Brunnich's Guillemot

On Wednesday I had that much anticipated and rarely occurring event that is an Oslo tick. Never-the-less it didn’t leave me feeling in an especially celebratory mood because the views were not that great and the photographic evidence leads much too be desired. The bird in question was my first Oslo Brunnich’s Guillemot. This is a species that breeds in the far north of Norway but is a very infrequent sighting anywhere in the country away from the breeding sites as its wintering areas are far out in the Arctic Ocean. On Wednesday the fjord was very calm off Huk, Bygdøy and lots of ice had formed. The result was that birds were easy to see on the sea and also concentrated in a smaller area than normal. The recent southerly winds had pushed in quite good numbers of Guillemots which were now easily outnumbering the Razorbills which had previously (and unusually) been the commonest auk this winter. Most of the auks were resting in small groups on the open water but a few were feeding on their own amongst the ice. One of these birds, and a relatively close one, immediately caught my eye as it had a lot of black in the face. I had already noted an adult Guillemot in summer plumage (most of the birds that get pushed in are immatures that do not acquire summer plumage) but this bird was different. It was a stubbier, more angular bird than a Common Guillemot and seemed to have cleaner, white flanks. This was interesting and my thoughts went immediately to Brunnich’s. I cranked up the magnification on the scope and immediately felt able to confirm that it was one even though range and lighting were not the best. I could just about make out the diagnostic white line over the short bill but in the only picture I managed that shows the bird in any way that might approach a record shot it is not visible. It started diving and swimming away from me and joined a small group of Common Guillemots on the open water. This group contained an adult in summer plumage and he Brunnich’s was clearly separable even at long range due to its different jizz with a shorter bill and more angular head. Also the white flanks (lacking obvious barring) were visible.

So, a tick but not of the “here look at my great picture of it” variety.

 

In Maridalen Brambling was a new bird for the year and the Grey-headed Woodpecker turned up again after an absence of 3 weeks or so and finally showed in nice sunlight. I also saw my first Green Woodpecker of the year (had previously only heard them calling) with a “singing” female. With all the snow I have been looking for mammal tracks in the snow. I have seen numerous Moose and Roe Deer, Red Squirrel, Beaver, presumed fox and Pine Marten. Pine Marten is a species I have only ever seen once but I think is a reasonably common species around Oslo and perhaps even in the city.

Brunnich's Guillemot (polarlomvi)...

Maridalen's female Grey-headed Woodpecker (gråspett) with the red feathers in the crown is still here

and a female Green Woodpecker (grønnspett)

my first Brambling (bjørkefink) of the year

and some Bullfinches (dompap) which seem to be very numerous this winter

tracks of Pine Marten (mår)

and droppings

and some random shots of Maridalen in the snow

Auk tastic

As forecast storm force winds hit the Oslo Fjord. Unfortunately there was too much west and not enough south in the wind for there to be too much action close to Oslo but there were birds. Reports from Saturday made it clear that it was going to be auks and Kittiwakes that would be the commonest birds with perhaps a skua or two to look for. Lots of auks can be exciting though and it was these I decided to spend time on. Trouble though is that separating Guillemots and Razorbills in flight is difficult enough especially when they are speeding by with a tail wind up their arses. The day started with streams of auks heading fast north with at least 700 birds noted in flocks of upto 30. When going north I only really had a chance of separating Little Auks out due to speed, range and light.

As the morning wore on the winds ebbed and the birds started heading south a lot more slowly and in better light (after 700 going north I counted 550 going south). Suddenly I was picking out Puffins! I had 4 birds heading south and 1 north all in the course of 50 minutes. I was now checking every auk and my hope was to find a Brunnich’s but to be honest I do not have the (super natural?) powers to take one for certain in flight at 1km range which is where most of the auks were (the middle of the fjord). However I did have a very good candidate with a dark head and seemingly more compact jizz than the Common Guillemots it was with but that wasn’t enough. How about trying to find one sat on the sea? A number of the auks were splashing down so I started scanning and 5 minutes later and what do you know? Alongide a flock of 5 winter plumage Common Guillemots was a bird that was much blacker and with nearly a completely dark head. This needed grilling as I needed to see more and be certain it wasn’t a Common Guillemot in summer plumage. I wasn’t able to see the white line over the bill at such range but I could see that the bill was shorter than the Common G’s, the head was a squarer shape and the white on the chest went up in a V into the black. Enough, for me at least, to be happy that this was a Brunnick's Guillemot (polaromvi) and a good bird (less than annual) in these parts.

