Sunday 11 August 2013

Ruff and ready


Well if time invested is all that is required to find rarities then I should be guaranteed one at Årnestangen. After Thursday’s session I was there again on Friday and today. Today’s visit wad timed perfectly to coincide with a thunderstorm that left me soaked to the core but rarity less. There are good numbers of waders though and something really good will turn up.....

On Friday there were a lot fewer waders after a clear night. Ringed Plovers (sandlot) had fallen from 100 to 40 and surprisingly not a single Wood Sandpiper (grønnstilk) was left. The only increase in numbers was from Temminck’s Stint and Greenshank (gluttsnipe) which both now numbered seven.
Today though with the thunderstorms there was a real increase again with 110 Dunlin (myrsnipe) up from 10 on Friday and 20 on Thursday, 40 Ruff (brushane) and 40 Ringed Plover, 2 Grey Plover (tundralo), 3 Temminck’s and a single Sanderling (sandløper). It is very exciting being out there with birds constantly flying around and calling and at times it just doesn't seem possible there is nothing rarer.

Sandwiched between my visits to Årnestangen I celebrated my birthday out in at Kikut Cabin in Nordmarka. We walked 15km and canoed 3 km to get there but birds were in short supply. The best record was of four Bramblings (bjørkefink) in a mixed flock of finches and tits that mostly likely represent a rare local breeding record although could be early migrants. Otherwise we had a couple of sightings of Osprey (fiskeørn), Black-throated Divers (storlom) and Black Woodpecker (svartspett).

In the rain good pictures have been a little hard to come by so I offer just one picture of some Ruffs.

some of the many Ruff (brushane) at Årnestangen at the moment. All are juveniles


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