Went south for the first time in ages to check out a good spot for migration watching. The amount of passerines was absurd. When we arrived, the finches and pipits went by in a steady flow of probably thousands per minute. Also a couple of late Sanderlings and some Merlins.
Couldn't resist a bit of mushroom hunting among the low dense pines along the beach, but came up only with Jersey cow mushrooms (Suillus bovinus), a mushroom of very uninspiring texture. A more interesting find was the occasional Rosy spike-cap (Gomphidius roseus), a smallish pink gilled mushroom that is exclusively found with, and assumed to be parasitic on, S. bovinus.
At the next spot we got to watch several Hen Harriers, some Buzzards and a couple of Kestrels. Also found a nice Suillus luteus (apparrently known as sticky bun or slippery jack) and some decent Birch boletes.
Next we went to good old Munkagårdsfloen, where we saw a couple of Grey Partridges for a moment before they hid in the long grass. Two red kites, a young Peregrin Falcon trying to catch a small wading bird of some sort and a very nice male Hen harrier.
Last stop was Getterön as usual, for a brief rest and blueberry muffin. We got to witness a rather remarkable incident there; a White-tailed Eagle attacked and killed a Barnacle Goose, apparently by drowning it. Afterwards it tried for some time to fly away with its catch, but the Goose was to heavy and probably soaked which didn't exactly help...
No life ticks this time, but that's not the only purpose of bird watching. Added nicely to year and september lists though :)
Took a friend mushroom hunting in Änggårdsbergen nature reserve on saturday. We found quite a lot of Golden Chanterelle, Yellowfoot and Terracotta Hedgehog.
'But this is a bird blog?' the orderly thinks.
Yes, well, Änggårdsbergen is a classical spot for migrating Two-barred Crossbills since the area also holds the botanical gardens' arboretum with several species of Larch. After a brief stop for coffee and biscuits we headed downhill again and heard a large flock of crossbills more or less circling the area.
Most of them sounded like Common Crossbill, but there was also the occasional tweeting sound, typical for Two-barred Crossbill, and like I've said before; by Swedish rules, identification by sound is as good as visual contact and in this case means life tick 280 :)
Yellowfoot (Cantharellus tubaeformis) laid out to dry.
Spent the sunday at Kråkudden with J and D. Strong winds from SW for almost a week meant hopes were up, but since the winds weren't very strong when we got there, the amounts of observed birds was in no way astonishing.
The highlight of the day was one of the first birds we spotted and one of the more embarrassing blanks in my lifers list, the Atlantic Puffin. Extinct in Sweden since some time in the 80's it's now only rarely seen and almost only during migration and such.
I left the camera at home to spare it from the salt and moisture and as a result we had both Gannet and Kittiwake well within photo range and almost perfect light conditons :)
Another nice episode happened on the way to the shelter, when a male Pheasant sauntered along the path some thirty meters ahead of us and then went to stand and mope in the higher grass as we wandered past.
Nuthatch (Sitta europaea). This nuthatch sat very still on my balcony bird feeder, looking a bit dazed
so I guess it had crashed into a window or something. It didn't react much even when I dug out the camera,
changed lens, went and found a working battery and opened the balcony door. I then shot about 100 frames
of it at close to minimum range before it managed to regroup and fly away.
Monday, August 24, 2009 - Oh my, it has been so long...
I've been doing other stuff than birding a lot this year. Unemployment is full time activity, really :)
As you can derive from the tick list in the right column, reaching 300 lifers this year will probably be impossible unless 22 rare and semi rare birds decide to visit the Gothenburg area this autumn.
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)
House Martins (Delichon urbicum)
Hopefully, autumn will bring a bit more birding and also more blog entries. Until then, get out there and watch! :)
Due to my managing to keep the same substitute job for three straight months there hasn't been much room for birdwatching and even less for blogging this year.
Only three lifers so far, but that's only what to expect considering the torrent of ticks over the past two or so years. The year tick count on the other hand is at 102 which is rather high seeing as I'm only half trying.
