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I went early out to our lighthouse this morning, to count birds for the Eigerøy bird-watching station, by myself for the first time.

I didn't get any new species for the year but there were some flocks of some nice species, like 10 northern gannets coming together.

I heard that many barnacle geese (Branta leucopsis) had been passing places nearby yesterday, on their migration. But it wasn't until I was about to go back after 4 hours today, that a flock of 48 of them passed over me as well.

It's so interesting that they probably are on their long way to Svalbard in the Arctic, where I have seen them nest.

This photo is from when they and other Arctic geese came on an unexpected visit in our neighbourhood in January. Today was the first time having them back in the municipality after that.

(Hvitkinngås in Norwegian)

Check out more photos of them in the links below the line!

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Whispers of Light or Dewlight or a kind of Grasslight Symphony.

💧 Dew & Light:
What Is Dew?
Dew forms when the temperature drops and the moisture in the air condenses onto cooler surfaces like grass. It's most common just after sunrise when the ground is still cool.

Light Refraction & Bokeh Magic
The sparkling dots in the background are caused by specular highlights—where the dew drops act as tiny lenses, catching and refracting sunlight. The hexagonal shapes suggest a lens with a 6-blade aperture, contributing to the beautiful bokeh.

Miniature Lenses
Dew drops behave like convex lenses. In close-up or macro photography, they can even invert or magnify the background within their tiny sphere—a natural optical trick.

Golden Angle Timing
Shooting just after sunrise, especially with low-angle light, enhances the sparkle and transparency of dew-covered grass. This is sometimes referred to as a “micro golden hour” in macro photography.

Dew and Ecology
For many small insects and plants, dew is a crucial source of water—especially in ecosystems where rain is scarce or irregular.

Today I heard and saw some lovely Eurasian blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla) for the first time this year.

This is a male on a visit outside our house, from the archive. (The female has a brown cap.)

They belong to the warbler family, and breed in most of Europe, western Asia and northwestern Africa.

They are partial migrant; birds from the colder areas of its range winter in northwestern Europe, around the Mediterranean and in tropical Africa.

(Munk hann (i sangerfamilien), in Norwegian)

My album of birds here.

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Un paysage de marée basse à L'Île-Grande, avec des barques colorées reposant sur la vasière, encadré par de hautes herbes et un ciel nuageux de Bretagne.

I've met groups of helmeted guineafowls (Numida meleagris) both in Kenya (like on this photo), and in South Africa.

They are so cool when they run in front of the safari jeeps or run across the road.

It is one of 8 guineafowl species, all of them endemic to Africa.

The helmeted guineafowls are mainly found south of the Sahara. But they have been widely introduced as a domesticated species as well, into the West Indies, North America, Colombia, Brazil, Australia and Europe.

(Hjelmperlehøne (1 av 8 perlehønearter i Afrika), in Norwegian)

Chec out more photos of them in the links below the line!

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A twite (Linaria flavirostris) from the archive.

In Norway, this species breeds mostly along the coast. It builds its nest as soon as it arrives at the breeding site. The nest is often placed directly on the ground. The eggs are laid in May.

It is a partially migratory species (many winter along our coast), found in northern Europe and across the Palearctic to China.

It mainly feeds on small seeds but occasionally also insects.

(Bergirisk in Norwegian)

My album of birds here.

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Finally I got some better photos of this Arctic goose species as well.

The tundra bean goose (Anser serrirostris) is one of the four Arctic goose species in the large flock of nearly 200 birds in our neighbourhood this week. They must have arrived here and along western and southern Norway now due to the bad weather in the countries where they use to winter.

The tundra bean goose breeds in tundra areas from Fennoscandia through northern Russia to the Pacific Ocean. In Norway, the species occurs mainly in Finnmark county, but a few pairs breed in Troms and on the Hardangervidda plateau.

Here, one of the two tundra bean geese we have here now are together with greater white-fronted geese (tundragås in Norwegian). I also have photos of them together with barnacle geese (hvitkinngås), which I haved shown on recent uploads, from their last visit. (The pink-footed geese also present kept more to themselves.)

Yesterday they all were close to the road, so I could lie down to get my first good photos of them this week.

It is only my second time seeing tundra bean geese. These two are the first for our county this year, and the second for the whole country!

My first time seeing them was on Jæren two years ago. Then they were 21 individuals, together with whooper swans (sangsvaner).

(Tundrasædgås in Norwegian)

Check out more phtoos of them in the links below the line!

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Since I showed two rare goose species yesterday, I can show the last that I have good photos of from our neighbourhood today - the pink-footed goose (Anser brachyrhynchus).

Today eight of them added to the large flock of geese in our neighbourhood now, but these photos are from the same spot in 2020.

This species breeds in eastern Greenland, Iceland, Svalbard, and recently Novaya Zemlya. It winters in Ireland, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and western Denmark.

(Kortnebbgås in Norwegian)

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A barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis) from the archive, on the same spot as all the geese that visit our neighbourhood right now - as I wrote in my first upload of the greater white-fronted geese today.