My pictures from today are absolutely pants and don’t even fall into the record shot category.

a large flock of auks heading north

this flock heading south looks to be all Guillemots (lomvi)

Fulmar (havhest)

 

about the only pictures (despite many shots being taken) which just about shows a recognisable Puffin. The smaller more compact jizz plus the dark underwing are good characters as well as the grey head.

Two shots of the same Common Guillemot. This bird shows two features which according to Birding Frontiers new Winter Book should mean this is a Brunnichs namely a broad and even breast band plus black over the whole upper head. However jizz and bill show this to be a Common Guillemot. Behind the eye the bird does look to be a bit paler showing also that the picture is maybe too poor to make too many conclusions from.

The bird above reminded me though of this Common Guillemot from 22 Nov 2012. Initially reported as a Brunnich's it showed well enough for the structural characters (bill and head shape but long body) to be seen well enough to show it was just a Common as well as it lacking the white line over the bill (apparently called the tomium stripe). But it does seem to show that the other features highlighted by Birding Frontiers are not gold. In this individual another pro Common feature is that the white on the chest does not intrude up into the black in a V.

And to finish off the post an absolutely crap and completely non conclusive video of the Brunnich's:




This is the best snap shot I've managed to take from the video. You possibly get an idea of what the bird looked like...

 

 

Finnmark 2013 trip report

Finnmark is an exceptional birding destination. In the summer it can offer a taste of the arctic and of the east as well as breathtaking scenery and nights that never get dark.

This trip was my third to Finnmark following ones in May 2011 and March 2012. My partner in crime for this trip was fellow Rarities Committee member Bjørn Olav Tveit and we had an aim for the trip to find something to trouble our fellow committee members aswell as to see as many of the specialities as possible.
For me the chance of finding Arctic Warbler (lappsanger) and Little Bunting (dvergspurv) was the number one priority as my previous visits have been too early for these birds. Tradition says that they don't arrive until the third week of June but in recent years there have been earlier records with perhaps global warming having a say? Also this May has been exceptionally hot in the far north so things were likely to be early this year.

To maximise birding we planned to sleep in the car and sleep as little as possible. We managed to stick to our plan although for Bjørn who had just returned from a few days in Amsterdam this meant quite a lot of additional sleeping in the passenger seat.

We landed in Kirkenes at 11am on Thursday 13 June but took 45 minutes to get on the road as our hire car was not ready. We birded our way towards Varanger with the big highlight being a singing male Arctic Warbler (lappsanger) at the classic locality of Neiden Church. This was the first observation this year in Norway of this late arriving migrant but already the next day there was a report of three birds in the area. We first picked it up on song which is a trill slightly reminiscent of Wood Warbler (bøksanger) of which there was also one in the area. Having seen Greenish Warbler (østsanger) only a few weeks ago it was great to gets its cousin and appreciate the plumage differences  between the two.

singing male Arctic Warbler (lappsanger). Look at that supercilium!

looks a bit less special here but the wing band(s) are visible

Close by were also a number of Long-tailed Skuas (fjelljo) resting by the fjord. Judging by the number of pellets in the area they are finding enough food although they did not seem to be breeding.

We worked our way along the Varangerfjord from Varangerbotn to Nesseby to Vadsø without finding anything particularly rare but there were Red-necked Phalaropes (svømmesnipe), fine summer plumaged Bar-tailed Godwits (lappspove), a flock of Taiga Bean Geese (sædgjess), Arctic Skuas (tyvjo) and White-tailed Eagles (havørn) to entertain us.

the pond at Nesseby with Red-necked Phalarope just metres away

Red-necked Phalarope (svømmesnipe). Note the mosquitos on the water which are the food source for so many birds

slightly different angle

Bar-tailed Godwits (lappspove). Note the different plumages related to sex and age. The reddest birds being adult males, the orangy birds females and the white birds probably in their 1st summer

We slept the night just after the small village of Skallelv by a small bay. I slept in the car and Bjørn outside where some curious sheep woke him early in the morning.

