Magic June at Røst

Our visits to Røst during June were limited to two rather short stays, but wow – they were rewarding! This spring and summer the island has been a national hot spot for rare vagrants from all corners of the hemisphere.

The greatest star was no doubt an adult Ross’ Gull (rosenmåke) in its best plumage. It settled for a couple of weeks in a colony of Black-headed Gulls (hettemåke), and seemed to take special interest in an immature individual.

In the same colony an adult Little Gull (dvergmåke) had also settled for the season – at times accompanied by a young (2.cy) bird.

One particularly overcast day seemed to produce a good number of shorebirds, and to our great surprise we discovered a Long-billed Dowitcher (langnebbekkasinsnipe) feeding with a flock of Black-tailed Godwits (svarthalespove).

Just hours later a Pectoral Sandpiper (alaskasnipe) showed up.

On our last trip late in June, a smart White-rumped Sandpiper (bonapartesnipe) was added to our list of American vaders.

Two male Mandarin Ducks (mandarinand) was hanging around for most of the month. 

A good number of songbirds was seen during June – here represented by a Wood Warbler (bøksanger).

At the end of the month, a beautiful Black-headed Yellow Wagtail (svarthodet gulerle) showed up for about a week. This is only the fourth Norwegian record of this subspecies that normally breeds in Southeast Europe.