Winter backyard birdies

With winter not yet in full gear anf bird feeders in full stock, the backyard is filled withthe usual birdies visiting for free snack. And boy they are always ravenous. I'm still missing a shot of the Blue Tit.

Youngins in the Backyard

Spring time is an active time for young birds ... intent on eating as much as the can whenever they can. With a feeder in the yard, the house is never without the sound of chirps and whirring wings.

Local patch : Coastal Jaeren

I consider myself to be extremely lucky to have been flung to Stavanger, Norway in the middle of Rogaland and the midst of birding haven that is Jaeren. Birding hotspots I only used to read about before can now be reached by less than a hour's leisurely driving.

Better still was to have made connection with a couple of avid local birders such as Neil and Inger Friestad, and their daughter Hera. Not long after we made contact at Sandness Havn while checking out ducks, we went on an introduction trip around local patch around Stavanger. Not long after that we covered coastal Jaeren. It was great fun zipping through the countryside getting the lowdown on the specialties of some of these hotspots with passionate birders having first hand knoowledge.

Ali and I drove from Stavanger one Saturday morning and within one hour we were birding with Neil, Inger and Hera. See map attached.

Jaeren coastal hotspots.

From the south we covered:

Sirevag 

Bruvatnet - several spots for waterbirds, wintering ducks and dipper

Kvassheim Fyr -waders and ducks

Madland -waders and waterbirds

Grodaland -passerines around a manmade lake in the woods

Obrestad - waterbirds and waders

Hatangen -waterbirds and waders

Soylandvatnet -wintering ducks, waterbirds, passerines in summer

Orrevatnet

Revtangen

Grudavatnet

Over the years many interesting sightings have been made in all these areas. Since most of the sites are located close to the coast, many waterbirds, seabirds, waders, raptors form the bulk of those sightings. Jaeren lies along the migration route North, with a point closest to UK landmass being Reve, migrant passerines are also a major feature. A ringing station managed and manned by the Stavanger Museum is located in Reve, just a few hundred meters from Revtangen.

With local patch covered (previous article) and now having completed introduction to coastal Jaeren, all that is left to do is find to find suitable weekends to stalk these sites for the birds. There are surely plenty of birds to go around all year, the trick around here is probably a day sunny enough the drag the gear out ... that there lies the challenge.

Sunset at Kvassheim, next to spot where ducks, and waders hangout.

Godwits by Hatangen, large fields dominated the landscape along the beach.

Goose in the fields next to Orrevatnet, the biggest bird magnet in the area.

Breeding curlew in the fallow fields of Obrestad, also by the coast.

Many thanks to Neil, Inger and Hera to have taken the trouble to show us around their patch, as well a Saturday moning's crash course on birding in Jaeren.

Nazer Abghani/Jul2013 (belated write up)

Dunlin to nought at Revtangen

I was informed by a fellow wader fanatic that there might still be waders lurking around on the beaches of Jaeren this late in the season. He's located further north and has been posting rather to die for shots of Sanderling, Purple Sandpiper, Dunlin, Arctic Snipe and what not.

It didn't take much nudging to get me out of the door Saturday morning hours before sunrise, dragging the gear and kids along with me in single digit temperatures with high hopes of ticking a Purple Sandpiper. Against my own gut feeling of course as usual (maybe my smaller-used to be big gut wasn't as clairvoyant as it used to be). It was still capable as I was to find out (or it wasn't that small afterall)!

There were waves and waves of cormorant making a flyby from the north heading south, some makinga detour to Orrevatnet. There were flocks of passerines. They were many seagulls. There were several Common Eider feeding at their usual favorite patch by the rocks. THERE WAS NO WADERS! NOT A SINGLE ONE $%@&*! They've all left for warmer climes. Someone ticked an Arctic Snipe just two weeks ago, clearly I'm just way too late in the season.

Cormorants making a flyby, several waves passed by above us that morning.

Dejected at such poor showing and lack of good judgement on my part, I was very glad the kids were around. Together we spent the next 2 hours making little pagodas with glacier-wave-rounded rocks in the shade of the bluff braving windy conditions in absolutely single digit temperatures.

Still dejected when we got home, and decided to shift my attention to the birds that stick around ... our friendly neighbourhood fellas instead. At least the lenses had something to look at after the dissapointing show in the morning.

Chaffinch.

Chaffinch (female).

Brambling.

Goldcrest.

Great Tit.

Blue Tit

European Robin.

Great Tit waiting for it's turn at dinner.

The day didn't turn out so bad afterall, I may have just to wait till spring to see the Purple Sandpiper but fret not, these backyard fellas above will keep me occupied all winter long. I heard a Chinese Pheasant calling just this morning ... early!

PS/Wader photogs should date tag their pictures of seasonal migrating birds.