Peak week at Utsira

by Ann Elisabeth Laksfoss Cardozo, Associate Professor, University of Stavanger

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As a relatively new member of the Norwegian Ornithological Society/Birdlife Norway, I wanted to check out the birds and birders on Utsira, Norway, in early October 2021. After reading source texts about birds on Utsira and having heard about James Lawrence Chaworth-Musters (1901-1948) who found rare species on Fair Isle and therefore hypothesised that the same could be found on Ustira, a trip to the island became almost like a pilgrimage. Would I too be able to experience a Yellow-browed Warbler in the flesh? Before I set off, I wondered a bit about how should find birders there. Perhaps I would end up roaming around alone? What if I saw neither birds nor people? And would it be too rough and ready … and just terrible weather? So, I contacted bird-ringer Truls W. Andersen at the ringing station and he wrote a very welcoming message back and told me to get a place to stay overnight. I chose the Sildaloftet bed and breakfast because it was large, and social as a result of people needing to share bathroom, kitched and sitting room. Then I checked the programme on the net and saw that from Thursday 7th October there were meetings every evening. The forecast was for heavy wind from the afternoon of 7th October, so I chose to take the boat from Haugesund at 11am to avoid it. It was a lovely trip over.

On the boat over, I met birders with binoculars hanging round their necks and camouflage clothes on. I had met one of them before on a Birdlife Norway tour in Jæren. He checked my knowledge of birds by pointing at an Eider Duck that was in the middle of moulting its feathers and I failed to identify it. However, I did not lose courage because of that, and told him I wanted to see Gannets, so he tipped me off whenever he saw them. That was kind of him. They were high in the sky and, even with binoculars, I found it hard to see that they really were Gannets, but I was certain that I would see them at Utsira. We saw two Razorbills on the water right beside Vibrandsøy, and I learned that Corn Crakes had nested there. They are now in sharp decline, probably due to changes in agriculture.

There was also a very pleasant group of birders from the Odda area on the boat; two sisters and four men. They complained that there were so few birds round Odda, and they had only seen five different species on the previous birding tour. But, they were regulars on Utsira and arrived clad in camouflage with long camera lenses. Along with these, the shop Natur og Fritid was represented by Jonas Langbråten from Lista bird-station. This boded well.

At the quayside at Utsira, I collected a bike that I had rented. I climbed aboard and set off into a headwind towards the Joker shop and Sildaloftet. After dropping off my baggage, I went up the bird-station and ringing woods. Truls and another bird-ringer were there and I got to accompany them on their rounds as they took birds out of the nets. They ringed Goldcrests, a Eurasian Blackcap, a Song Thrush and a Redstart. They also ringed two Chiffchaffs, one of which was a ‘tristis’, meaning that it came from the east (Siberia). Truls explained the difference and held both birds up at the same time so that I could study them. I would never have managed to see the difference between them in the field, but could see close up that there was a tiny difference in colour and size between them. Later I also got to see a Little Bunting there. They worked full on with a pot-pourri of birdsong to attract several different birds to them. Preferably something sensational. One of the songs was that of the White’s Thrush. It was certainly a wild dream for many to see one of these at Utsira. The bird is certainly recorded in October along the Norwegian coast, but it normally migrates to southeast Asia, according to bird-ringer Renate Berg and Store Norske Leksikon (SNL).

Truls helped me to install the Band app ‘red alert for Utsira’ on my phone and I was ready to go. I received notifications and checked where they were. It is almost impossible to be on Utsira in ‘peak week’ without the Band app. When something interesting is posted, it quickly led to 40-50 menn and perhaps 2 women turning up at a garde, at Herberg, at the rubbish heap in the east (near the windmills), at the football pitch or in a garden near the shop where an Eastern Yellow Wagtail could be found. The advantage with Utsira is that it is a limited area because it is an island.

Some drive cars, others walk or cycle. My first notification that I checked out was a Red-flanked Bluetail. while this little bird sat on a fence with its tail folded up, it was really not easy to see that it was a Bluetail. It was explained to me that this was a young bird. When it flew off, it opened up its tail which was easily seen to be blue.

On the Friday morning, I asked if I could accompany ornithologist Kjetil Johannessen from Vestfold, who is the best in Norway at identifying birds by their song according to Truls. We drove around the island and he explained about and showed me some really good hedges and spots where you can often see many birds. He also told me about his main task which had to do with Eurasian Blackcaps and how some Magpies followed him so they could take the eggs from the nests he was mapping. Several other biologists in his time were supposed to have given up their studies in outright frustrations at this type of predation. Kjetil was the first to hear the Bluetail on 7th October on Utsira, near the stone barn. Everyone who was there at that time got to see the bird. It sat on a fence or in the bushes beside a red house near a stone barn (at the crossroads on the road up to the lighthouse).

