Autumn 2023 – first part.

Autumn is my favorite time of year when in comes to birding on the Faroes. Though spring migration can be truly wonderful with loads of colorful birds autumn has a different feel to it. Slowly dense cover is fading, the leaves fall of the trees and the islands get battered by low-pressure after low-pressure. Autumn just gives me a feeling of excitement. You never know what bird will be in the next garden. As the first Yellow-browed warbler has been seen the game is on. When a bird hatched somewhere in the Siberian taiga has arrived who knows what else is around.

Autumn starts early though. Actually it starts in July in a way. This year was no exception has a small influx of Common Crossbills arrived in late July and a male Red-backed shrike was found by Ragnar Smith at Viðareiði at the end of the month. Red-backed shrikes are annual, but adult males are few and far between.

I spent most of the month of August on the research vessel Jákup Sverri. But while on land I worked for the Museum of Natural History counting Arctic Skuas and monitored the breeding success. Sadly the largest colonies at Akraberg, Saksun and Fugloy produced zero checkis. At Svínoy a few chickes hatched and at Viðareiði the situation was a bit better with several chicks fledging. As both Arctic Puffins and Black-legged kittiwakes seem to have had a good breeding season it is hard to understand why the Arctic Skuas lacked success this year. Maybe the summer was simply too wet and windy for the chicks to survive.

Passerine migrations slowly starts in mid August, but normally the start is rather slow. In late August action begins to pick up pace. In late August we had a significant arrival of Common Swifts. I found a flock of five birds at Viðareiði, where a Common Rosefich was also present on the 30^th.

Late August saw a massive arrival of American cliff swallows in Iceland. First there was an influx in New Foundland. Then I got a picture for a Faroese fisherman, who photographed one off Nuuk in Greenland. Numbers in Iceland then exploded in late August. I decided to visit Mykines – the westernmost island of the Faroes – on the 31^th of August as I though it would be a good bet for a Cliff swallows. As I arrived a local had just seen a strange swallow in the village and other locals had seen strange swallows in previous days. Just as we where docking the Danish Navy had helicopter exercises on the islands. As the helicopter platform is just next to the village and the stream where swallows normally gather all birds had gone when I arrived. I did manage for find 3 House Martins though. One pair has bred on the island this summer. But sadly I didn’t find any Cliff Swallows. I did hike west to Mykineshólmur, where a Gannet colony is located. Even though numbers have declined due to the avian flu it was great to see 41 hatchlings and about 440 adults. I estimated that about 20% of the pairs had managed to hatch a chick this summer, which is much better than I expected before arriving.

Early September had a minor arrival of migrants with scattered Willow Warblers, Lesser Whitethroats and a single Common rosefinch on the 5^th at Gásadalur. At least five Great spotted woodpeckers were also reported during the first weeks on September. On the 6^th I went out with Jákup Sverri to the Faroe bank to do research on the fishing stocks. The pelagic birding was simply mind-blowing with about 20 Great Shearwaters, one Cory´s Shearwater, 1000+ Sooty Shearwaters, some Arctic, Pomarine, Long-tailed and Great skuas. The highlight were two obervations of Desertas Petrels og the 9^th and 12^th September. More on that later.

From the 14^th to the 27^th I was on land. On the 16^th our youngest son turned 10. After preparing for the birthday party I took a walk at Viðareiði 10 minutes from home. Soon I found the first Yellow-browed warbler of the year. The first YBW of the autumn is always exciting. It has that awesome feeling to it. When a YBW can turn up anything is possible. Now it is just a question of getting out there. Put in the effort and you will eventually be rewarded with a rarity. It is not a question of if, but a question of when and what.

As I continued my walk I found two Willow warblers, a lesser Whitethroat, a Barred warbler and then another YBW. And then suddenly a small bunting with a redish rumped just out of a bush – a beautiful Rustic bunting. It showed amazingly well just a few meters away while a YBW was calling in the background. Obviously a lot of birds had arrived, when a single village held so many birds, but I had to head home – happy with the birding and looking forward to a great birthday party. It is only the 4th Rustic bunting for the Faroes. A testimony to the scarcity of birders on the islands.

On the 19^th I went to Suðuroy – the southernmost island on the Faroes. As it quite isolated it receives birds from both the east and the west. One day I hope to spend and entire autumn on the island as it is probably the best island for finding rarities due to its remoteness. The birding was great as I found the 3^rd Mediterranean gull for the Faroes at Sumba. A nice juvenile. A female Steller`s eider had also returned for its 8^th consecutive year.

