Firts week in the Netherlands

 We're on holiday in the Netherlands again, with 'basecamp' on Schiermonnikoog. At Groningen, I needed to see Lilypad Whiteface (Leocorrhinia caudalis). This dragonfly species disappears in July, so I had only one chance this year. I saw it with my brother there!

Otherwise, good birding on the island with the usual suspects, such as Spoonbill, Little and Great Egret. I did a few night walks, trying to get some owls. On one of those walks with my daughter, we got a European Nightjar, two Long-eared owls, and a family of Barn Owls. Otherwise, displaying Woodcocks all over the place.

Nightjar was a new species for the island for me. I got four new species so far, the others being Cett's Warbler, Quail, and Glossy ibis. Not bad!

Next weekend I will be visiting the south of the Netherlands with a friend. It will be minimal birding, but hopefully good numbers of Butterflies and Dragonflies!

juvenile Spoonbill arguing with a Lapwing

adult Spoonbill

Barn Swallow in the garden of the holiday cabin

Pheasant mother with 8 chicks

Garganey with young

Honey Buzzard

🎤 Barn Owl family

🎤 Barn Owl family at nesting site

🎤 Long-eared Owl begging juvenile

🎤 Eurasian Woodcock displaying

🎤 Cetti's Warbler call

Scarlet Darter

Lilypad Whiteface

Øygarden on the longest day

 I went to Øygarden on the 21st of June and had a try for the Walrus reported at Blomvåg on Saturday.

The Walrus was gone...Otherwise birding was slow with bird families busy with their young. A Pied Wagtail at Herlevær was worth mentioning and at Dåvøy I could record the Arctic Terns nesting there...

🎤 Arctic Tern

🎤 Arctic tern

Earlier in the week I recorded an alarming Whinchat...

🎤 Whinchat

Rosy Starling and Turtle Dove

 While visiting the European Turtle Dove to get better pictures, an adult Rosy Starling was reported at Mangernes on Radøy. Since I had managed to improve my pictures of the dove, I decided to pick up my daughter Robin to try for the starling.

It took us (with five others) about an hour to find it again, but it showed itself nicely, albeit at a distance. Nice day and a happy daughter 😊.

Rosy Starling adult, probably male

Arctic Terns in Bergen

 At Kalandsholmen near Alvøen is the only reliable place in Bergen to see Arctic Terns. So yesterday I gave it a try. I found it difficult to estimate the exact number, but I think there were about 15 birds, together with Common Terns. Normally I see them from Alvøen at a distance, but this time I came close to the colony...

European Turtle Dove

The day after a European Turtle Dove was found on a farm nearby, albeit not in Bergen. I saw it together with my daughter. The picture was taken in bad light...

Singing Snow Bunting

 Snow Bunting breeds in Bergen. But it is not easy to see it, because it breeds at the top of Gullfjellet and to get there you have to take a long walk in mountainous area. It takes all day, at least for me it does. 

Anyhow, on the 11th of June I went with Walter Lemme to see and hear the birds. After three hours of climbing in bad weather we reached the top. In spite of the fog the birds were easy to find, showing themselves nice. And more importantly, they were singing. We saw at least two males and a female. 

I did not take my camera and was most eager to record them...I got some nice recordings of the song and (alarm) call...listen below

On the way back we saw a nice male Ring Ouzel. Otherwise, almost no birds up there...

🎤 Snow Bunting song

🎤 Snow Bunting alrm call

a weekend at Golsfjellet

 Recently, I spent the weekend with a nice group of fellow birders at Golsfjellet. On the way on Friday we birded Hardangervidda, concentrating on the specialties there. We saw, among others, seven Great Snipes, a Willow Ptarmigan, and Horned Larks

On the other side of the Hardangervidda the avifauna is quite different. Common Cranes are all over the place and Pied and Spotted Flycatchers are (very) common. Furthermore, you can hear birds that you don't hear around Bergen. It was therefore a nice opportunity to record the songs of a few common passerines, such as Brambling, Common Redstart, Bluethroat and thunbergi Yellow Wagtails.

 Best birds on Golsfjellet were five Siberian Jays and a pair of Great Grey Shrikes, feeding their young still in the nest. See and listen below😊

one of the five nice jays we saw and heard

🎤 Siberian Jay calling

common at Golsfjellet: thunbergi Yellow Wagtail

🎤 Yellow Wagtail song

Common House Martin finding mud for building nest

Common Cranes all over the place

🎤 Common Crane calling

Bluethroat svecica

🎤 Bluethroat song

At Geilo we saw three pairs of Horned Grebe at their nesting sites

🎤 Brambling song

🎤 Common Redstart song

Short-toed Lark revisited

After working the weekend, I wanted to see the Short-toed Lark better and for longer. And, of course, take some pictures. So I went to Herdla again on Monday afternoon. The bird was still present on the beach at a distance, but after a while, it came closer. The result is not great, but it's acceptable. 

A nice summer plumaged Ruddy Turnstone, about 10 Dunlins,  10 Common Ringed Plover, and a Blue-headed Wagtail were present in the same area.

On Tuesday, I went for a little walk at Sele and Kalandsvatnet and tried for the White-backed Woodpeckers at Unneland. The woodpeckers called infrequently and from different localities, but I managed a recording.

🎤 White-backed Woodpecker call

🎤 Redwing song

Working weekend with Short-toed Lark!

Working the last weekend of May is not without risk. And of course, my friend Stein Rune found a Short-toed Lark at Herdla on the 30th. Luckily, he found it in the morning, and I had a late shift. So I drove to Herdla, jogged to the spot where he had found the bird, and could see it through his scope. And I was on time at work!

On Sunday, I walked back from work and sound-recorded the Icterine Warbler, which was still present. In addition, a family group of Grey Wagtails was flying and calling in the Chrstieelven. Listen below to these birds. 

🎤 Icterine Warbler

🎤 Grey Wagtails

Common Rosefinch

Yesterday, a Common Rosefinch was found at Svartevatnet in Bjørndalen. I went this morning and was able to get a sound recording. Due to the wind it is not the best quality. but acceptable.

At Unneland, I found some nice birds myself, including one or two White-backed Woodpeckers, a Grasshopper Warbler, and an Icterine Warbler. One of the woodpeckers was a male, probably the other a female. Later that day, Stein Rune and I heard one of them at the same spot. I didn't succeed in record the woodpeckers..But the Common Rosefinch and the Common Grasshopper Warbler you can hear on the links below

🎤 Common Rosefinch

🎤 Common Grasshopper Warbler

Work, Herdla, Flesland

 On the way to work Wednesday morning, I heard an Icterine Warbler sing in Christieparken. Nice one, so I reported it on Bergen Band. A few people even twitched it. After work, I went to Herdla to try for the Pectoral Sandpiper and other waders. No Pectoral, but it was nice to see five (!) hrota Brent Geese and five or six Eurasian Whimbrels on migration. The flavissima Yellow Wagtail showed itself briefly. Otherwise, it was quiet and cold on Herdla. When I woke at 02:30, I decided to go for the Spotted Crake at Flesland. It was singing irregularly. My sound recording of the bird was bad; listen below. A displaying Woodcock there as well!!

the five White-belled Brent Geese

an adult and a pullus Lapwing

🎤 Icterine Warbler

🎤 Spotted Crake