This morning we said goodbye to Mads as he headed back to Denmark. Søren and I promised not to find any megas today and we kept our promise. After dropping Mads of at the ferry terminal we went to Sandvík. We didn’t relocate the possible northern harrier, but first Søren heard an accentor and later I saw it fouraging. There were still a few willow warblers, blackcaps and chiffchaffs around the village but nothing rarer.
Then we went to Hvalba, where Svenn and Willian joined us. Søren soon relocated the Pechora Pipit from yesterday that was fouraging in a garden alongside a tree pipit. The Pechora Pipit was incredibly confiding. As I was hiding befind a fence it was as close as 3 meters and I managed to get a few hundred pics of the cracking bird. It was simply awesome to see it stroll on the lawn and under the bushes – it caught both worms and different kinds of bugs. So it seemed healthy in deed – watch out Iceland, it may come your way (my guess is Papey)!
For a birder and a bird photographer like me is doens’t get much better. Perfect light, perfect bird, perfect pics. But what’s wrong with the pipits this year? The Olive-backed Pipit was so close to us that Søren couldn’t focus on the bird with his bins – he almost had to wear reading glasses as it was only one meter away. And the Pechora Pipit came as close as 3 meters or less for extended periods – when Søren used the telescope the head alone filled the whole picture. If only the siberian blue rufous-tailed ruby-throated golzii luscinia would behave the same!
After an hour or so we left the Pechora Pipit and checked the villages to the south. There were a handfull of warblers in every village and a song thrush in Famjin was quite a surprise – but as promised to Mads we didn’t find any new rarities today.
The weather forecast for the next few days does not look too promising, so we’re heading back to Klaksvík, where we have some possiblilities to watch ducks, shorebirds and stuff that is not too sensible to the weather. Hopefully something good is yet to come in october.
By the way Mads had some time at the Airport, so he checked Sørvágur and found a yellow-browed warbler! We’ll miss ya!
SiO
Birdingfaroes 