White-billed Diver
- Gulnebblom - Gavia
adamsii
This is one of the main
target species in the spring, from late April and well into June. For
further details click here.
White-billed Diver also turn up occasionally during the winter, but
this is barely annual.
Typical view of White-billed Diver heading north past Skogsøy
White-tailed Eagle
- Havørn - Haliaetus
albicilla
White-tailed
Eagle is in many ways THE bird of Øygarden. The species is
especially visible in the winter months when several can be seen during
the course of a days birding. It is likely that numbers are swelled at
this time by younger birds from further north.
 |
| White-tailed Eagle,
Øygarden |
Eagle Owl - Hubro - Bubo
bubo
Grey-headed Woodpecker
- Gråspett - Picus
Canus
Gråspætte
- Harmaapäätikka
 |
| Grey-headed Woodepcker,
Hernar,
Øygarden. October 2009 |
In
Øygarden, Grey-headed Woodpecker is largely a regular autumn
migrant
in small numbers; I have recorded it each autumn since I moved out
here. Small numbers are recorded in the early spring and species has
been suspected of breeding in the area. The graph below
shows records of
this species (from
myself and Eddie Chapman) by week
number. It is
quite clear that this species is a late autumn migrant, only
occasionally noted at other times of the year.
Perhaps
observers at migration hotspots outside Norway should be keeping their
eyes open for this species?
Bohemian Waxwing
- Sidensvans - Bombycilla
garrulus
Sidensvans
- Silkehale - Tilhi
 |
| Bohemian
Waxwing, Tjeldstø, Øygarden |
Bohemian
Waxwing are a very regular autumn migrant in Øygarden. This
species seems to exhibit two types of movement, first a regular
migration in mid-October to early November followed by much
smaller and more irregular irruptive movements during the winter. Most
birds are seen on direct migration, and do not tend to stop for long.
The one pictured above was part of a group that landed briefly in my
garden.
The graph below shows that the species is seen on most visits in late
October on my local patch in Øygarden. The pattern in other
places in Øygarden is very similar, for example 385 heading
south 05 November 2005 past
Herdlevær.
Compare the above with the pattern of occurrence at my old patch, an
inland site east of Bergen, Norway. Here there was some indication of
the October / November migration - these birds were often seen heading
south. However, the majority of records are of wandering flocks during
the winter.
