Tripple dip, and a near hit

Birding is exciting and full of surprises and not to mention unpredictable. This is what makes this hobby so great! Bird has wings, and you never know when the bird uses them. I've just returned from a one week trip to Southern Norway. The main goal was to pick up some long staying wintering birds, and also to look for a red kite (glente) - a rare bird with 15-30 records a year in Norway. The absolute best time to see this species is the last week of March and first week of April, and the best place to do so is the famous birding area at Lista in the very south of Norway. So here we go...


20 March
On the island Sandsøya in western Norway, a Yellow-legged gull (gulbeinmåke) has been visiting since 12th of Februrary. This species is still a huge rarity in Norway. The problem with this bird though, is that it has been very elusive and irregular at the harbour where it has been seen. It tends to be out at sea fishing for long periods and then follow the fishing boats into the harbour when they come to deliver their catches. But it rarely stays for more than a day or two, so I have been awaiting my great opportunity to get this one. So today, I went. The weather couldn't possibly be worse. Pouring meters of rain and a forecast of 55 knots wind! But the gull had been seen three days in a row, so my hopes was up. Sandsøya is not particularily easy or cheap place to get to by the way - as you need 5 ferries from my home to get there, and the travel from Trondheim actually takes about 8 hours. Anyway off I went. The local birder and discoverer of the gull - Ingar - was searching the harbour all day. The rain didn't stop for one single second since I left home, but luckily the wind was a bit easier than forecasted.

Of course, this ghost of a gull had decided to leave since yesterday, and it was nowhere to be seen despite our optimistic effort. However, we did manage to see a local Eagle owl (hubro) on its dayroost in the distance and a pair of White-fronted goose (tundragås) which became the only Big Year tick of the day!

White-fronted goose flying in the rain.

In the evening - I turned south.

New species: 1
Total: 132

21 March
Finding myself in eastern parts of Norway after a long drive for most of the night. My plan was to search all flocks of Whooper swans (sangsvane) that migrates through this area this time of the year in hope of finding a Bewick's swan (dvergssvane) that so far has eluded me this year. Needless to say, I did not succeed, but luckily no rain anymore. However, I did manage to find a flock of Mistle thrush (duetrost) and a single Reed bunting (sivspurv) that both were new to the Big Year list.

Further south, I stopped briefly by the long staying Black duck (rødfotand) near Tønsberg, that I saw already 2 January. However, at that time, it was raining so hard, so I didn't manage to document it for my Big Year portfolio. I am not a hundred percent sure of the true identity of this bird, but will await the decision of the rarity comitee if it will count on my list or not.

The somewhat disputed, American black duck.

 

I also stopped by the famous bird area Borrevannet, to see if there were any raptors about (red kite - remember? ) I had a fly by Little woodpecker (dvergspett), which was also a new addition for the year.

A cold notherly was blowing and the only raptors seen during my two hours visit was a Buzzard (musvåk) and Goshawk (hønsehauk). I hurried down to meet my friend, to join him for some insect trapping with his fancy light trap. Waiting for the dark to come, a Woodcock (rugde) displayed over our head in its typical laps around what probably will be its territory,

New species: 4
Total 136

22 March
The idea was to do some raptor watching, but weather was not very cooperative being cloudy and with a icy cold northeasterly blowing quite strong. We quickly changed our tactics, as it was clear that there was lots of passerines about in the bushes despite the wind. A fly by mistle thrush (duetrost) was the bird of the day, even though a couple of Linnet (tornirisk) was the only addition to my Big Year list.

In the evening I headed more south and west. I was going towards the jewel of birding areas in Norway - Jæren. Here, the plan was to see the American wigeon (amerikablessand) that had been  present since last November as well as the long staying Surf scoter (brilleand). Both of them, rare but annual visitor from the US. On the way there, in the very last of light, I manage to stop by a Caspian gull (kaspimåke) that has stayed in the harbour area of Mandal for some time. Contrary to when I had to seach two days for it Fredrikstad, and ticked this species for the first time 12 Februray - this one came immediately. I guess my bread throwing excersice in Fredrikstad payed off, and my previous 1600km drive to tick the species in Fredrikstad could have been spared.

Caspian gull, Mandal. This bird is even colourringed. It was marked as a chick
in a pure caspian gull colony in Belarus! 

A very caspian gull like bird, also seen in Mandal havn. Black bill, whitish head
and breast and the general pale and contrasty and elongated appearance makes this
a good candidate for caspian gull when scanning through a flock of large gulls.
However, details in feather markins on the secondaries and secondary coverts,
as well as on the back reveal its true identity - herring gull (gråmåke).

