• Home
  • Blog
    • Online reporting
  • Galleries
    • Birds
    • Other vertebrates >
      • Mammals
      • Lizards
    • Insects >
      • Moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera) >
        • Leps
      • Dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata)
      • Flies (Diptera)
      • Beetles (Coleoptera)
      • True bugs (Hemiptera)
      • Shield Bugs (Heteroptera)
      • Leaf Hoppers (Homoptera)
      • Sawflies, wasps, bees and ants (Hymenoptera)
      • Scorpionflies (Mecoptera)
      • Grasshoppers and relatives (Orthoptera)
      • Lacewings and relatives (Neuroptera)
    • Other bugs >
      • Spiders and allies
      • Snails and slugs
  • Birding
    • Travel >
      • China (Happy Island)
      • Gambia
      • Malawi
      • Lithuania and Poland
      • Morocco
      • Nepal
      • Norway (Arctic)
      • Spain (Extremadura)
      • Thailand
      • Tibet
    • Garden birds
    • Microbigyear >
      • Species list
      • Background
      • Pictures
      • Flickr
Nature photography by Frode Falkenberg

Waterbird count in Bergen

10/12/2013

Comments

 
During the winter 1982-1983 the first complete waterbird-count was carried out in Bergen, western Norway. The project included counts of all waterbirds in the municipality on one date in each winter month from November to March. The data is not yet punched in the new report system for birds, but they will be in the near future. These numbers are a valuable historic document of the occurrence of wintering waterbirds in Bergen. Since then we have unfortunately not done similar counts again. However, during this winter (2013-2014) we will do the same count again. Last weekend we did the first of three counts, and 14 birdwatchers dedicated the weekend for the purpose. Eventually it will be exciting to see the results compared to the ones 30 years ago.
Picture
This first-winter putative Glaucous x Herring Gull is one of about a dozen suspected hybrids observed in Bergen since early November. The numbers in late 2013 has been exceptional for such birds in Hordaland county. This individual was first seen 28 November, and is one of several long-staying hybrids.
Picture
The Continental Great Cormorant has become more common in western Norway during the last decade. Today they are easily found in fresh- and brackish waters, but in the eighties they were absent. This bird was photographed during the more or less continous rain during the count.
The diversity of waterbirds is probably not too different from the old count, but the numbers of the different species have changed. Despite not having compared the numbers, I am quite sure some species have decreased dramatically, and some have increased. I predict that the wintering population of Great Cormorant, Eurasian Coot, Herring Gull and Grey Heron will show a positive trend, and species like Common (Mew) Gull, Black-headed Gull and Tufted Duck will show a decrease.
Picture
Counting and feeding Gulls in the city park of Bergen.
The highlights in our part of the count were a drake Eurasian Teal (rare winter species here), a Moorhen, 2-3 putative hybrid Glaucous x Herring Gulls and the long-staying first-winter Lesser Black-backed Gull (the first winter record in the county).
Comments

    Storymaps

    Picture
    August 2024: Tracking Norwegian Black-tailed Godwits (NO) 
    Picture
    July 2023: Black-tailed Godwit fieldwork in Northern Norway (NO) 
    Picture
    June 2023: Great Snipe fieldwork at Hardangervidda, Southern Norway (NO)
    Picture
    November 2018: ​Fieldwork in three IBA's in Nepal (EN)

    Blog archive

    February 2025
    May 2024
    October 2023
    May 2023
    November 2022
    February 2022
    June 2017
    May 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    September 2016
    May 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    March 2010
    October 2009
    February 2008
    April 2007
    October 2006
    September 2006
    June 2006
    October 2005
    June 2005
    April 2005
    October 2004
    September 2004
    May 2004
    March 2004
    November 2003
    October 2003
    September 2003
    April 2003
    March 2003
    November 2002
    July 2002
    June 2002
    May 2002
    April 2002
    December 2001
    November 2001
    October 2001
    September 2001
    November 1999

    RSS Feed

Bird Galleries

Non passerines
​Passerines

Animal galleries

Mammals
Lizards

Spineless galleries

Moths and butterflies
​
Damselflies and dragonflies
Spiders and allies
​Snails and slugs
Flies
Beetles

Social

contact

All content on this site © Frode Falkenberg. ​Go to the contact form for comments or if you want to use material from the site.