1st-15th June
The first days of June gave some well-earned outcome for the local birders working the island.
It started on the 1st with a singing Eurasian Golden Oriole in the north plantation (later re-found in a garden farther south), then a Red-rumped Swallow (Øystein B. Nilsen, Atle Grimsby, Geir Mobakken, Bjørn Ove Høyland) was on the wing in the main valley for a couple of hours (sixth record for the island) while other things of note were Peregrine Falcon and Eurasian Reed Warbler.
Next day a female-type flycatcher was found trapped in the ringing plantation at midday, and closer examination showed it to be a Collared Flycatcher (Øystein B. Nilsen, Geir Mobakken, Atle Grimsby, Bjørn Ove Høyland), Utsira´s first!
There are to date nine accepted Norwegian records of this species that breeds as close as Sweden, but none has involved females and so the Utsira bird is the first female to be documented in Norway.
Other birds this day of course paled to this big catch but included Bluethroat, Marsh Warbler, Icterine Warbler and Common Rosefinch.
A late Pink-footed Goose by Utsira standards was seen in company with the local Greylag Geese on the 4th. The following day a Greater Short-toed Lark (Geir Mobakken) was in the southwestern part of the island while a Red-backed Shrike was in the middle.
With a supply of people, the weekend of 5th–6th June was set for new discoveries: a European Bee-eater (Grimsby brothers et al.) was found on Sunday and later trapped, not purely by accident. When at the same time both Short-toed Lark and Collared Flycatcher were on offer, it turned out to be a jolly good day for the resident birdwatchers and visiting twitchers alike.
A trip to the tiny bird cliff of Spannholmane SW of Utsira on the 10th gave among other things 55 Common Murres.
In the days following the northerlies again did its most to put an end to the spring migration. A Black Redstart was hiding on the 10th, the same day as a Common Cuckoo was heard and a late White-tailed Eagle drifted by.
The Corn Crake, or crakes, is still present, sounding in safe tall grass the whole period. A Short-toed Lark (Gunnar Gundersen) was reported in the north on the 14th.