With my expectations, I thought it was just as good to see a Yellow-browed Warbler. There were certainly several in the area, and the Horned Larks at Svartjordet were also totally amazing, being both well camouflaged and colourful simultaneously. In addition, they were quite considerate when it came to letting themselves be photographed. It was also fantastic to sit in the lee of the storm-hut out on a headland. At that point, I got to see ten Gannets which were gliding with the wind high up in the sky. They were scouting and descended. Always on the lookout for fish. As I was not too busy, I waited to see them dive. They folded their wings into their bodies and dived like torpedoes. I noticed the lovely, large, stiff wings with black points on their tips and their yellow heads. Imagine a Pelican in our waters! In the afternoon, I read the chapter on Gannets in The Seabird’s Cry: The Lives and Loves of Puffins, Gannets and Other Ocean Voyagers by Adam Nicolson (2018). Someone said that Gannets are actually quite uncommon as nesting birds in Norway, first being recorded at Runde in 1946, but according to SNL they are restricted to just a few areas.

On my way round the island on the culture trail to the west, I saw a Yellowhammer. It suddenly landed a couple of metres in front of me, and I had the chance to study it through my binoculars for several minutes. I was not one hundred percent certain that was what I had seen, but when the logs were recorded, another birder had heard a Yellowhammer near the lighthouse. And I had seen a bird below the lighthouse that was just about identical to a female Yellowhammer, according to Gyldendal’s bird guide, so that might well be true.

On the way from the culture trail, I suddenly noticed a raptor hunting another bird. I do not know enough about raptors, because I have mainly seen Sea Eagles. But, according to the logs, it was probably a Peregrine Falcon. And when I saw a hunting Peregrine Falcon at Revtangen a few days later (also confirmed by another birder), I concluded that I had now expanded my repertoire. I also saw three Crows, two of which were totally normal Hooded Crows, while the third was all black. I had never seen that before. If I had not seen it with the other two, I would have thought it was a Jackdaw. But they were the same size, and it was just that one was wholly black. As a black Crow was recorded that same evening, it is probable that I saw it.

Kjetil told me, by the way, that, one year when they were recording sightings, one person tried to claim to have seen two House Sparrows. This was voted down as highly improbable, because there was only one House Sparrow on the island. This story tells us a little about the limits on recording and which sightings are considered to be probable. There were a lot of estimates made while recording. 500 Starlings? More or fewer than yesterday? 2 Pink-footed Geese? I saw the Pink-footed Geese, and on top of those Little Buntings, Bramblings, Greenfinches, a Common Linnet, a Woodcock, several Ravens, 16 Eider Ducks (most in their winter feathers), some Chaffinches, 7 Siskins, White Wagtails, many Starlings, Redwings, lots of Cormorants, 2 Snipes (which I flushed out unexpectedly at Måkeskitsmyra out towards Pedleneset), quite a few Blackbirds, several Wrens, some Robins, a Swallow, one Red-breasted Flycatcher and a Spotted Flycatcher, severall Goldfinches, Northern Wheatears and Herons. I have finally understood just how large the sparrow family is. Naturally, I saw a lot of gulls, but don’t ask me what types they were! For the time being, I am only certain about Black-backed Gulls and Black-headed Gulls, even after several Gull evenings at Mostun with Øyvind Gjerde. Rosefinches, Radde’s Warblers, Dunnocks, Snow Buntings, Common Redpolls and Australasian Pipits were seen by others at Utsira while I was there.

It was also strange thinking about what I did not see. Not a single Magpie, no Blue Tits and Great Tits, no House Sparrows and no Tree Sparrows.

On a boat back from Utsira that was full to the gunwales with birders, we saw Gannets, Guillemots, a flock of what might have been Puffins (birders from Bergen thought so) and three pods of dolphins, which none of the birders could identify. But pictures were taken and someone suggested they were White-sided Dolphins. They were definitely not Porpoises though.

Conclusion: Utsira is a fantastic place to see birds and the peak week was an experience worth repeating. Many lovely and knowledgeable birders gathered together, which meant this 2K-en (a term used in Norwegian to describe a two-year old bird), as two birders from Østlandet called me because I began birdwatching two years ago, benefited hugely from the trip, both in terms of number of new birds spotted, and also in understanding a bit more of the birder’s world. From a demographic perspective, the event was dominated by older men, but there a few younger people, including families with children. And, when all is said and done, there is something fascinating about older people with several decades of experience, especially when they take the time to share that experience.

So, was the weather totally horrible? Not at all. There were two days with heavy rain (luckily Sildaloftet had a shoe drying rack), the Saturday was cloudy and the Sunday was beautiful weather with sun and almost no wind. It was not cold either.

So now I have become a member of Utsira bird station, and have bought a cap with a Yellow-browed Warbler on. And I am familiar with several more varieties of bird, even if I do like the normal types best of all.