Røst day 2

My second day on Røst, although the first in daylight was a great success even if there was no major rarity (Norway’s second Two-barred Greenish Warbler which was found earlier in the week has unfortunately moved on now). This is actually my third visit to Røst after a summer visit in 2000 when I saw Snowy Owl and a visit in late September 2003 when I stayed for a couple of days without seeing too much (although my name is the NSKF rarities report for being a co-finder of an American Golden Plover which I remember very little about).

We were 8 birders on Røst today and the nature of the island makes it much easier to cover on foot than Værøy and with far less vegetation then we should discover a far higher percentage of the birds present than on Værøy. Røst has far more wetlands than Værøy so there are many more waders and ducks but there are fewer passerines especially thrushes and finches.

I have walked 28,473 steps today and am rather knackered so I will keep this brief now😊. The two highlights for me were an adult Gyr Falcon close enough for photos (all my previous sightings of Gyr have been long distance) and hearing, and of course seeing, Yellow-browed Warbler which is a very necessary part of every autumn.

Other good birds were Olive-backed Pipit, Tree Pipit (which is rarer here than OBP), Taiga Bean Goose, Arctic Redpoll and my first Black-tailed Godwit in Norland. The full eBird checklist can be seen here.

Looking north with Værøy to the right and the rest of the Lofoten islands

Sunrise on Røst

Looking south

Yellow-browed Warbler (gulbrynsanger)

Adult Gyr Falcon (jaktfalk)

Olive-backed Pipit (sibirpiplerke)

And for comparison a Tree Pipit (trepiplerke)

Black-tailed Godwit (svarthalespove)

Arctic Redpoll (polarsisik)

Golden Plover (heilo)

Long-tailed Duck (havelle)

Taiga Bean Goose - a large billed bird that may come from a long way east in Russia