Back then, this was the only barnacle goose, together with two other species. Last night, there were 24 of them together with many more out of two other rare goose species here.

Tonight there were even more of them, but I haven't counted on the photos yet. The light and weather wasn't good for photography tonight either, but it's interesting to watch them and especially at this rare time of year.

The barnacle goose mainly breeds on Svalbard, Greenland and northwest Russia. Recently they also have established themselves in southern Norway close to where I live, and in the Baltic areas.

(Hvitkinngås in Norwegian)

My album of birds here.

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Last night we had an abnormally large and early flock of geese in our neighbourhood.

69 of them were greater white-fronted geese (Anser albifrons) like this one.
There are two subspecies of them in Norway during the migration periods (but five in the world).

This is the albifrons subspecies, called European or Russian white-fronted goose. It has a pink beak and breeds in western Russia. (The other subspecies called flavirostris has an orange beak and breeds in Greenland.)

They normally winter in western Europe, and must have come to us now from England. There were many of them on Jæren one hour away as well yesterday. It's most normal to see them here during the migration periods.

But it is more than four years since the last time we had this species on our island and municipality, so it's always interesting when it happens.

The other geese in the flock last night were 24 barnacle geese that are a little more normal to see here (hvitkinngås in Norwegian), and 2 tundra bean goose (tundrasædgås in Norwegian).
These two individuals were the first ones for our county Rogaland this year, and the second in Norway in 2025! And we haven't had them on our island in almost 6 years. Exciting!

This photos is from a little over four years ago, when we had two greater white-fronted geese of the same subspecies, on the very same spot as the ones last night.
I also photographed a flock of 104 up close in the air on Jæren nearly two years ago.

I hope the geese are here today as well, since it got too dark for photos last night.

(Tundragås, av den sibirske underarten albifrons, in Norwegian)

Check out my other photos of this species in the links below the line!

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State Representative Matt Gress speaking with attendees on the floor of the Arizona House of Representatives on opening day of the 57th legislature in Phoenix, Arizona.

Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere.

State Representative Matt Gress speaking with attendees on the floor of the Arizona House of Representatives on opening day of the 57th legislature in Phoenix, Arizona.

Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere.

State Representative Matt Gress and State Senator Brian Fernandez speaking on the floor of the Arizona State Senate at the Arizona State Capitol building in Phoenix, Arizona.

Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere.

State Representative Matt Gress and State Senator Brian Fernandez speaking on the floor of the Arizona State Senate at the Arizona State Capitol building in Phoenix, Arizona.

Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere.

State Senator Hildy Angius, State Representative Matt Gress and State Senator David Gowan speaking on the floor of the Arizona State Senate at the Arizona State Capitol building in Phoenix, Arizona.

Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere.

State Representatives Lupe Diaz, James Taylor, Gail Griffin, Khyl Powell, Steve Montenegro, Michael Carbone, Chris Lopez, Michael Way, Julie Willoughby, Matt Gress, Pamela Carter, Walter Blackman, Selina Bliss, Quang Nguyen and Nick Kupper speaking with the media at a press conference hosted by Republican House Leadership at the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix, Arizona.

Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere.

A European robin (Erithacus rubecula) in the first snow last week.

(Rødstrupe in Norwegian)

My album of birds here.

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I'll continue my morning gull uploads with my favourite medium sized gull - the lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus).

We have a colony of them close to our house. I counted at least 70 individuals in the colony this summer. They stay here from mid-March to mid-August.

Compared to other gull species, it is extra exciting to meet a ringed lesser black-backed gull and register it, like this one.

They have often been to several countries, and there are often many years between each time they are seen. They often spend their first years in southern Europe, before we see them back here in Norway many years later.

They spend the winters all the way from the British Isles south to West Africa. They have also increased in North America, especially along the east coast.

I found 7 ringed lesser black-backed gulls this spring. 6 in our neighbourhood and this one in the town of Stavanger.

It is called J663V and was ringed as a chick over 6.5 years earlier in the same town. It was registered almost 1.5 years later in Malaga in Spain before it was back again where it was ringed in Stavanger almost 5.5 years later.

(Sildemåke in Norwegian)

Check out some more photos of it in the links below the line!

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From my first encounter with the common firecrest (Regulus ignicapilla), on a walk in an arboretum on Jæren on the day we Norwegians call Little Christmas Eve, in 2020.

We were afraid to get closer since it's a rare bird here, and the light was bad as well, so this was the best I got back then.

But- today we got to see it for the second time, up close! One of the members in our local BirdLife group got it in the bird ringing net in his garden. It was only the 3rd registered firecrest in history in our municipality.

When I get the time, I will edit the photos I got of it today in front of some small beautiful autumn coloured leaves.

The common firecrest breeds in most of temperate Europe including Denmark and Sweden, and northwestern Africa.

We also had a nesting couple in Norway in 2019. But here the goldcrests (fuglekonger in Norwegian) are the common ones in this family of birds.

(Rødtoppfuglekonge in Norwegian)

My album of birds here.

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