Tibetan Sand Plover at Jæren

Yesterday I drove with my family to Jæren to improve our chances of seeing the solar eclipse. In Bergen there are clouds most of the time. So it was a nice surprise that a Tibetan Sand Plover was discovered the afternoon before on Nærstranda at Jæren. It was still present and proved to be an easy twitch. 

Later on, we decided to try for the eclipse at Karmøy, because the forecast predicted a cloudless evening there. There the Lesser Grey Shrike was still present. That was easy as well, although it showed less well than the plover. We saw it just before the eclipse, which was nice to witness...

first summer Tibetan Sand Plover (probably female)

Lesser Grey Shrike with Starlings

partial eclipse, photographed through glasses

a quick twitch on Sunday evening

I missed the Bar-tailed Godwits that were seen in Bergen in July because I wasn't there. There are worse things in life, but it would have been a new species for Bergen. So when Oddvar Heggøy reported one yesterday at Storetveit after a day of heavy rainfall, I didn't need to think long. Robin and I twitched it successfully 😊. Species 202 on my Bergen list!

fine adult Bar-tailed Godwit

1st-year Kittiwake

And only two days later, this fine 1st-year Kittiwake was at Lille Lungegårdsvanne, discovered by Geir Bjørsvik. Another new one for Bergen, nr 203😊

White-winged Tern on Herdla

 No time to be lazy after work. Dag Gjerde found a White-winged Tern at Herdla in the late afternoon today. So I drove with Robin to the reserve to twitch it successfully. Most of the time it was resting, but we also saw it fly a few times. New species for me in Norway (and Hordaland)!