later to Tjeldstø and Herdlevær. May be the last good bird this autumn: Common Rosefinch in the garden of a local birder living in Tjeldstø...
This was another new bird for Hordaland for me. Further a lot of Waxwings, Tree Sparrows and a Lesser Whitethroat on Turøy.





young Common Rosefinch



Berry-eater

Herdlevær

Had the morning off, so I took Hickman for a walk on Breivik and Herdelvær. The stonechats seem gone, but a Red-necked Grebe and a couple of Goldfinches made it OK. Further three Chiffchaffs (all common) and the usual Treesparrows. Om Turøy a Water Rail was calling and I had a flyby Lapland Bunting

Herdlevær. It doesn't stop this autumn


Tried today the BBP in strong easterly winds and cold circumstances. Could not find that one, neither did anybody else, so it is probably gone. Goodies, however, were a flyby Waxwing and a Jack Snipe.
Afterwards tried Herdlevær. Not many birds there... I met Julian Bell, who told me he had seen a stonechat, which disappeared. Together we succeeded in finding it back. It was a light bird, but we kept it at the time as being a normal Stonechat, primarly because the lack of an obvious eyebrow. It had a pale rump, but we were not able to see the exact patterns of the rump. A good bird for Hordaland. It was twitched by some Bergen birders.
However, close inspection of the pictures later on the day revealed that it was a Siberian Stonechat Saxicola maura after all. Julian's pictures showed that it had a large light-orange rump without any spots. On other pictures one can see a light throat and a light eyebrow, albeit not very obvious (this varies within the species). The eyebrows meet over the bill, as visible on the pictures below. Another good character is the lack of any (dark) spotting on the undertail coverts.
In other words, another good bird for this autumn!

Siberian Stonechat



Difficult to judge exactly, but on this picture you can see a bit of the winglenght.The primary projection seems too long for a Stonechat...

                          





Buff-bellied Pipit

Again a good bird this autumn. This time a Buff-bellied Pipit at Tjeldstø, Øygarden, found yesterday by Julian Bell. He is the one with the good pics. I did only see the bird shortly and heard it's call: quite characteristic, reminding of a Grey Wagtail. Further a Yellow-browed Warbler calling at Tjeldstø.

Utsira week 40

We were on Utsira week 40 as usual. It was in a way a quiet week with not many birds, but the quality was high. Three new species for me: Eastern Olivaceous Warbler on the 1st of october, Blyth's Reed Warbler on the 4th and Pied Wheatear on the 5th. Further some five or six Barred Warblers (I saw two of them), up til three Red-breasted Flycatchers and a few Yellow-browed Warblers.



Eastern Olivaceous Warbler

Blyth's Reed Warbler

 

Pied Wheatear

     

Red-breasted Flycatcher

Red-breasted Flycatcher



Chiffchaff



My companions for the week





27 september Bergen

Cold twitching today: Richard's Pipit on exactly the same spot as last year and a Guillemot on Store Lungegårdsvannet (new species for Bergen municipality). Didn't try the reported Yellow-browed Warbler, may be tomorrow...
On saturday we are leaving for Utsira.

Barred Warbler on Turøy!

Fine weather today, 26 september and free from work, so not many thoughts about what to do.  On Turøy I found a Barred Warbler near the marsh. It called once, never heard that before! A very distinctive staccato rattle, totally different from any other sylvia. It behaved as expected. Brief views and couldn't find it again. But I saw it well enough to identify it: large, grey sylvia with lightish wingbars, greyish spots on the undertail-coverts and white in the tailcorners. A Chiffchaff and a Lesser Whitethroat on the same spot. Garden Warbler on the northern part of the isle.
Further good numbers of Robin and a Wryneck on Breivik, also calling.

juvenile Tree Sparrow on Breivik

Hawk Owl in Bergen

Twitched today the Hawk Owl, that was seen yesterday in Bontveitsdalen. Unfortunately, I saw it only fly.
Yesterday on Herdla lots of people enjoying the beautiful weather, but not many birds. The two White-bellied Brents still present. Further a few waders: five or so Grey Plovers with the usual Golden Plovers, two Ruff, a couple of Dunlins and a Bar-tailed Godwit.

Bar-tailed Godwit

well shown white bellies of hrota

Hickman on Herdla

Ecuador

Now you can browse through my pictures of my recent Ecuador trip under the World button

back

I've been birding for four weeks in Ecuador. Very succesfull trip with 684 bird species and we only did east slope Andes and amazonia!! Busy with the pictures... Within a few days I will show some of the best.
When I came back there was a new friend in the house. Name: Hickman, 12 weeks old Labradoodle. This means war with Abdullah, but I'm sure they will get along after a few months.

Anne and Hickman

Hickman and me

Jæren again

Had to pick up the car which we had to leave on sunday in Sandnes. I took a flight this morning to Stavanger, picked up the car and twitched the Buff-breasted Sandpiper, as well as the White-rumped Sandpiper at Jæren, a double tick. No pics due to great distance, though they showed both well.
Tomorrow I leave to Ecuador to visit my friend Dusan Brinkhuizen. That is going to be three-and-half week of hardcore birding on the eastern slopes of the Andes and Amazonia...

Jæren

This weekend I've been to Jæren, but due to car problems I have only been able to bird on saturday. At Solastranda four Sandwich Terns and at Revtangen five (new for Norway for me). Further at Revtangen quite a lot of waders. Sanderlings, Red Knots, Curlew Sandpipers, Bar-tailed Godwits and Ruddy Turnstones the most prominent.