At Fámjin I found an Americak black duck, which is most likely a returning bird. But non the less always a great bird to see. At Fámjin I also found a Wryneck that flew in from the ocean along with Blackcaps, Lesser whitethroats and YBWs in the gardens.

On the 23^rd I checked the island of Vágar. At Gásadalur I found a beautiful snowball aka Hornemann´s arctic redpoll. It was just b-e-a-utiful and showed really well. It is the 3^rd Hornemann´s for the Faroes.

In Gásadalur I also caught a glimpse of a small bird with a reddish tail. For a second I was sure that I had found a nightingale. I reported the sighting to Yann and Jón, but the bird simply vanished in spite of looking for hours. Eventually I gave up and headed home.

A brief checked on Viðareiði the same evening was mandatory. There I found a Eastern yellow wagtail. I managed both pictures and sound-recordings. My go-to guy when it comes to calls and sonograms – Danish birder Henrik Böhmer – was kind enough to make a sonogram comparing the bird with known EYW. The bird was present for at least 4 days. It was a good match and if accepted it will be the second for the Faroes. The first one I found in Sumba in November 2021.

On the 27^th I checked Gásadalur again. Within 30 mintes I finally managed to nail the mysterious bird first seen on the 23^rd. And it did turn out to be a Common nightingale. Only the 3^rd Faroese record.

At Miðvágur I caught a brief glimpse of a possible Tennessee warbler in the late afternoon in the sapsucker-plantation. Presumed Sapsucker marks can be seen on several trees, but the bird was never seen and thus not on the Faroese list. The possible Tennessee warbler was not seen again in spite of searching until sunset.

Now I am back out at sea and hopefully some great seabirds will show up. Surely the autumn must have some more in store for us 🙂

Silas

Living the pelagic dream

Aug14

In February I started working on the research vessel Jákup Sverri. It is owned by the Faroe Marine Research Institute. The vessel conducts all kinds of tasks linked to marine research. Monitoring fish stocks by fishing along the same lines each year is a huge part of the work of the vessel.

In spring plankton growth is being monitored and later the spawning season for different fish species is also measured. A few trips every year only invovle hydrographic research, where ocean currents, temperatures, salinity, oxygen and other things are being measured.

I work as a deckman onboard Jàkup Sverri. It involves a lot of different tasks mostly related to fishing and the launching and use of measuring equipment. Jákup Sverri is considered one of the most advanced research vessels in world and is only a few years old. Unlike many research vessels the fish we catch is not discarded into the sea, but sold to the fish market. Thus sorting, measuring, cleaning and icing the catch is a huge part of the work onboard.

In my spare time I count seabirds and whales on a voluntary basis. But being on this research vessel is pretty much like doing pelagic birding every single day.

It is very interesting to do daily monitoring of birds at sea. To find out how weather, temperatures, time of year and other factors effect the birds, their behavior and numbers.

Northern gannet eating a Bluemouth rockfish

Since February I have been counting and photographing the Northern Gannets to find out how many individuals have at least one brown eye – which indicates that the bird has had the bird flu. Numbers covering the first half of the year suggest that just below 10% of adult Northern gannets have one or two dark eyes.

Being at sea gives a great opportunity to watch pelagic migration. Both Pomarine and Long-tailed Skuas migrate north in the month of May both east and west of the Faroes. A flock of 22 adult Long-tailed Skuas on the 21^th of May just west of the island of Koltur was quite a surprise. Pomarine skuas seems to peak in the first two weeks of May with the maximum being 21 birds on the 8^th of May.

A few surprises have turned up since I started working onboard. Here are a few:

A fly-by drake American wigeon on May 21^th on the Sandoy bank east of the Faroes.

Eurasian hobby on the 10^th of June some 180 nautical miles north of the Faroes.

An adult Sabine´s Gull of 11^th of June between Iceland and the Faroes.

The birding highlight so far this year were both Great and Cory’s Shearwater at the same time on Munkagrunnurin about 30 km from Suðuroy on the 12th of August. With daily news of amazing numbers of Cory’s further south I knew this could be the year to find it in Faroese waters. So my bins have been looking for hours and hours in all kinds of weather for the big brown shearwater. And finally Cory paid us a visit showing amazingly well on one of the very few sunny and calm days that we have had since February. The Cory’s was joined by a Great shearwater, 22 Sooty and a few Manx shearwaters also cruising around the vessel and I was simply ecstatic!!!

