No Ring-necked Duck today at Tveitevannet. In stead there was a young male Greater Scaup around today. Much less rare, but still nice. The ducks come and go as it seems. Below some pictures of some of the ducks...
I was at home preparing for pizza when Oddvar Heggøy (who else there) reported a Ring-necked Duck in a hole in the ice at Tveitevannet. I was there within 10 minutes and together with some other birders we got the bird. The light was bad and it was sleeping a lot, but I managed a decent picture. While watching the duck Oddvar noticed the Caspian Gull standing on the ice, same bird as in the city centre. Nice Friday afternoon!!!
After a few days illness and being inside, I had to do some errands and took the opportunity to check Nesttunvannet for ducks. Two Common Mergansers (difficult to photograph) showed well, as well as some 15 Whooper Swans and a few Tufted Ducks and Wigeons. Nothing out of the ordinary though...
Today northern Øygarden in beautiful winter weather again. I began at Hellesøy, where Terje Hansen Stein Rune Risa and Kåre Skarsvaag already were present. Together we checked the sea between the islands for birds. There some 8 Long-tailed Ducks, a few Velvet Scoters, Purple Sandpipers, Black Guillemots, a Common Loon and a Red-throated Loon were present. Via Svellingen (Rook still present) we checked Sjåneset. Much the same there with some more Common Loons, more Long-tailed Ducks and more Black Guillemot's. A few Eurasian Curlews present there and a large group of Purple Sandpipers flying around.
Thereafter I checked Tjeldstø where the first Greylag Geese were on the breeding grounds, I presume. A Goldfinch and a few Redwings present at the back of the reserve.
At Herdlevær I came across Cecilie Hansen and Daniel Taranger. Not many birds there, but I saw a Common Snipe and some Crested Tits were very noisy, probably in spring mood...
Yesterday Anita Rude (who else) found a Caspian Gull. She did that before! It was a second year bird. Today it was seen before 12:00. The little group of birders that were too late had to wait until 15:00 before it appeared again. At the same moment Arild Breistøl og Sindre Molværsmyr had come to try to ring the bird. They succeeded immediately. Large bird with large bill, so probably a male! Also a Black-headed Gull present, which is a scarce bird in Bergen...
On Sunday the 2nd of February I birded the area around Manger in Nord-Hordaland. I do not visit that part of Hordaland very often (only on summer nights for nightbirds), but I should do that more often...The weather was dark grey, making photographing difficult...Anyhow, at Byrkelandsvannet a Great Grey Shrike was present. It was a difficult bird to see, hiding most of the time. At Byrkelandsvågen a Slavonian Grebe was showing itself only shortly and at Manger a small group of geese (three Barnacles and a Greater White-fronted)was flying around. Further birds like singing Common Crossbills, a lone Parrot Crossbill and a Green Woodpecker made the day good. I tried for Greater Scaups at Eikangervåg without luck, but here a group of about 1000 Common Eiders was present. Don't see those numbers very often...