Bjørn Olav sleeping

inquisitve sleep taken from my hotel room

The next day we continued up the coast to Vardø and then to the literal end of the road at Hamningberg. We visited (after first driving a long way up a wrong track) an area of marshes about 7km from the coast that was quite simply excellent. Six Little Gulls (dvergmåke) looked like they were thinking of breeding, there were Ruff (brushane), Long-tailed and Arctic Skuas (tyvjo) plus loads more. We decided this would be a good place to spend the night especially as there was a new and pleasant toilet there (always an important factor when sleeping in the car).

All the mod cons

Our time in Vardø was mostly spent going through many hundred Herring Gulls (gråmåke) waiting for fish in the harbour where we turned up a few colour ringed birds and four 1^st summer Glaucous Gulls (polarmåke). I will have a separate post later on the gulls (optional reading!).

Also from Vardø our only King Eider of the trip - a male but probably in its 2nd summer hence not quite full plumage and in the harbour a relatively close Brunnich's Guillemot (polarlomvi).

Brunnich's Guillemot (polarlomvi)

During the day we had good numbers of Red-throated Pipits which allowed themselves to be photographed and both Arctic (polarsisik) and Common Redpoll (gråsisik). North of Vardø a White-billed Diver (gulnebblom) was the highlight for us. It was not an adult but its plumage seemed to be too advanced for a bird in its 2cy. I have not managed to find out what 3cy birds look like but suspect this was one.

Common Redpoll (gråsisik). Despite the cold colours note the large dark feather in the undertail coverts and broad barring on the flanks

same bird as above. Note also the strong bill

Arctic Redpoll (polarsisik). Not always easy to seaprate from its Common counsin but note the pure white undertail coverts and rump, very little streaking and small bill

Red-throated Pipit (lappiplerke)

We headed back to the marshes for the night and checked out some very low roadside cliffs which we had been told were a Gry Falcon location. We spotted an extensive area of droppings and then a large falcon flew in.  Unfortunately it was only (?) a Peregrine but nice all the same. It doesn’t seem possible that falcons could breed here but it looks like a suitable resting place between hunting missions. At the marshes as we heated up our dinner we were treated to displaying Jack Snipe with at least two birds in the air. They make the most incredible noise that is likened to a galloping horse and I had always wanted to hear one. We slept heavily and looked forward to an early start and more displaying waders.

Adult Peregrine Falcon (vandrefalk) - it should have been a Gyr (jaktfalk)

When we awoke at 4am we couldn't open the boot of the car and it was clear that the battery was flat. We had chosen automatic hybrid car for ease of driving and also in silent mode it is great for listening for singing birds in the forest whilst driving. The downside is that it cannot be jump started so we needed help. We also needed to have mobile coverage! We walked nearly a kilometre before we could ring for help. Help took a little over an hour to arrive (impressive hey?)

help on the way

 and in the mean time we enjoyed Bar-tailed Godwits, tundra Bean Geese, Bluethroats (blåstrupe), Lapland Buntings (lappspurv), Rough-legged Buzzard (fjellvåk), Ruff and Arctic and Long-tailed Skuas amongst many others. We also had a fox methodically walking the area searching for nests or young birds and attracting lots of attention from nesting birds – in fact it was a good, if unfortunate, way of what was out there.

Long-tailed Skua (fjelljo)

Bluethroat (blåstrupe)

Lapland Bunting (lappspurv)

On the road again at 0630 we headed for Nesseby where we had seen that there had been some good numbers of seabirds the evening before. This site is at the western end of Norway’s only east facing fjord and can produce some good seabirds with Europe’s only (?) Soft-plumaged Petrel its best record. Winds had turned from favourable easterlies to northerlies so there was less to see but two summer-plumaged Little Auks (alkekonge) were very unexpected.