There is one record of a Scopoli’s Shearwater shot in August 1877. The bird has been re-examined and confirmed as a Scopoli’s shearwater by the Danish RC. There is also a sighting from land on May 1984, which is accepted as a Scopoli’s/Cory’s shearwater – though most likely Cory’s. If my bird from August 12^th is accepted by the Danish RC it will be the first definitive record of this species for the Faroes.

Another impressing feature of working at sea are the cetaceans. So far we have seen Orcas twice, Northern Bottlenoses five times, Long-finned pilot whales several times, White-sided dolphins a few times, humpbacks a few times, Mink Whales regularly and Bottlenose dolphins a single time. A few unidentified large whales have also been seen.

My interest for fish has also been re-ignited. I am currently trying to photograph as many species as possible and learn how to identify the tricky ones. It takes a lot of work and kinda feels like staring to bird again from scratch. But it is really exciting and I love the fact that I get to see new species of fish on such a regular scale.

The best thing about being at sea is that each day is different. You just never know what will happen tomorrow, later today or in an hour. I love the thrill. And I love the sea. Endless forms most beautiful in constant change.

Silas Olofson

Autumn and winter 2022

Jan7

Great Spotted Woodpecker - one of at least 10 birds recorded during the autumn — **One of at least 10 Great Spotted Woodpeckers recorded during the autumn**

It is time for a little review of the autumn and winter of 2022. I returned from Mongolia in late September and we have decided to settle down in the village where my wife grew up called Hvannasund on the Faroes after living mostly abroad since 2012.

Late September saw the arrival of low numbers of eastern migrants. The first scarce bird was a Marsh Warbler at Viðareiði on the 23^rd. Five Yellow-browed Warblers and a Wood Warbler in Hvalvík on the 27th were nice. On the 28^th I twitched the third Bar-headed Goose for the Faroes, which had been present for some days on Sandoy.

**Bar-headed Goose at Sandsvatn, Sandoy**

On Sandoy I also saw two Great Spotted Woodpeckers and a total of at least 10 documented birds were recorded on the Faroes during autumn. This is twice the number of the great invasion of 2012, where 5 birds were seen.

October started well with a Peregrine on Svínoy. Only the 12^th record for the Faroes. At least 10 Tree Sparrows were also present on the island including several juveniles proving that breeding has been going on probably since 2013 on the island with other birds breeding at Gjógv on Eysturoy.

October turned out to be quite windy and messy with lots of fast-moving depressions limiting arrivals from the east, but keeping the arrived birds grounded for much longer than usual. For instance a Pied Flycatcher was present for the entire month in Hvalvík.

On the 7^th the first mega turned up. I was birding on the island of Vágar on the western Faroe Islands. It was rainy but as I was driving to Sørvágur I saw that the sun was shining in Gásadalur, which is the westernmost village on the island. So I headed straight to the village. It only has two gardens, so checking for warblers is rather simple. Shortly after arrival I saw a stringing yellow bird in the scrubs. The jizz and colours were unlike any European warblers and I knew I was facing a yank. After a few very long minutes the bird emerged and the first Yellow Warbler for the Faroes was in the book. Soon the bird got very active and offered views beyond belief. This is only the third American warbler recorded on the Faroes following Tenneessee and Black-and-white Warbler back in the days. Now I look forward to the next one.

The following weekend the Faroese Ornithological Society arranged a tour to Suðuroy – the southernmost island of the archipelago. The female Steller´s Eider had returned to its wintering site in Sumba for the 7^th consecutive year. We also found two Ring-necked Ducks and an American Black Duck on the islands. But apart from that birds were few and far between.

Really bad and unstable weather made birding in October hard, but after some strong northerly winds I found a Hornemann´s Arctic Redpoll on the 13^th. It is probably a regular albeit scarce visitor to the Faroes if you look at the occurrence on Shetland for comparison. But this is only my second solid record with several birds being put into the ”maybe” bag by the Danish RC. There actually is only one accepted record of ssp. hornemanni on the Faroes before this.

Mid October saw the arrival of a few persistent eastern migrants including Barred Warbler, Yellow-browed Warblers and in Húsavík I found a Olive-backed Pipit. Only my third confirmed individual on the Faroes.

