Værøy 2026 day 1 and 2

Day 1 was just a couple of hours in bad light and nothing special seen.

Day 2 though was a full day in good viewing conditions with sun and initially at least little wind although it did pick up a bit in the afternoon. Winds were easterly but just locally with nothing to bring birds from Siberia.

My day started well with a Little Bunting, a Turtle Dove and a heard only Yellow-browed Warbler but after that my 21,000 steps did not produce very much. A Corn Bunting was the best bird of the day and a Værøy first but was only seen by Kjell although has probably been around for a few days (heard only before) so will hopefully show again.

Little Bunting (dvergspurv)

Turtle Dove (turteldue) in full juvenile plumage. The bird has been around a few days and there has been discussion at to whether it is an Oriental ssp meena as it can appear quite large but I think European is the right ID

The fish drying racks which held both the bunting and the dove. On Røst this is an important “habitat” for rare birds but on Værøy where there are far more trees I have previosuly rarely found much amongst them

The view looking north yesterday evening