Østfold was supposed to deliver on 3 fronts: interesting passage from
Brentetangen, a great array of waders at Kurefjorden and Dotterels and harriers
on the fields behind Kurefjorden. Well Østfold delivered on half a front,
namely Dotterels. An hour at Brentetangen from 0530-0630 was amazingly quiet
with no real sign of passage. There were 60 odd Common Terns (makrellterne) and
a couple of Arctic Terns (rødnebbterne) feeding offshore but they were not
moving. 100+ Common Scoter (svartand), 5 Velvet Scoter (sjøorre) and 3
Long-tailed Ducks (havelle) were likewise just flying around and landing on the
sea. 2 Gannets (havsule) had me thinking something was happening but they were
a red herring. Behind me in the wood though there was some action with singing
Redstart (rødstjert) and Wood Warbler (bøksanger) and loads of Willow Warblers
(løvsanger).
Kurefjorden was completely and utterly dead. 2 Greenshank (gluttsnipe),
5 Redshank (rødstilk) and 2 Ringed Plovers (sandlo) is not what you expect in
May!
A trip of 5 Dotterel (boltit) in the company of 40 Golden Plovers (heilo)
was nice but views in the rain were not exactly good.
By 0900 I had given up on Østfold and headed for Svellet. Here the water
level has risen a lot probably a result of two days of rain and I fear the
wader season may now be over in a matter of days. Whilst it lasts though it
must be enjoyed. 11 Knot (polarsnipe) are a very good spring bird and
Greenshank have risen to 320 although other waders were little changed from two
days ago. There were only 3 Common Terns today but with them was a single
Arctic. Dabbling ducks however have now vanished and 30 Tufted Ducks (toppand)
were the most numerous duck with only 20 Teal (krikkand) down from 590 two days
ago! Raptors were represent by a Peregrine (vandrefalk) hunting Wood Sandpipers
(grønnstilk) and a female Kestrel (tårnfalk) that sought shelter from the rain
on a balcony on some flats.
Snekkervika had a few birds including a singing Wryneck (vendehals) and
Whitethroat (tornsanger) and displaying Common Snipe (enkeltbekkasin) but no
Great Snipe as I had hoped.
Arriving in Maridalen early afternoon it was bucketing down but just
after the rain stopped it was dripping with birds. At Kirkeby there were 40 odd
Wheatears (steinskvett), 15 Whinchat (buskskvett), 3 male Redstarts and amongst
a few White Wagtails (linerle) was a good candidate for a female Pied Wagtail
(svartryggerle) but probably actually a male bird and therefore some sort of
integrade/hybrid. I also had a singing Wryneck.
On the lake there was a large flock of non-breeding
Goldeneye (kvinand) and whilst I was there other ducks just appeared on the
lake: 21 Tufted and 9 Red-breasted Merganser (island) which is probably an
unprecedented number here. The female Common Scoter was still present and preferred
the company of the Goldeneye rather than a group of another three of her own
species that were sleeping in the middle of the lake. The only divers I had
were a pair of Black-throated (storlom) and a single Whooper Swan (sangsvane) that
flew in calling was an interesting record with regards possible breeding in the
neighbourhood.
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| all five of the Dotterel together with a Golden Plover |
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| Wryneck in Maridalen |
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| singing male Twite (bergirisk) Maridalen |
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| male Redstart in Maridalen |
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| and another |
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| 6 Wheatears in Maridalen part of a large fall |
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| male White Wagtail (linerle) left and a bird with a lot (if not 100%) genes from a Pied Wagtail (svartryggerle) |
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| montage of the Piedish wagtail |
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| Whooper Swan |
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| female Common Scoter with immature Goldeneyes |
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