Mary Beth Stowe's Website
CABC Scandinavia Choir Tour
Day 18: The Coastal Wetlands
Our last day birding was fabulous! We headed out to some coastal islands outside of Bergen called Swellingen in order to scope for pelagic birds (there was actually a better spot, but it took two hours of hiking over rough terrain, so I gladly opted out of that one!). The habitat going out there was just fabulous; Frøde called it "morse", but it was rocky, moss-covered ground with stunted trees and bushes here and there. It was a gorgeous day, but unfortunately that made it a dud for pelagics, although we did get some distant goodies: Gannet (that looked just like a lumbering gull to me until I finally saw the pointy tail), Little Gull, and Kittiwake to name a few. (Looking at my checklist later, I realized that the kittiwake made it a gull sweep for the trip!) On the way out there were a few songbirds in the garden areas, the best of which was a Common Whitethroat that posed for great shots! We also had a cooperative Coal Tit, but somehow my pictures got erased; I was sick! The Lord made up for it, though, later in the day! There were also lots of finches around: mostly Linnets, but we pulled out a couple of individual Twites.
Scenes along the road to Swellingen
Coastal habitat where we scoped for pelagics
Frode sets his sights on a very narrow window of open ocean (below) for seabirds.
Lighthouse behind us
Dickie birds around the gardens...
Twite Common Whitethroats Slug (not a bird...)
We stopped several places along some back roads mainly to listen for Crested Tit, but we got other goodies just by pishing: a Chiffchaff was calling at one point (not quite as slurred as the Willow Warbler), and when he came out he was quite dull. Around the corner was a Tree Sparrow, a recent breeder. Another stop had some Lesser Redpolls, and elsewhere a Winter Wren actually popped up! The best stop had a Dunnock out in the open, which was unusual according to Frøde (that it sat out in the open, that is)! We also got some roadside shots of Wood Pigeon, Great Black-backed Gull, and magpies. A local guy and his dog came to investigate when we started wandering down a little road, but he was very nice as he and Frøde chatted about birding! We also stopped at a marsh where Frøde had done some banding in hopes of Sedge Warbler, but it was pretty quiet.
We hit the back roads in search of more songbirds... Sleepy Linnet Dunnock
Tree Sparrow Winter Wren More gorgeous scenery
Great Black-backed Gull plays King of the Wood Pigeon Eurasian Magpie
Hill with a Herring with very yellow legs
(which evidently a few have up here)
Cute little bridge along a rural road Frøde's favorite banding spot
Wetland that housed several Eurasian Wigeon (female center, two males on right)
We then went to a little marsh called Tjeldstø Reserve, where we had several wigeon. But the best was yet to come: a big reserve called Herdla where many rarities show up. In fact, we saw two of their "resident vagrants": a male King Eider in with the Commons, and a Pied Wagtail!
This place used to be an air field used by the Nazis, and you walk down the strip through grassy fields, where wagtails, Meadow Pipits, and finches ruled the day: we even had a couple of pipits about which Frøde and I were debating the ID (I swore they were Rock Pipits but Frøde thought they were just dark Meadows, but after studying the photographs he changed his mind! ☺) We flushed a lot of snipe as well, and when we got close to little patches of open water (kinda reminded me of Tijuana Slough), we started having shorebirds close at hand; with the help of Frøde’s scope got some fabulous shots of Ruffs, Little Stint, Dunlin, and Ringed Plover! As we reached the beach there were just tons of Ringed Plovers, and careful searching added a Knot and Sanderling among them. A flock of Canada Geese watched us from the shore and vacillated between staying put and heading for the water; a young Greylag was among them, as well as a partial albino, looking like a Canada with a white face!
Crossing one of many suspension bridges on the Preserve map
way to Herdla Preserve
This refuge used to be an air strip used by the Nazis during WWII
The bird at left is a "Pied" Wagtail from Britain, a vagrant race of the nominate White Wagtail (above).
Chaffinch More Wheatears (probably young males,
as you can see a hint of the mask)
Rock Pipits on left, compared with two Meadow Pipits on right; note the darker overall coloration, darker legs, and subdued back streaking on the Rocks.
Common Eiders (juvenile left, eclipse-plumaged A lost King Eider has been summering here for several years; note
male on right) that the "shield" is actually two flaps of skin on either side of the
bill!
This place is shorebird heaven! (Ruff portraits; most if not all are juveniles...) In flight
Juvenile Sanderling
Juvenile Little Stints; it’s fuzzy, but note the split supercilium on the above bird. Juvenile Dunlin
More juvenile Dunlins; note the cinnamon wash on the heads and the black belly streaking, something you never see in San Diego!
Common Ringed Plover, told from our Semipals by the stronger white supercilium and thicker chest band.
Adult (breeding above, non-breeding center) and juvenile (right); note the crisp borders to the back feathers of the juvie.
Snoozing Red Knot With Dunlins
Miscellaneous stuff...
Arctic Tern Great Cormorant and 1st Juvenile Greylag Goose Partial albino
year Great Black-backed Gull Canada Goose
Adult (back) and juvenile Canada Geese
We stopped in the blind for coffee and lunch, then headed towards the Eagle Owl day roost. In the open water were a pair of Velvet Scoters in with the eiders, and we got better looks at their King Eider and another Great Cormorant to boot. We had several Golden Plovers on the way (even the pale ones looked nothing like Blackbellies), and four Common Redshanks flew by, showing their characteristic wing pattern. Also had a lone Greenshank calling like a yellowlegs, plus curlews. The trail to the roost was a workout, but it was in lovely woodland habitat with a gorgeous view from the top! Frøde couldn’t find the owl, but I was finally able to pick out a Crested Tit calling all on my own, so I felt justified counting it! Also had a Red Crossbill (or whatever it’s gonna be once they go split-crazy over it) come tearing in. Had a very cooperative juvenile Robin on the way back (as well as lots of little Norwegian frogs), and a group of Red-breasted Mergansers was new for the day along the shore. Had a very pale Lesser Black-backed Gull that we were ready to call graelsii as it was much paler than the resident intermedius.
Blind where we had coffee and lunch (view from said blind above right)
Eurasian Golden Plovers (the bird above left with a bit of remaining breeding dress).
Trail to the Eagle Owl roost View from the top
Frøde on the trail
There were lots of these tiny little frogs around Subadult European Fluffed-up Twite
(Frode didn’t know the English name, but they’re Robin
the only ones in Norway,...)
A very pale-backed Lesser Black-backed Gull (possible graelsii) Group of Red-breasted Mergansers
at left ; compare with the local intermedius race at right.
My feet were shot after that trek, and it started raining, plus it was late, so I had no desire to kick up Capercaillies (with only a 5% success rate this time of year), so we headed back into town, kissed Frøde goodbye and turned in. Had a nice leisurely morning getting packed and ready to leave, and made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare (and catch up on this)! Finally did some shopping, too, so I can go home feeling somewhat unselfish!