One of the five Sandwich Terns at Revtangen

Mediterranean Gull and Great Northern Diver

Yesterday again to Norheimsund and Øystese to look for the reported Mediterranean Gull. Could not find it in Øystese, but after three hours of searching I saw it flying over the center of Norheimsund. It was found back an hour or so later near Norheimsund by Jan Visser.
On the way back the Great Northern Diver showed well at Frølandsvannet.

Great Northern Diver

Herdla

Mid july on Herdla. Quiet, not much birds. Only this White-bellied Brent.

White -bellied Brent Branta (bernicla) hrota

Myrkdalsvannet revisited

Day off, so I tried the Red-necked Phalarope at the Myrkdalsdelta. It was sitting in a pool on the track to the usual spot. Also some anxious Common Sandpipers around and a fly-by Whimbrel. On the way back I tried some grouse and birds of prey in Bergsdalen. Didn't see any of those but a pair of Bluethroats were present with food for their young.

Red-necked Phalarope

female Bluethroat

female Bluethroat with food

Alas no BBS

After night shift to Herdla for the reported Buff-breasted Sandpiper. It was (presumably) gone. Other birds the usual with Dunlin, Ringed Plover and so on.

Redshank

Gullfjellet

Today at 800 meters on Austefjellet (a part of Gullfjellet) cold and foggy. Not the best circumstances to take pics, but at least the two Dotterel were still present, calling very often. It could very well be that they are breeding on the vidda. Further the usual Golden Plovers, Common Snipes, Wheatears and six Ring Ouzels.
Needless to say, I didn't see any Ptarmigan...

female Dotterel

female Golden Plover

a nice summer day on Austefjell 

Nurse

After three years of education and jobbing I am now ready with my nurse education. It has been a very busy period, so it's going to be better from now onwards. For the time being I'll keep working as a nurse on the surgical ward of Haukeland Sykehus, but I'm going to try to get back to the anaesthesia department, for I am nurse anesthetist after all.
This all means, however, that I have more time for birding as well...

female Northern Wheatear at Breivik

Flesland

Quiet. Heard the Lesser Whitethroat at Flesland in the northern part of the village. At Espeland kai 27 Common Terns busy with nests. One Arctic Tern among them.

adult Common Tern

Myrkdalsvannet

Early trip to Myrkdalen to look for Quail and Red-necked Phalarope. In the fields on the northern part of the lake I found a group of six Common Cranes. They flew away off course. But no sign of the Red-necked Phalarope. Two Bluethroats and a Icterine Warbler singing. At last I found the Common Quail calling frequently in the fields north-east of the lake. It took four hours...but the result was two new for the county.

group of six Common Cranes

Herdla

Pectoral Sandpiper still present. Also a new Curlew Sandpiper, a few singing Dunlins, quite a lot Common Ringed Plovers a Red Knot.

Pectoral Sandpiper

Curlew Sandpiper

Herdla on 30th of may

Quality, rather than quantity today. Two small ponds held two Black-tailed Godwits, a Temmincks Stint, two Curlew Sandpipers, a Whimbrel and a Wood Sandpipers. Further a flyby Spotted Redshank and a Greenshank.

Black-tailed Godwit with two Curlew Sandpipers

Cold night

Last night out on Lindås, Austerheim and Radøy. After a period with warm weather, this night was very cold. I found nothing. But the Great Reed Warbler was singing as was the Corncrake at Gaupås. Further a lot of Common Snipes, but no Long-eared Owl, no Grasshopper Warblers, no Sedge Warblers, so I have to again later in the year.

Little bit of local birding

Saturday morning, before work, Kalandsvannet, Myrdalsvannet and Flesland. Beautiful adult summer Arctic Diver and  Great Crested Grebe still present at Kalandsvannet with a singing Icterine Warbler new for the year (at Kismul). Myrdalsvannet had five singing Common Flycatchers and a Spotted Flycatcher, but couldn't find other interesting birds. At Flesland another singing Icterine Warbler and a Northern Wheatear.

male Northern Wheatear

Hernar

A day on Hernar with Egil Frantzen. Warm and sunny weather. Best birds were a pair of Red-backed Shrikes. Further a singing Grasshopper Warbler and the usual. Twites, Lesser Redpolls and Linnets were all over the island, together with two Common Cuckoos, a Garden Warbler, a Whinchat and lots of Northern Wheatears. An hour or so seawatching produced four Red-throated Divers and a Puffin.

male Red-backed Shrike

female RBS

Grasshopper Warbler

Corncrake

The reported Corncrake at Kalsåsvannet still present. Took some shots...
Further a Grasshopper Warbler at Rødland and I found out about the whereabouts of Santaclaus during the summer months.

angry Corncrake

poor man...

Wryneck still present

A quick visit at Kanadaskogen revealed that the Wryneck was still present, however calling infrequently. A singing Common Redstart was a new for me for Bergen. Maybe there were two present, but I'm not sure. Further three Spotted Flycatchers, two Pied Flycatchers and lots of Siskins.

I may be one of the first creatures this Siskin met

Wryneck in Bergen

After work twitched the reported Wryneck at Kanadaskogen in Bergen succesfully. Nervous bird, but I managed some pics. Tried at Kalandsvannet Grasshopperwarbler, may be it's a bit too early in the year. However, they are widely reported elsewhere in the county

Highly vocal but somewhat secretive Wryneck

second summer Common Gull