On the 19^th I took a hike to look for the returning male Snowy Owl that has been seen by herders for the last three consecutive autumn. This year it was first seen in late August. After a long hike I managed to find the bird. It showed amazingly well after I used more than an hour just approaching slowly. I even managed to collect some pellets, which I handed over to the Museum of Natural History, but they haven´t had time to look at them just yet.

On the 23^rd of October I visited Suðuroy again. In Fámjin I found the second (and my second self-found) White-crowned Sparrow. Still the only American sparrow-species recorded here.

Late October again showed some arrivals from the east including several Goldfinches, a Rook, Eurasian Sparrowhawk,a late Red-breasted Flycatcher on the 1^st of November and two Mistle Thrushes on the 2^nd.

Late November saw the arrival of several Tundra Bean Geese and Russian White-fronted Geese and at Toftavatn a total of 5 Ring-necked Ducks were present.

As December arrived we had strong northerly winds bringing down good numbers of Iceland and Glaucous Gulls. On the 8^th I got a photo from a man working off shore showing an adult Ivory Gull. I rushed to Suðuroy, where I got permission to go out with the boat close to the salmon farms. After 30 minutes the Ivory Gull showed amazingly well in the scarce light. What a beauty and what a gift before Christmas.

Late December saw snowfall that I haven´t seen since I was kid. Our cars were stuck for several day outside the house in the snow and the kids had a blast playing in the snow. Birding was very limited, but on the 30^th I almost spilled my morning coffee as a Rough-legged Buzzard flew past our window just 30 meters away being chased by corvids and gulls. I grabbed my camera and after 30 minutes of searching I relocated the bird and managed to document it by taking pictures. Quite a way of ending the year.

It is still cold now in early January and plenty of Iceland Gulls including a few Kumlien`s Gulls have arrived. Now it will be exciting to see what 2023 has to offer.

Silas

Autumn 2021

Nov11

Autumn has turned into winter and I have returned to Mongolia after spending a little more than a year back home on the Faroe Islands due to covid-19. If you wish to continue reading about my birding adventures you can go to my blog birdingmongolia.wordpress.com

But how was the autumn birding on the Faroe Islands? This I will blog about this time. I have never been able to spend as much time in the field as I have done this autumn since my wife and kids had already returned to Mongolia. But apart from myself I don’t think anyone went out birding on a regular basis in order to look for rarities and I have no knowledge of any visiting birders, who came this autumn to look for migrants either. So I pretty much had to cover the entire country myself – which obviously is impossible though some others did some sporadic birding of course.

While Iceland had stunning numbers of American warblers in early autumn, I only managed to find 3 Pectoral Sandpipers and a single Semipalmated Sandpiper from America. Some good American birds must have visited the islands, but I just didn’t manage to find any of them. If only there were more birders around.

The dominant wind direction during autumn was between northwest and southwest, with very few days of easterlies. This meant that the numbers of eastern vagrants were low – and the weather windy and unsettled. If we take the Yellow-browed Warblers as an example I see around 100-150 during autumn on average. This autumn I only found 15. So it is 10% or so from my normal numbers. In general numbers were just low and only once in late October we had a notable arrival of eastern birds – mostly Redwings and Blackbirds, but also Siberian Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps, a few Barred Warblers and a Citrine Wagtail. There was also a small arrival of three Little Egrets and a single Cattle Egret (third for the Faroes) in late October.

A juvenile Western Osprey arrived in October at Saksun, where is was really efficient in catching trout. It was still present in early November. Interesting to see if it attempt to winter of the Faroes.

Other rarities or scarcities during the autumn include the third Greenish Warbler for the Faroes, second Wilson’s Storm-petrel, Little Grebe, Blyth’s Reed Warbler, a few Rosy Starlings, three Ring-necked Ducks, Little Bunting and Little Stint, Common Coot and a few Hawfinches.

Wilsin´s Storm-petrel – second for the Faroes

Greenish Warbler – third record for the Faroes

My personal highlight was obviously the male Snowy Owl in mid October, which seems to return regularly to the area around Halgafelstindur.

All in all this autumn was much below average when it comes to numbers of birds present. Normally there come periods of continual easterly winds at least a few times each autumn, which fill the gardens with birds. This autumn did not have any such arrival except for the one incident in late October, which still was too little too late.

But still I met my personal target of finding two new national firsts a year (when I am home), as I found both Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler and Eurasian Stone-curlew in late spring. And adding Snowy Owl and Wilson’s Storm-petrel to the equation the result is pretty sweet.

