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 30th.
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 31th 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 5th at Gásadalur. At least five Great spotted woodpeckers were also reported during the first weeks on September. On the 6th 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 9th and 12th September. More on that later.
From the 14th to the 27th I was on land. On the 16th 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 19th 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 3rd Mediterranean gull for the Faroes at Sumba. A nice juvenile. A female Steller`s eider had also returned for its 8th 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 23rd 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 3rd 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 27th I checked Gásadalur again. Within 30 mintes I finally managed to nail the mysterious bird first seen on the 23rd. And it did turn out to be a Common nightingale. Only the 3rd 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
Birdingfaroes 