Day 4 was weather wise pretty much perfect for being in the field and far better than the forecast. Often there was no wind at all and you could hear the noise of a warbler’s bill snapping at an insect. There were only a few indications of new arrivals and it was not a big day by any stretch of the imagination but it was a good day to be out and about and 16,000 steps were pounded.
Experience of the day was a pod of Killer Whales powering through the sea off the north of the island early morning.
Bird of the day was a Common Rosefinch (only my third on Værøy and a species that is close to but not annual out here).
Learning of the day was that I cannot tell Olive-backed and Tree Pipits apart on call. These two species were traditionally considered inseparable on call but in the last 10-20 years it has been accepted that with experience you can tell apart. Based on my experiences and observations on Værøy I also thought I could but today that confidence came crashing down. I heard a pipit calling in flight and immediately identified it as an OBP. I had my phone ready to play the call and straightaway the pipit appeared above me calling and the call was as far as I was concerned the same as I was playing. It landed on the fish drying racks just a few metres away and I immediately set about taking pictures. Head on it did indeed look like an OBP with a black spot on the cheek but as it turned sideways on to me I thought the wing bars looked far too white and I wasn’t seeing any green tones. Then when it turned away and I saw the well streaked back I realised without doubt it was a Tree Pipit. This whole experience made me immediately realise my OBP record from yesterday had to be pulled and also had me wondering how I could have got it so wrong.
OBP in late autumn outnumbers TP on Værøy by around 10 to 1 and therefore identifying a bird as OBP based on call and then confirming it by seeing it is statistically very likely to happen. Had I (we) just been playing the numbers? I don’t know the answer to that but a Tree Pipit in October is rarer than an Olive-backed so I should perhaps be happy with my observation.
Other quality birds were a single YbW, Jack Snipe, Bullfinch, a tristis Chiffchaff, proper Barnacles Geese from Svalbard (rather than the feral birds around Oslo) and a Short-eared Owl and quantity was provided with hundreds of Redwings and Redpolls.
The view at 0715 - it all looked very promising
Sunrise at 07:29
Migrating Barnacle Geese (hvitkinngås)
Looking north at 08:08 with the island of Mosken and behind it the Lofoten island chain
Killer Whale
Not an Olive-backed (sibirpip) but a Tree Pipit (trepiplerke)
Jack Snipe (kvartbekkasin)
Common Rosefinch (rosenfink)
The wood (skogen) suffered in a storm a few years ago and all the trees in the middle have now disappeared leaving just a ring of trees. The Rosefinch was in the too of the tall Rowans to the right
Very Grosbeak like
A Common Snipe (enkeltbekkasin) doing an impression of a Jack by freezing at close range
I think we may be up for a very good autumn around Nordre
Øyeren. As I wrote yesterday there are lots of ducks and geese using Svellet –
the ducks (mostly Teal) are feeding there whilst the geese come into rest but
are feeding on nearby harvest fields. Yesterday I discovered one of the fields
that the geese (primarily Barnacles) are using and here there were also many raptors
and Cranes. I assume there is lots of spilt corn which the geese and Cranes
like but also rodents because the raptors (3 juvenile Marsh Harriers and at
least 9 Common Buzzards) seemed to have no problem finding food. The harriers
were quartering the field but the Buzzards were mostly just walking around and
pouncing on prey. At least one juvenile Peregrine and 2 Hobbies were also in
the area and it was particularly birdy. Amongst the geese was an interesting
Canada Goose that I first noticed flying in when it was noticeably darker and
slightly smaller than its compatriots but once on the field it was more difficult
to find and the raptors, and my search for something rare, took my attention
and I never formed an opinion on the goose. I was hoping to find a harrier
other than a Marsh but failed although I am sure that with regular coverage
something else will turn up. I also expect that Rough-legged Buzzards will soon
discover the field as they migrate through the area.
There are rather surprisingly still some unharvested fields
as well and one of these clearly also had a lot of rodents as another two Marsh
Harriers were constantly hunting over it. Both these birds were second calendar
birds – a male and a female.
If the stubble fields remain as stubble (i.e they don’t get
ploughed this autumn) then they could continue to attract both geese and
raptors until November or December depending on the weather. The passage of
proper wild geese has yet to start and if Pink-feet discover these fields then
there could be many thousands of geese still to come.