Silas Olofson

The Snowy Owl and I

Oct16

To be honest I have anticipated this blog for many years now. The day had to come eventually. Even if it required a private plane to Point Barrow in Alaska at age 97 I´d do it.

The story started back in 1999 and developed from there. At first I was soaked up in self-pity, but after a while it became too tragic not to laugh at – the story of the Snowy Owl and I.

I started birding very early on. At age ten I was hooked and twitched my first Pale-bellied Brents in my hometown of Fuglafjørður. I read all the field guides about birds that I could get my hands on and one of the birds that stood out was the Snowy Owl. Big and white with staring yellow eyes. A dream bird for anyone to see.

I made my first attempt to twitch a Snowy Owl aged 15 in 1999. A bird had been present in northern Denmark for weeks. I got a ride with some twitchers and we hit the road. As we reached the area we scanned with the scopes and found a white spot on a pole far away. Too far to tell what it was. We drove closer but a thunder-shower hit us and when we reached the pole, there was no white thing on top. Further search proved fruitless.

The second attempt was of a bird in the Hansted Reserve in Denmark. Again I got to drive with some twitchers. We arrived, scanned the area for hours, but then started to do alternative birding. We didn´t see the owl, but when I got home I learned that it was seen 20 minutes after we left – mocked by a Gyr Falcon.

I went back to the Faroes in vacation in 2000. During the week I was gone two Snowy Owls were just 7 kilometers away from the school I was attending. They both left the day before I returned.

I really wanted to see Snowy Owls. So I went to Lapland with some other birders in 2001. We checked breeding sites way off the grid. We say plenty of awesome birds, but we didn´t see any Snowy Owls – they was apparently breeding at another mountain peak that year we were told by a ranger as we left.

In 2006 we hard our first daughter. When my wife went into labor we rushed to the hospital. As the birth got close I got a message about a Snowy Owl 30 minutes drive away. After careful consideration I remained at the hospital. The Snowy Owl only stayed for that one day…

At a family birthday on the Faroes in 2009 my brother in law and I talked about football. After a while he said: “Oh, by the way, did you hear of the Snowy Owl at Múli?”. He pulled out his phone and showed me pictures that a friend of his had taken just 10 minutes drive from my home. It had been present the entire previous day. I rushed out the door with permission from my wife – but didn´t see any Snowy Owl. It was gone.

Then I moved to Mongolia in 2018. But I didn´t find any Snowy Owls there – but got the Great Grey Owl. Due to covid-19 we came to the Faroes in August 2020. In September and November a Snowy Owl was seen on Eysturoy. I hiked and hiked in the remote area, but didn´t find anything. Then I got a call from people hunting Hares. They had seen a beautiful Snowy Owl sitting on a specific rock. I hiked to the place. I found the rock, I found its droppings. But no bird.

My oldest daughter and I – I stayed for her birth rather than twitching a Snowy Owl.

Yesterday I got a call from a shepherd. He had just seen a Snowy Owl close to the Halgafelstindur mountain. I jumped into the car with my oldest daughter. Blizzards, rain and long hiking distance didn´t keep us from going. We hiked, got soaked and pressed on. And then it was there. The white dot in the distance. The Snowy Owl.

We obtained good views from a distance and then I tried to get some photos. It turned out that the adult male Snowy Owl was very approachable and allowed me to get great views. What a stunning bird! Beyond words simply. This is only the 5^th record for the Faroes in 32 years!

I am still not quite sure if I was dreaming, but it seems like I´ve finally seen a Snowy Owl 22 years after my first attempt to see the species. I´d did see it. I really did. No need for Point Barrow now.

Silas

Prime time

Oct3

When writing the last blog post I was at sea. While being out Yann Kolbeinsson warned me of yanks to come as a very promising low pressure was approaching. And even before getting back from the trip yanks turned up in Iceland. Soon Iceland gained pace and booked six or so American Warblers and Scotland also got a fair share of Americans.

As soon as I got home I packed my bag and headed to Suðuroy. My wife and kids are already back in Mongolia, so I am quite a free bird when it comes to birding. Suðuroy is the southernmost island on the Faroese archipelago. It is rather isolated and birds from both east and west can reach the island without being blocked from any direction. The island also has a history of hosting American birds like Tennessee Warbler, Buff-bellied Pipit and Rough-legged Hawk just to mention a few.