We gave it a couple of hours and then headed towards Pasvik. Our second service station hamburger confirmed that petrol stations have now cracked the code and with renewed energy we headed south into the tongue of land called the Pasvik valley that is Norway but should really be Russia or Finland. We stopped regularly to check stand of birch trees for Arctic Warblers or Little Buntings. It took a while but we finally heard a song familiar from the iphone. Little Bunting! A male showed really well and I managed decent pictures and video. What a great bird and a tick that has been a long time coming.

Little Bunting (dvergspurv)

After enjoying this bird we headed deeper into Pasvik. The river at Skrøytnes held good numbers of ducks and waders and also flycatching Waxwings (sidensvans).

View over the taiga in Pasvik with Russia and the industrial plant at Nikkel in the distance

We searched for Red-flanked Bluetails (blåstjert) but couldn't locate any and then decided that we would spend the night searching marshes for displaying Broad-billed Sandpipers (fjellmyrløper) and Jack Snipes. We drove roads until they were impassable and then walked, visited suitable marshes two or three times but heard nearly nothing. We had been told that nightime was the best time for these species in Pasvik and with no wind listening conditions were good although some drizzle was perhaps not good (especially for my camera). We kept going until 4 am but with little to show for our troubles and just slept in the car in full field dress. Awaking slightly refreshed at 7am nearly the first noise we heard was a galloping horse. So much for Jack Snipe being a nocturnal displayer!
Buoyed by this we set out for the Tommamyra marsh supposedly teeming with our two target waders. It took a while to walk out as I managed to literally take us in circles but with subsequent good use of GPS we eventually found our way to the marsh. There were waders but not the hoped for ones.  Breeding Spotted Redshank shouldn't be looked down upon though.
An unexpected bonus from our wanderings though was at least four singing Little Buntings which gave us eight in total - a pretty respectable count for this rare breeding bird.

After some searching we found ourselves Siberian Jay (lavskrike) and Siberian Tit (lappmeis) although Pine Grosbeak (konglebit) evaded us. We also had singing Parrot Crossbill (furukorsnebb) and a close meeting with a pair of Hazel Grouse (jerpe) but a steamed up camera allowed me no pictures.

Siberian Tit (lappmeis)

Waxwing (sidensvans)

Parrot Crossbill (furukorsnebb)

Another visit to Skrøytnes was very productive. With no wind and great light we were able to pick out many birds. 31 Smew (lappfiskand) of which only 2 were 2 females was a huge count as was 14 male Shovelers (skjeand) and three Garganey (knekkand) were rare so far north. 15 minutes of adrenalin came from a distant 1st summer plover that eventually flew and revealed black armpits and hence meant it was a Grey Plover (tundralo) but before that had been the subject of a conversation as to whether it originated from America or the Pacific. Amongst the many other birds here were some Ruff with a little display from a couple of the males, Little Gulls, a Great Grey Shrike (varsler), Waxwings, Little Stint (dvergsnipe) and nesting Wood Sandpipers (grønnstilk) which sat on tree tops by the path shouting at us.

Our final push for the day was to find more easterly warblers or buntings and we located a new singing Arctic Warbler but couldn't relocate the first Little Bunting from the day before.

Our trip was great fun and very full on. This write up does not do it justice but hopefully the pictures and videos (to come soon) will. We had in total 120 species and saw most of the specialities for Varanger and Pasvik. Missing were Steller’s Eider (stellerand) which has not been reported for a month or so and is now becoming very unreliable in the summer here probably as a result of a declining population. Pine Grosbeak was a surprising absence from our list and raptors and owls were generally scarce with no Gyr Falcon (jaktfalk) and the only owl a Short-eared (jordugle).

Sedge Warbler (sivsanger) was relatively common and far more showy than in southern Norway

male Brambling (bjørkefink) - a common and pleasant site all over Finnmark in the summer

more phalaropes. It was difficult deciding which picture was best....