These two Ruddy Turnstones Arenaria interpres were part of a flock of 15 birds. A scarce species in Hordaland county, and this was only the second record in 2015.
Last weekend we carried out our annual seabird-count. The surveyed area is on the outer coastline outside Bergen, western Norway, and is part of the national Seapop program. It was a great day to count seabirds, but most species were in slightly lower numbers than normal. Most out of line were Black Guillemots, being totally absent. Is it a real decline or just local movements of wintering birds? Not sure, but the annual counts will reveal long term trends for sure.
First-winter Glaucous Gull Larus hyperboreus - the second in the county this winter.
Despite pretty few seabirds in general, we had many great encounters with several species. Most noteworthy were a first-winter Glaucous Gull, my first Little Auk of the year, an immature Golden Eagle, a handful White-tailed Eagles, and good numbers of both Purple Sandpipers and Ruddy Turnstones.
Grey Heron Ardea cinerea is a common species in sheltered bays and straits in our survey area. This is an immature bird.
As last year we managed to read a flag-marked Purple Sandpiper. The bird was ringed near Longyearbyen at Spitsbergen early September 2012 (recently fledged), 2004 kilometers north of the resighting site. Map
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