I spent four days on the island and as American birds kept being reported from Iceland excitement grew. The prospects of finding something where certainly there. And I did find some good birds. Barred Warbler, Common Rosefinch, a beautiful adult Rosy Starling and good numbers of Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs and a few Lesser Whitethroats.

But the yanks avoided me. Then a question came to mind. Should I be disappointed? I actually used quite some time thinking about. A Danish birder and biologist called Morten D.D. Hansen said on a TV-show that birding is like chronic disappointment with a few highlights that make all the disappointment go away.

Well, in a way he is right. Most birders dream of a Black-throated Grey Warbler, Black-tailed Gull or Grey´s Grasshopper Warbler. Finding a mega or a new to WP would really be something. But this kind of result-oriented birding does in deed carry a lot of disappointment. Because, well, we rarely find one of those birds. It requires a lot of luck, patience and skills. It is easier to fuel your car in the UK than finding a new to WP – and that says something. But my birding on Suðuroy was awesome. It was pure excitement. Always the prospect of something cool. I really enjoyed the birding as I didn’t use a result-oriented but an experience-oriented approach. And frankly if birding on the Faroes this should be the approach – and doing it long enough will yield results as well!

And maybe I did find a yank after all. On the beach in Sandvik I had a small calidris together with Dunlins, Sanderlings and Common Ringed Plovers. I took a few distant photos to document the bird. But as I climbed down the hill towards the beach the flock took off and to my utter horror they headed out of the bay not to be seen again. The distant pictures seem to suggest Semipalmated Sandpiper…

After returning from Suðuroy I have done my normal birding on the Northern Islands and Eysturoy. On Svínoy I found a cracking Greenish Warbler, which showed amazingly well. It is the third record for the Faroes. I also found the first a few years back.

Svínoy also had an estimated 20 Tree Sparrows. It seems like the species is gaining a foothold on the Faroes after being gone for more than a century and re-establishing itself during the last years.

Other birds that I have found during the last few days include two Barred Warblers, Common Rosefinch, Eurasian and Blyth´s Reed Warbler, several Blackcaps, Garden Warblers and Lesser Whitethroats, good numbers of Brambling and Chaffinch, a few Chiffchaffs and several Willow Warblers.

Finally the first Yellow-browed Warbler was in Àrnafirði on the 1^st of October, five were on Svínoy on the 2^nd, and two on Viðareiði on the 3^rd. So a total of eight in three days. Not bad. Prime time for autumn birding has kicked in. Let us see what October has to offer.

Silas

Another pelagic trip

Sep22

In mid September I headed out with the long-liner Núpur to do by-catch research. As we reached fishing grounds the weather was nice and the sea was calm – perfect conditions when being at sea.

It always takes some time before the seabirds arrive in numbers. The fishing needs to start. But being on a fishing vessel is like a dream for anyone interested in pelagic birding. The fish are cleansed at sea, so liver and other intestines are being thrown overboard continuously. So basically the boat is ”chumming” 24/7. This attracts seabirds – lots of seabirds.

Up to 8000 and estimated fulmars followed the ships including several dark morph. The fulmars are by far the most common birds around any fishing vessel in Faroese waters and I expect that the explosion in the numbers of fulmars during the last 100 years is mainly due to ships like this one discarding loads of offal.

European Storm-petrels are also following the ship constantly. A day maximum on this trip was an estimated 1000 birds. And I counted over 200 at the same time. Most of the time they stay at a distance of 100 or more meters from the boat, but every now and then single birds gets closer.

With the amounts of European Storm-petrels around it is hard work to check them, but it does pay off. On the first day of fishing I found a Wilson´s Storm-petrel, which was close enough to document. And the following day I saw a Wilson´s Storm-petrel twice. It could of course be the same bird.

There is one accepted record of Wilson´s Storm-petrel from the Faroes. A bird that I found in August 2017 while being on a trawler.

Up to 15 Sooty Shearwaters have been around the boat. They are chased around by the fulmars, but their ability to dive for longer periods makes them able to eat sinking scraps, that are out of reach for fulmars (though they can dive too, but not nearly as well as the Sooty Shearwaters).

We started our trip at rather deep seas some 30 NM east of Fugloy fishing for Greenland Halibut. There we were lucky to have some Sei Whales around. One came as close as 300 meters from the boat. Quite an experience to get this close to the third-largest whale in the world. They were seen during several days and a few Mink Whales were also observed. And talking about whales… Just to make it clear I am against the hunt for White-sided Dolphins on the Faroe Islands.

