3 days ago I came back home to the Faroes. And it is awesome to be back home (and by the way we’re here because my wife is pregnant and our third child is due to come in september).
The days before my arrival to the Faroes looked promising for migrants and Shetland got its fair share of Greenish Warblers during the last days.
I’ve been birding a little bit. Yesterday I went to Viðareiði, where I found some scarce birds including Common Swift and Icterine Warbler.
Other birds included several Willow Warblers2, Reed Warblers and two Gardens Warblers. I also checked Kunoy, but the best bird there was a Chiffchaff.
Today I went to Hvannasund, where I found two Garden Warblers before heading to Svínoy. There the birding was excellent with 2 Barred Warblers, 10+ Willow Warblers and Common Whitethroat.
But the days greatest surprise came when I found two Tree Sparrows. I observed them for a long time and saw one of the birds feeding the other bird all the time.
Furthermore the one bird looked like a juvenile based on the colours and extensive yellow base on the bill.
I think it is unlikely that these birds have arrived from another country. It is much more likely that we have had the first breeding pair of Tree Sparrow for 80 years? Tree Sparrow has possibly bred at Sumba during the 1960’s, but the Salomonsen states that they bred on the Faroes till 1933. No matter what it is very interesting.
Silas
Awesome you are back on the Faroese Silas. Can’t wait to get more updates. So exciting!
Hi Silas, love the blog and have followed for long time, for purely selfish reasons glad you are back on the Faroes! 😉 Are you permanently back or just temporarily?
Best Wishes
Justin (Norfolk Birder, UK)
I’m just here for the autumn. Will return to Turkey in november.
Great news you are back, I used to follow you all the time, kept checking your Blog often hoping you would return as it’s a great blog, more interesting because it’s far to the north of the UK, with the chance of some of the birds turning up down here, a way to monitor what’s around.
Dave B.
Kent.