May 27th and 28th

The winter does not seem to want to resign this year, and a cold wind is still making birding a cold experience. But now the migrants have really started to come, and new species are coming up to this still frozen place.

At least two different Iceland Gulls (Grønlandsmåke) are staying in the area, even though the one in these photos made me think of a possinble hybrid with Glaucous Gull (Polarmåke) due to its heavy bill and the fact that when it moves its head while sitting, it sometimes looks more like a Glaucous than an Iceland. But long wing-projection, a large eye and red legs tell me that this is "just" an Iceland Gull.

The numbers of geese in the valley have increased over the last few days, and by now there have to be thousands around. The Pink-footed Geese (Kortnebbgås) were the first to come in numbers, but also the Barnacle Geese (Hvitkinngås) are now here in large numbers.

I was also pleased when I got to see this years first Brent Geese (Ringgås) These geees that are just a bit bigger than a Common Eider (Ærfugl) are really birds with an attitude, and fights between the males are frequent. And all the time they are feeding you can hear theire grunts, unlike any other sound from any goose that I know of.

And finally the Red-throated Diver arrived. I have been waiting for it for some days, and suddenly one was lying in shallow water in the delta.

I will come back with more on the latest arrivals in a later post, and then hopefully with some pictures to show you as well.