As the days passed weather worsened and during the last four days we had wind speed reaching 40 m/s with huge waves. Fishing continued of course, but birding became more difficult. That being said I got some great opportunities photographing birds in the waves.

Birds seen during the trip with daily maximum mentioned:

Great Skua 7

Pomarine Skua 1

Long-tailed Skua 1

Arctic Skua 1

Herring Gull 1

Black-headed Gull 2

Northern Shoveler 2

Common Teal 1

Leach´s Storm-petrel 1

European Storm-petrel 1000

Wilson´s Storm-petrel 1

Sooty Shearwater 15

Manx Shearwater 1

Fulmar 8000

Meadow Pipit 2

White Wagtail 1

Northern Wheatear 1

Dunlin 2

Whimbrel 1

Guillemot 50

Puffin 7

Razorbill 30

Gannet 50

Kittiwake 15

Pink-footed Goose 27

Grey Heron 1

One evening I even got to see the green flash at sunset!

Silas

Early autumn kick-off

Sep8

September has started and the birding peak of the year is approaching fast. Passerines are moving south in large numbers. Species like White Wagtails and Meadow Pipits can now be seen and hear everywhere, Arctic Terns have mostly departed and Lesser Black-backed Gulls are much reduced in numbers.

August and early September are mostly quiet when it comes to rarer birds. The first Garden and Barred Warblers have been booked though. Willow and Wood Warblers have also been around. But stable, sunny weather did not produce any massive arrivals from the east so far.

A Mandarin Duck at Eiði was a slight surprise though.

Shorebirds are around in good numbers. Sanderlings, Dunlins, Common Redshanks and Knots are all moving south.

Two days ago the remnants of hurricane Ida hit the Faroes. And as I checked Viðareiði (8 minutes drive from home) I found a Pectoral Sandpiper.

So yesterday I decided to do more proper birding to the north and west. At Eiði I found another Pectoral Sandpiper along with all the common stuff.

At Sørvágur I also found a Pectoral Sandpiper. So three records in two days. That is quite remarkable since there were only 8 records before this. Now there are 11 records of which I have found 8 myself. Admittedly finding Pec Sands gets a bit trivial, but I do have to break the rules of the Gyr Crakes – ´cause otherwise I´d be out of pools.

But well, the autumn is still to peak. So maybe… just maybe… I might find the first American Golden Plover for the Faroes. After all I did find Eurasian Stone-curlew and Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler this year… so maybe.

Other news include a few lingering Rose-coloured Starlings making this years total to reach 15 birds. And the Ross´s Geese seen for a single day in spring where excepted by the Danish Rarities Committee and placed in the oh-so-lovely category D, which contains all birds that are either escapes or genuine vagrants. I guess we need one with a Canadian ring or an arrow from some Canadian First Generation tribe – like the famous Pfeilstorch. Google it – just for fun. This is how bird migration was detected!

Now let us see what autumn brings.

Silas

Pelagic birding

Aug26

From May to the start of July I spent about a month on long-line fishing vessels in Faroese waters. I were gathering data for the “Faroe Marine Research Institute” about by-catch. This work provided me with a unique opportunity to do pelagic birding.

The beginning of May was rather cold and windy, but the birding was awesome. Every day provided thousands of Fulmars, hundreds of Gannets and Great Skuas and occasional Manx Shearwaters and Arctic Skuas.

It was interesting to see how the different species fought over discarded scraps. The Gannets were able to dive down and catch fast-sinking items. They also used a trick were they came from below and gapped the food from the bills of the Fulmars.

The advantage of the Fulmars is the lack of fear. They get really close to the boat. Literally touching the site of it and just wait for the scraps to be flushed overboard. So they are pretty much always the first ones to catch the food. But they fight viciously over the scraps and if the food item is big enough other birds are often able to steal it.

The Great Skuas are some of the strongest birds out there. They use their strength to plunge into the mist of the Fulmars grapping the bites and then flying off. But they fear the Fulmars as they try to vomit on the Great Skuas. Seeing the Fulmars in defense mode was truly amazing.

A few oddities also turned up as both a Purple Sandpiper and a Barnacle Goose visited the ship.

My personal highlight was the passing of Pomarine Skuas. A few birds passed the boat every day. Nice adults in prime plumage with long tail-extension. On a single day I had 21 birds passing the boat giving supreme photo opportunities.

