THE bird to see in the autumn - Yellow-browed Warbler / gulbrynsanger
Picture taken 08 October 2007

Herdlevær is one of the best places in Øygarden for rare passerines and every year, especially in the autumn, a number of good birds turn up. Being very close to Skogsøy it is the perfect place to stroll around after a morning seawatching. Sometimes it pays to use the whole day at Herdlevær - it can be excellent for visible migration of passerines, noteably Waxwing and Crossbill. Some seabirds can also be seen from Herdlevær - indeed it can be worth checking to see if there is much activity over the sea before heading out to Skogsøy.

As with the rest of Øygarden, Herdlevær does not get a great deal of coverage, but birders from Bergen visit fairly regularly during the spring and autumn. Yellow-browed Warbler is probabaly annual at this locality, occasionally with up to several birds present. The local residents here are to some degree used to strangers peering into their gardens in search of rarities - occasionally when a "twitch" happens birders from all over Norway can descend on the island. However, people are not used to birders in the same way as many places in Europe and one should not enter gardens, even if there is a "mega" there.

Although actually an island it barely seems that way with just a few very short bridges to drive across. The area consists of a number of gardens, some farmland and a few lakes. One can also scan the sea and check some of the islands where waders sometimes gather. The calm waters on the inland side of Herdlevær regularly produce grebes and divers along with the more usual seaduck and auks. The bay to the north of Herdlevær is one of the better areas in Øygarden to see Black Guillemot in winter.

Often quiet bird-wise this place can be transformed under the right weather conditions and thousands of birds can be present during the autumn. Generally speaking there are very few "falls" in the spring and "sub Saharan" migrants tend to be thin on the ground at this time of year. Most birders visit Herdlevær after a day of seawatching and during the spring good seawatching weather is, as a rule, not terribly productive for passerines.







The commonest species of warbler in the autumn tend to be Blackcap and Chiff-chaff, with smaller numbers of Garden Warblers being seen.
Raptors are often seen here, Sparrowhawk, Peregrine and White-tailed Eagle are the most common and numbers of the former can reach double figures during the autumn. Goshawk, Kestrel and Merlin are all regular visitors too.






The heath, grassland and pools to the north often hold few birds, but if there is time are still worth checking for waders, wildfowl and raptors.

A few of the commoner Øygarden wader species breed here and other species including Jack Snipe, Green Sandpiper, Ruff and Bar-tailed Godwit can turn up, although Common Snipe and Eurasian Woodcock (in season) are more regular.

Small numbers of ducks and geese rest on the freshwater pools in the area during migration times and outside the breeding season there is a Heron roost which can number up to 50 birds.

Passerines in this heathy area to the north of the settlement are generally limited to the usal Øygarden species but Stonechat have been recorded out in this area.

Cuckoo / Gjøk, Skogsøy, 07 May 2004	Common Tern / Makrellterne, a summer visitor to Herdlevær

Linnet are one of the commonest finches during the summers months. Twite, although in decline, probably breed in small numbers and are generally more abundant from late summer through autumn. The numerous woods are full of Willow Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Lesser Redpoll, Chaffinch, Crested Tit and Coal Tit. Crossbills are regular and can turn up in large numbers pretty much at any time of year - both Common and Parrot Crossbills can be seen, although the latter is considerably less regular.

Grey-headed Woodpecker / Gråspett, can turn up in spring but is much more regular in the autumn.	Redwing / rødvingtrost can be seen year round at Herdlevær

A selection of the rarities seen at Herdlevær is given below:

English	Norsk	Scientific
Great Crested Grebe	Toppdykker	Podiceps cristatus
Great Snipe	Dobbeltbekkasin	Gallinago media
Black-tailed Godwit	Svarthalespove	Limosa limosa
European Turtle Dove	Turteldue	Streptopelia turtur
Long-eared Owl	Hornugle	Asio otus
Tengmalm's Owl	Perleugle	Aegolius funereus
Hoopoe	Hærfugl	Upupa epops
Eurasian Wryneck	Vendehals	Jynx torquilla
Grey-headed Woodpecker	Gråspett	Picus canus
Richard's Pipit	Tartarpiplerke	Anthus novaeseelandiae
Olive-backed Pipit	Sibirpiplerke	Anthus hodgsoni
Bohemian Waxwing	Sidensvans	Bombycilla garrulus
Black Redstart	Svartrødstjert	Phoenicurus ochruros
Stonechat	Svartstrupe	Saxicola torquata
Barred Warbler	Haukesanger	Sylvia nisoria
Greenish Warbler	Østsanger	Phylloscopus trochiloides
Yellow-browed Warbler	Gulbrynsanger	Phylloscopus inornatus
Red-breasted Flycatcher	Dvergfluesnapper	Ficedula parva
Isabelline Shrike	Rødhalevarsler	Laniuus isabellinus
Red-backed Shrike	Tornskate	Lanius collurio
Two-barred Crossbill	Båndkorsnebb	Loxia leucoptera
Hawfinch	Kjernbiter	Coccothraustes coccothraustes

; 1452visits to this side since June 27, 2006.
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