New species: 3
Total: 139

23 March
After a short, but comfortable night sleeping in the car, I was ready at the wigeon site at first light. Both this one, and the surf scoter have been our so long, that people have become a little bit relaxed about reporting them on the different bird news networks. None of the birds had been reported for a while, but I (stupidly) assumed they anyway were around. It turned out the last sighting of the American wigeon was 9 days ago. It had decided to leave its wintering site much sooner than normal. A strong wind picked up, and even though I searched three hours for the surf scoter this was nowhere to be seen either. The surf scoter normally dont depart its wintering site before  April some time, but appearantly it the birds are getting affected by this very unusually warm and dry winter as well. Two major dips in one day - birds that I felt was going to be easy pickings. I should have learned by now - nothing is easy. I can only hope these rarities will return back for next winter in time to be included on my list.

At a field, nearby I did find a Black crow (svartkråke) which turned out to be the best year tick of this whole trip.

Black crow (svartkråke) - shape of wings, and bill are some of the features that
distinguish this from a juvenile rook (kornkråke). Also, when seen well, it lacks
the shiny colour of that the rook sometimes show.

New species: 4
Total: 143

24-26 March
Now I was really in Red kite (glente) territory. A bird, that for all these years of birding has eluded me on all its visits to Norway. I was spending most days standing on the one spot to look for  raptors. A total of some 30 Buzzards (musvåk), 6 peregrines (vandrefalk) and at least 2 white-tailed eagles (havørn) wasn't very impressive numbers, but it kept my hopes up. Especially since there was a sighting a little bit east of Lista the day before. Normally, birds sighted east of Lista, tend to end up on Lista the next day, and here I was - ready for it to appear and shine! Red kites are a bit difficult, as it is kind of a there and then bird. Meaning, it rarely stays around for others than the one who sees it first to be enjoyed. Weather was shifting and by the third day, it strond winds and even rain set in. Forecast for the next days didn't look promising either, so I decided to change tactics. I was heading north, just after reassuring myself that a long staying Gyr falcon (jaktfalk) that had lingered around for months had decided to leave two days before I arrived.....

Lista light house, a famous land mark both for seamen and birders.

The news about Big Year coming to Lista, and I had appearance both in the regional radio in prime time, as well a page in the local newspaper. The Big Year project is really reaching out to the people!

New species: 5
Total: 148

27 March
I suddenly find myself just south of Oslo, at a place known to be good for raptor migration and where red kites have been seen now and then. This morning, hopes was good, as the weather forecast was promising with blue skies and no wind. Everybody knows, at least if you are coming from the west coast of Norway, that weather forecasts rarely get it right. This was also true for this day, when a heavy cloud cover layed as a thick carpet over the landscape. It even rained a bit, and ice cold notherly breeze set up just to make sure to stop every single raptor that even remotely was thinking about soaring a little to stay on the ground. A passing white-tailed eagle was anyway trying its wings, and is actually a local rarity in this area. I stayed for 3 more hours, and one single sparrow hawk (spurvehauk) and single buzzard (musvåk) was all that stretched their wings this day. Weather forecast quite similar for the next days, so I decided to start the 7 hours drive home. So I did.

At 10am the next morning - a message peeped in that a red kite migrated past the exact spot I was standing yesterday only 22 hours ago..........Birds can certainly pull some practical jokes on birders some times...

Total: still 148.

Caspian gull!

If the water pipit happened close to home, my next chase was certainly a bit further away. Reports of a Caspian gull (kaspimåke) all the way south in Fredrikstad. I have kind of decided not to go for this species - especially in Fredrikstad. The reason is simple. It is a very rare bird, and the place they usually are seen (thanks to a few very gull dedicated birders), is either at the rubbish tip in Fredrikstad, or in the town Mandal even further south. The two places has in common that the gulls there are almost never seen two days in a row. In Fredrikstad it is a simple reason for this. There are thousands of gulls feeding at the rubbish tip, and to find one stranger amongst all these take even more than luck. The birds here tend to fly a lot around in the area, and even when sitting, you can be sure they don't sit for long before they take to the wings again. A very difficult place indeed, and you never feel that you manage to check them all. In other words, a place excellent for giving you frustration!

Anyway, this time, the bird was reported at a harbour in downtown Fredrikstad. Even though close to the rubbish tip, it was seen at the same place twice and happily was attracted by bread. I decided to give it a go!

