Two-barred Crossbill (Atle Grimsby)General; coverage and weather:
Average temperature og 15.0degC, 1.4degC over the normal. Highest temperature was 21.7degC (3rd) and the lowest 9.8degC (23rd). Total rainfall was 152mm. The most rainfall in one day was 24.2mm on the 8th. Highest wind speed was 25.6m/s (10th). Low coverage and few seabird passage days resulted din only 87 different species in the month which is well under par for an August and significantly less than the previous year total of 108.

Raptors:
August is normally a good raptor month. A White-tailed Eagle appeared on the 16th following an absence in July, with two birds on the 31st. Kestrel and Sparrowhawk were noted from the 22nd and 24th respectively with maximums of 22 and 5 respectively on the 31st.

An Osprey on the 31st and a young dark phase Honey Buzzard on the 22nd were the months highlights.

Seabirds and waders (shorebirds):
The only day with strong winds (10th) resulted in 1200 Fulmar passing to the west along with the highest totals for Gannet and Great Skua with 80 and 38 individuals respectively. Arctic Skua was only noted with one individual at the breeding locality on the 3rd. Divers and shearwaters were absent for the whole month.

Of note amongst the waders was Spotted Redshank on three days between the 11th and 30th with a maximum of 2 on the 13th, Wood Sandpiper (9th), Little Stint (9th and 11th) and Curlew Sandpiper on the 30th. Otherwise a visit to Spannholmane on the 6th and 27th resulted in Purple Sandpiper, Turnstone and Sanderling. Golden plovers were not only seen i field:

ATM Street Art

Passerines:
Few arrivals in August. Up to 4 Barred Warbler between the 9th and 31st, including one resident at Tednevik between the 28th and 31st. Two-barred Crossbill observations indicated a new invasion with a maximum of 4 individuals on the 9th. Only one record of Common Rosefinch on the 8th.

Ringing:
There were two days of ringing in the Storm Petrel project, where 15 new birds were ringed, plus 14 days of ringing in Merkeskogen. A total of only 295 individuals of 30 species were ringed. The best day was the 30th with 45 birds ringed where Garden Warbler (17), Willow Warbler (14) and Meadow Pipit (2) were the notable species. Most notable August ringing records were a Barred Warbler, 2 Two-barred Crossbill, 1 Dunlin and 1 Common Sandpiper. Ringing totals are well under the previous year when in 16 days of ringing 676 individuals of 41 species were ringed. Last year’s ringing was also poor for an August which is normally a good month for ringing and early passage.

Year ticks:
Seven new species in August: Barred Warbler, Two-barred Crossbill on the 9th, Spotted Redshank on the 11th, Ruff on the 13th, Curlew Sandpiper on the 29th and Osprey on the 31st.

Rarities:
One has to look long down the list to find a candidate that falls in this category. Honey Buzzard on the 22nd and Osprey on the 31st were the 23rd and 49th records respectively.

Utsira were in the period visited by 7 streetart artist, and amoung them ATM Street Art made this nice Golden Plover:

ATM Street Art2

ATM facebook site you will find here

A nice video about the project can be found here