Numbers of waders using Svellet have fallen dramatically but
a Black-tailed Godwit was briefly present as was the Little Gull and terns so
there is still non-waterfowl potential. A Great White Egret was also present nearby but only visible very distantly.
2cy male Marsh Harrier (sivhauk) with a Hooded Crown (kråke). The dark secondary feathers are remaining juvenile feathers whilst the grey feathers are adult feathers
2 1cy/juvenile Marsh Harriers in the birdy field having a rest from their quartering
2cy female Marsh Harrier. Two generations of secondaries are clearly visible
the 2cy male quartering the unharvest field
many hundreds of Barnacle (hvitkinngjess) and some Greylags (grågjess) on their way from the field where they had been feeding to Svellet for a rest
this Common Buzzard (musvåk) was hovering over the unharvested field whereas those using the stubble field were mostly just walking around
the interesting Canada Goose. It has a dark breast and darker flanks compared to the normal feral Canadas and is also slightly smaller. It is possible that it is a wild bird but there are also feral birds of other subspecies and strange hybrids knocking around in Holland so it is impossible to know especially with only these grainy photos
the view from Venabu towards Rondane. There should be lots more snow at this time of the year
At the weekend I joined Per Christian for a trip to his
cabin in the mountains of Ringebu, 3 hours drive north of Oslo. This was a
repeat of a very enjoyable trip in 2022.
On the way up we stopped at Starene which is such a great
place and I so wish it was closer to Oslo. There were close to 1000 Pink-footed
Geese and amongst them we picked out 3 Tundra Beans. The real highlight though
was when a young White-tailed Eagle flew in. It flew slowly over the geese,
before almost hovering at about 30m altitude and then diving into the panicking
geese. Amazingly it took one in flight and then landed with it just out of
sight for us (due to a ridge in the field). For some reason it soon flew up
minus the goose so presumably the goose somehow escaped the eagle talons once
they were on the deck.
White-tailed Eagle (havørn) with a Pink-footed Goose (kortnebbgås)
the flooded fields at Starene with Pink-footed Geese above them
After this we visited the Taiga Beans at their second
Norwegian staging post. This site is rarely visited but is in fact just as
traditional as the one closer to Oslo and they also use a far more limited area
here with just the same couple of fields used each year. They were mixed in
with some Pink-feet and difficult to see but there were ca.80 birds so
presumably the whole flock was there and I saw the two with neck collars.
After this we went owling. A stop at a Ural Owl nestbox
revealed no birds but the thermal imager strongly suggested there was a bird
inside. After this we then intended to see lots of Great Grey Owls as we
drove forest tracks at dusk. That wasn’t to be the case though and we had
precious few other birds which was also to be the case at the cabin. The cabin
is at about 950 metres and as expected there was still snow but not very much and
there were many bare patches in the mountains. But neither in the mountains or
down in the valley could we find many birds over the weekend. No grouse of any
kind, and just a few Mistle Thrushes and Chaffinches of migrants. A single
Siberian Jay on the feeders at the cabin was of course much appreciated but it
was a brief visit and a Golden Eagle was very distant. We also went owling in the
area and had definite plans to hear Eagle Owl. The owl was not aware of our
plans though but a Tengmalm’s did show well and we had a daytime Hawk Owl.
On the way back a stop at the Lågendelta in Lillehammer gave
a few early migrant waterbirds with 4 Rock Pipits being the highlight.
this is about a minute later when it flew up prey less
a closer up of the geese as they flew around following the eagle putting them all up
after the geese eventually settled there were quite a few Barnacles (hvitkinngjess) and three Tundra Beans (tundrasædgås) amongst the Pink-feet
same bird
and a second bird with its orange feet allowing it to be easily picked out from the Pink-feet
Taiga Bean Geese in the damp corner of a stubble field where there was rough grassland - a typical habitat
this bird was very distinctive and had me thinking 2cy Greenland White-front for a bit due to all orange bill, slight white around the bill and dark plumage
here it is again. It was a very large bird though so must have been a Taiga Bean but I cannot remember having seen it before