Starting 2 in the morning from home, ment driving all night. Advantage by driving during the night is that you save an hour because you don't need to meet all those driving in 60 km/hours (and believe me, there are lots of them! )The disadvantage - especially in winter is the number of moose (elg) along the roads. I almost got hit by one and a near moose death experience made the trip a bit more exciting than I liked. Because of the forestry industry and that Norway has eradicated all large predators that feed on moose, Norway has an extremely high moose population. Some believe that bears and wolves are dangerous, but the really dangerous animal in Norwgian forests is the moose. Several people get killed each year in car vs moose accidents. This time I managed to stop the car only 5 meters in front of moose, that pretended to be king of the road for a moment. I didn't dispute him. I hade 3 moose crossing the road in front of the car dueing this trip, but only one close one. Moose out of the way and 600km later I was surprisingly bright and shiny - ready for some gull action Fredrikstad.

But the story repeat itself...all day throwing bread in all different directions, but no caspian gull. About 7 years ago, I was at the same place for the exact same reason, and did the exact same thing - offering the finest bread I could buy for all gulls in Fredrikstad without the caspian taking the bait. Although a few caspian look alike, the star himself didn't want to put on a show. I wanted to try the next morning again, as I felt pretty sure the bird was in the area. Later that evening, news came out that the bird had been seen at Øra, the rubbish tip. The challenge was on - or the nightmare if you prefer...

My view for the whole day. Some gulls, but not any caspian....

Well, next morning after some more bread throwing exercise without any luck downtown Fredrikstad, I made my way to Øra. My hope was very slim but sometimes even I get lucky. Two hours searching, and suddenlly there it was. Sitting amongst a few hundred other birds. Flat head profile, white head and breast and pale upperparts. A small black eye, and long relatively slim blackish bill. I am far from any gull expert, but this individual stood out quite well from the rest. The most important feature though, was obscured by other gulls. I didn't manage to see the length of the legs properly. One gull moved, and I managed to see briefly one of the legs. Suddenly, as the only gull in the flock, it took to the wings, but I managed to take a few pictures of the beauty before it dissappeared amongst the herds of other gulls. Despite being in the area for 2 more hours, I didn't find it back. The whole observation only took 1 minute, but what a minute it was! This was not only an adition to my Big Year list, but also a twitch for my Norway list! Big thank you to the finder, that also was the one to find it back on Øra in the evening and made me try a second day. Here is some pictures. Sorry for the bad quality as these are already cropped almost 100%.

Flat and white head, long blackish bill and small dark eye. Black tail band stands
out quite well as the rump is almost all white. This bird, a 2nd winter, is late
for the time in the moulting. Normally, they would show more pale feathers
on the back.  

This was a very big bird, and much larger than most of the herring gulls (gråmåke).
Actually when I first saw it, I was thinking more of ruling out Black-backed gulls
(svartbak) than herring gull. Because of the size, it is probably a male. Even though
identifying these birds is extremely challenging due to the huge variateion that herring gulls
show, I feel that the jizz ans shape of caspian gull is very different from herring gulls.

While scanning for the caspian, I also came across some other interesting individuals, which I put into the box for variation of herring gull. The distance was very long, and almost all these pictures are cropped and even enlarged a bit. With such bad picture quality, it is impossible to make anything out of it, but I anyway want to show some of them to illustrate the difficulties these gulls represent.

White head and breast, and farily long leggs, as well as quite a pale back
remind us of caspiean features. However, head shape (round head), pale eye
and probably some other plumage feature I dont't have the knowledge to
comment on make this a herring gull in my eyes. 

Different individual than the one above. Again, very pale head and breast,
 and generally pale above reminds us of some of the features for caspian.
With its rounded head shape and short bill, jizz is however all wrong for caspian. 

At Øra, I saw two, maybe three adult "yellow-legged gull". This individual is
probably the most promising. Very little white in primaries, bright yellow legs,
all white head without any dark markings (most herring has at least some
 dark mottling on head this time of year).  Bill is stout, meaning short and heavy.
Unfortunately, the distance to this bird was too long for decent photos. But I do
think this is a very good candidate for Yellow-legged gull L.michaelis (gulbeinmåke). 

A different "yellow-legged gull" than the previous picture. This still has white
head, and yellowish legs. Bill is fairly short and heavy,  and the black on primaries
goes quite far towards the arm . Maybe too many white spots in the primaries to
make it something else than herring. I don't know. 

With the caspian gull safely bagged, I started the long drive home. I was planning to try a little owling, but too much wind made all the owls silent. I did however see two tengmalm's owls feeding along one of the many forest roads. A handsome addition to my Big Year list. At 4 am I was finally home after the 1500 kilometers long trip from start to end.

13 February
Inspired by the gull fest down south, I did go to my local patch today to feed the gulls. Just a hundred meters or so away from my garden, I was surprised by a Tundra bean goose (Sædgås ua rossicus) - a very welcome garden twitch!

A rare treat for my garden! 

Well, tomorrow I am off for some family business  and holiday in Turkey. So my Big Year list will stand still for two weeks, before I really will start my birding effort in March.

New species: 2

Total: 116


-EG-