An unidentified pipit was reported on the afternoon 9 October 2012 in Øygarden outside Bergen in western Norway. The bird proved to be an American Pipit (Buff-bellied Pipit) Anthus rubescens rubescens, and it will be the first for Hordaland county and the fourth for Norway if accepted.

I popped by the morning after, on the day 15 years after the first Buff-bellied record in Norway (see end of post), and the bird was still present. It fed on the fields along with two White Wagtails, and gave acceptable views in the dull light. We did also hear it call. It was rather distinct, Meadow Pipit in frequency, but sharper and more explosive. A sharp and thin seep-seep-seep was uttered when flushed, reminding a bit about a (Grey) Wagtail.

After a long period of bad weather in western Norway, the sun and light reappeared today, 11 October. When watching the Buff-bellied Pipit yesterday it was raining and the light was poor. Reports on the calm appearance of the pipit last night triggered us to try a photo-shoot this morning. Unfortunantely the bird seemed to have vanished at first, but after searching the area for some time, it suddenly showed up at its favorite spot from yesterday. The bird was busy feeding around small ponds on the field, giving us opportunities of getting descent shots as well as excellent plumage studies. View a short videoclip of the bird at this page.

There are three previous records of Buff-bellied Pipits in Norway:

1. Nesseby, Finnmark 10 October 1997 (American Pipit, A. r. rubescens) - link (PDF, page 21)
2. Karmøy, Rogaland January to April 2008 (Siberian Pipit, A. r. japonicus) - link
3. Farsund, Vest-Agder December 2009 (Siberian Pipit, A. r. japonicus) - link
4. Øygarden, Hordaland 9 to 14 October 2012 (American Pipit, A. r. rubescens) 

The pipit stayed until the 14th of october, giving Norwegian twitchers a fair possibility to add this subspecies to their lists. The first record of American Pipit was only seen by a single observer. Who knows, some time in the future they might be separate species.

The Northern Hawk Owl Surnia ulula is a rare bird along the coast of western Norway. During the last month several birds have been seen way out of their normal ranges further east, and at least three (possibly four) different birds have been discovered in Hordaland county since late September.

This afternoon I drove by Indre Arna to look for a Hawk Owl that was present a few days before. I didn't find it, but when making a detour at Unneland, it exposed itself from the highest point of the tallest spruce around.