Late November means winter mode. On bright days there are about four hours of decent light to do with from 10:00 til 14:00 and on dark cloudy days there is almost non. But hey, in less than a month days will become longer…
We have had the first snow of season, but currently only the mountain tops are dressed in white. But there are still birds around.
Already in October Iceland Gulls and Glaucous Gulls arrived in numbers. Normally the numbers of Iceland Gulls peak in February, but this autumn and winter has produced several hundred individuals already. So there might be a winter of gulling ahead of us. Among the nominate Iceland Gulls a few Kumlien´s Gulls have also showed up. It would be nice to get a new invasion of these wonderful gulls this winter.
But there are also other birds around. On the 15th I found a Goldfinch at Tórshavn. A nice and bright indivudial that gave good views.
On the 19th I found a flock of five Ring-necked Ducks at Toftavatn. This is the second time that suck a large flock has been spotted on the Faroes. Luckily I managed to get the all in one frame.
On the 24th I went birding with Janus Hansen, his wife Agnes and Jórun at Viðareiði. There we found two Taiga Bean Geese. It is the 5th record of Taiga Bean Geese, which are much rarer than the Tundra Bean Geese, which are almost annual visitors now.
With Glossy Ibis in Shetland, Dark-eyed Junco and two Ivory Gulls in Iceland it does look like the winter might have more to offer… If only the days were longer and brighter…
Silas
Birdingfaroes 