Pomarine Skuas are rarely recorded on the Faroes and I think this is the first time the species is actually photographed in Faroese waters. But the observations proved that the species migrates north in some numbers west of the Faroes (the same would likely be true east of the Faroes).

A single dark Lesser Black-backed Gull was likely a ssp. intermedius, which to my knowledge has never been confirmed on the Faroes.

A second trip started in June and ended early July. Fulmars, Great Skuas, Gannets were now joined by European Storm-petrels (ESP). In May I didn´t see a single Storm-petrel, but now I had totals up to 250 per hour passing the boat. In windy conditions they even came very close providing some great photo opportunities.

A single Leach´s Storm-petrel also passed the boat, but it was distant. I did get a crappy photo though.

A few Pomarine Skuas still passed the boat, but all were 3cy. Finally a few Long-tailed Skuas also passed the boat though they only hung around for seconds or minutes. All of them turned out to be 3cy-birds. Probably non-breeding birds roaming the seas.

The trip offered two genuine surprises. The first was a Greater Scaup passing the boat. Not an expected species off-shore.

The biggest surprise proved to be a Black Guillemot that passed the boat 40 nautical miles east of Fugloy, which is the easternmost island of the Faroes. It showed a very white underwing and the white patch on the inner part of the upper wing had white extending out of the outer wing making this a Black Guillemot of the subspecies mandtii from the arctic. Black stripes in the white wing-patch made me age it as a 1. summer. If accepted it will be the third Mandt´s Black Guillemot for the Faroes – and my second self-found.

Currently I am waiting for the phone to ring in order to head out again on another pelagic trip. Hopefully some nice rarities are out there waiting to be seen!

Silas

Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler

Jun22

Spring migration was much delayed due to the coldest May on record, but we have had significant late arrivals of migrants during the first two weeks on June. On the morning of the 8^th I found a skulky Marsh Warbler at Viðareiði along with several more common migrants. That was a promise of more to come so I went birding with 10 year old Elias Lützen, who had the day off from school.

We decided to check Millum Fjarða, where a Little Egret had been photographed. Sadly we didn´t see the egret, so we continued to Eiði. The first surprise was a presumed Glaucous x Herring Gull hybrid.

Singing Lesser Whitethroat, singing Icterine Warbler and several Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers were also nice. Elias was also very pleased with a summer plumage Slavonian Grebe on the lake.

We then continued to check the most remote gardens. As we arrived I saw a small warbler with purely white belly and brown upper parts. I reacted to it right away, and the colours just shouted ”rarity”. After a while I got reasonable photos, but I was not sure if I was looking at an Iduna or a Phyllo. The plumage was worn and bleached. I posted some pictures on my FB-wall and also got some great personal comments from Yann Kolbeinsson and Magnus Hellström.

The conclusion was that it was a Bonelli´s Warbler. I had heard some chirp-like calls that I thought came from the bushes, where bird was foraging – but I was not entirely sure. I had to drive back home, but the next day I retuned to try to record the call.

The bird was still present in the same garden, and just 5 minutes after arriving it started calling eagerly with a chirp-like call. I was able to record the call and Magnus made a sonogram of it. He also compared it to the Eastern Bonelli´s Warblers. His comment was this: ”Songram 1 is your bird, 2 is from Greece and 3 from Cyprus. A good match. The frequency and length is spot on, and note that the sound consists of two parallel notes, like a double backslash, like this: \\ ”

This is the first record of Eastern Bonelli´s Warbler for the Faroes. It is a true rarity with only two Shetland reords and two records from Sweden. I don´t know the situation in Denmark or Norway – but surely one of the rarest birds I have found on the Faroes. I was also lucky enough to find the first Western Bonelli´s Warbler for the Faroes a few years back in Kunoy. This will be the 27^th national first that I have found (or co-found).

On the way home I found a Black Redstart beside the road at Klaksvík. In is the 12th national record.

During the last few days Rosy Starlings have turned up in numbers. I´ve heard of 11 birds so far and I was lucky enough to see two at Viðareiði the other day.

Silas

Birdingfaroes

expect the unexpected

Autumn 2023 – first part.

Living the pelagic dream

Autumn and winter 2022

Autumn 2021

The Snowy Owl and I

Prime time

Another pelagic trip

Early autumn kick-off

Pelagic birding

Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler