When you are spending most time birding along the outer coastline it is always very rewarding to do an altitudal climb. Only kilometers away from the open sea, the mountains of Bergen emerge. Some of them reach heights of 1000 meters above sea level.
This evening I drove to lake Osavatn, about 25 minutes from my home. Near the car-park a Dipper fed actively in the waterbed, and two Common Sandpipers called distantly. A nice warm-up. However, my goal was to find Dotterels at Austrerinden summit. Dotterels are typically found at the most elevated points, and the summit is at 800 m.a.s.l. (parking my car at 300 m.a.s.l.).
On lower elevations (from 300-600 meters) the highlight was a singing Ring Ouzel at about 400 m.a.s.l. Other species were a handful Willow Warblers, flyby Redpolls and Sisikins, a singing Dunnock, Cuckoo, Chaffinch, Tufted Duck, Blackbird, Meadow Pipits and a few Song Thrushes.
When reaching 700 m.a.s.l. Golden Plovers appeared. At least three different couples and three "single" birds were seen during the hike.
When I crossed a ridge near the summit, some Golden Plovers started calling. In between the calls I heard a more discrete "ply" that just had to be a Dotterel! After a few moments of scanning the slopes I finally saw a female a couple hundred meters away. Just like the Golden Plovers it was actively calling by now, and flapped its wings regularly. When The Golden Plovers lifted, the Dotterel did as well. With her was another individual, but I could not be sure of the sex. On my return I flushed them again, and they apparently flew back to the original spot.
Dotterels have not been found breeding in the Bergen mountains, but it would not surprise me if they do. However, they are usually found in small parties from mid May to mid June, and are thought to be birds stopping over.
Other birds observed near the summit were a calling male Ptarmigan, two feeding Barn Swallows, good numbers of Meadow Pipits, and 4-5 couples of Wheatears.
The spring has been cold in Bergen in 2015, and the snow melting is behind the normal at present. Still it was no problem walking in the mountains, but I suppose the breeding phenology for many of the alpine birds is delayed.
I chose the "shortest" and steepest way to the summit, and spent 90 minutes climbing to the top, with lots of stops scanning for birds.
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