23rd to the 29th March
The week started sadly. A Great-grey Shrike had flown into a window and died. None the less, it was a stunning bird, and I handed it in to the Zoological Museum in Bergen for their skin collection.
(Photo: Terje Lislevand)
On Tuesday I had to attend a meeting and the day flew by with no time for any birding. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday proved to be disappointing. The cold weather seemed to put all bird movements on halt with no newcomers or increase in the migrants that have already arrived. It was so bad, I decided to visit the coast over the weekend and on Sunday I headed for Sotra for which, became a very interesting day. While heading out to Hellesøy at the end of the island, I noticed some Hooded Crows acting suspiciously. Thinking that they had pressed a Sparrowhawk, or even better a Goshawk into the large pine tree I stopped the car and found my bins. I am glad I did so, sat in the tree was an Eagle Owl. What a great start to the day! At Hellesøy 218 Long-tailed Duck were in the bay as well as smaller flocks of Common Eider and a few Red-breasted Merganser. A lone White-tailed Eagle sat on some rocks on the other side of the fjord. From Hellesøy I made my way to Svellingen and set up my scope. It didn’t take long before the first migrating flock of Eurasian Oystercatcher passed my watch point. Northern Gannet too seemed in good numbers, though it is hard to tell as many seem to double back. I had expected good numbers of Long-tailed Duck since there were so many at Hellesøy, but there were only two pairs. I did however pick up a single Common Scoter. As I started on my second hour with sea watching the days first Red-throated Divers passed with two birds heading north. From Svellingen I checked Sæle, here things were quiet except the Grey Heron colony.
Sture produced an adult White-tailed Eagle (above photo) as well as Crested Tit while the next stop, Tjeldstø produced a female Common Pochard, good numbers of Greylag Geese while the fields held small flocks of Fieldfare and Redwing. The next two stops produced only a handful of the commoner species, by this time it was late in the day and time to head home. I will be leaving shortly on a birding trip and returning during April. Until then, I wish one and all some great birding and a happy Easter.
