Årnestangen

I was lucky enough to get out to Årnestangen yesterday. There had been rain before I arrived which was probably why there were a lot more waders than had been observed yesterday. A new rain front came in whilst I was there aswell but this did not deposit any new birds and when I saw there was going to be a pause in the rain I used it to male the long walk back to the car. Despite the viewing platform not having a roof I was able to remain dry because the wind was so strong that by sitting pressed up against the inside of the low wall around the platform I was able to stay out of the rain.

Highlights were a Broad-billed Sandpiper, a Little Stint (a species I often struggle to see), Barwit, Sanderling, Knot, Peregrine, White-tailed Eagle and Red-backed Shrike. Dunlins were the commonest wader with ca.90 of which only a couple were adults. Wader variety was not as high as it is at the end of July but 15 species was not too bad. My eBird check list can be seen here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S72642655

the view over Årnestangen just before the rain front arrived from the south

this will just about count as a record shot of a 1cy Broad-billed Sandpiper (fjellmyrløper)

the flock of Dunlin that contained the BBS. There is also a Little Stint (dvergsnipe) amongst them but I can't find them when I zoom in...

Some birds came closer - my first juvenile Knot (polarsnipe) of the year

there were still a few Ospreys around (fiskeørn) and this bird looked set for the day

I had 4 sightings of Peregrines (vandrefalk) and this juvenile was quite striking and could make you think it had come much further north and east but it most likely a locally bred bird

Ruff (brushane) differ considerably in size. Then I first picked up these birds flying towards me I thought there were two different species but it is just that there are two females which are much smaller than the males. All are juveniles