Hopefully, my recent return to unemployment means a little more time for birds, but pressing matters such as upcoming ornithological society AGM:s and whatnot will put a lid on excessive field hours :)
Another period of silence, but this time with somewhat good reason. There simply hasn't been a lot of birding going on. One could argue, however, that since I've gotten two lifers since last time, I should have reason enough. Possibly so, yes...
Anyway, the main event of my birding November so far is of course the Isabelline Shrike. It's very strange when such a rare bird is totally fearless. Takes away the sport a bit, I think. I was never closer than 8-10 meters on purpose, but people were litteraly sticking their lenses up its beak. Lovely bird, lovely day and also a nice bonus in the shape of a recuperating Sabine's Gull at really decent distance.
The storm-petrel is hardly worth mentioning in the same blog. Strong winds, rain and an awful lot of distance. Nice observations of Great Skua, White-billed Diver and Gyr Falcon made the day.
Apart from the volunteering in Padjelanta and a few days teacher subbing, I have been unemployed since early June which is taking its toll on for example enthusiasm for blogging and editing pictures.
Here are a selection of pictures, spanning in time from september 23 or something, to october 19.
Eagle-Owl (Bubo bubo)
An Eagle-Owl had taken refuge in a tree near Smithska Udden and patiently waited out Crows, Magpies, Jays and birders.
Jay (Garrulus glandiarus)
Willow Tit (Poecile montanus )
Willow Tits are quite rare at Smithska udden and not too easily seen in southern Sweden in general.
Great Tit (Parus major)
October 4th was World Birdwatch Day. In Sweden, october 4 is also the Cinnamon Swirl Day. Gothenburg Ornithological Society, where I am board secretary, held an event combining these both days, so I took a picture of two birds and a cinnamon swirl for the promotion material.
Nuthatch (Sitta europaea)
Also, since last entry I've gotten three lifers; Snow Bunting and Little Auk at Kråkudden and Sooty Shearwater (four individuals during the day) at Morup, Halland.
A nice duo of lifers collected on Rörö yesterday. Also had four species of falcon, Short-eared Owl, at Hönö Collared Dove, and at Torslandaviken Little Stint, 19 Grey Herons flying simultaneously and nice weather :) More and pics later today.
This Phalarope and its mate were found in a small pool near Staloluokta June 14. The evening before we saw at least 40 at long distance congregating in the middle of lake Virihaure. A week later we found the male in the same pool and after a bit of searching also a nest with four eggs. A couple of days later the nest was empty but for some shell fragments. Probably Red Fox, Hooded Crow or Long-tailed Skua had found the nest. Since the population of Norway Lemming crashed earlier in the spring these species relied heavily on egg stealing for survival.
C ringing a Crow (Corvus corone cornix), Staloluokta 2008-06-15
Perhaps posting the stuff from my summer trip as soon as I get it ready is the way to go. Here's a couple of new items.
A singing Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla) outside Jokkmokk. Filmed with digital compact camera through handheld binocular.
Singing Ring Ouzel (Turdus torquatus) near Staloluokta, Padjelanta
Staloluokta is the name of the Sami village where we had our base camp. The Ring Ouzels could be heard singing high up on the mountainside from there. The clip shown here was shot during our first day of surveying the birch forest.
Not exactly a lot of blogging lately. Lots of stuff in need of being done, but also quite a lot of birding going unmentioned. Lifers since last post: Sabine's Gull at Kråkudden, September 3. Spotted migrating south at 2 kilometers distance or so. I would probably have missed it or taken it for a Little Gull if I was there alone. Also, finally, Hen Harrier at Brudarebacken. A beautiful adult male, less than a hundred yards away, going past us fairly slowly.
And here's while waiting for more; a first picture from the Padjelanta trip. This particular photograph taken just outside Jokkmokk town.
Morning at Brudarebacken. Nice weather but a bit more wind early on would have chased the mosquitoes off... The Ortolan Bunting (Life tick 257) was the peak of the early morning action but later to mid-morning we had for example some Honey Buzzards, a Merlin and perhaps as many as 13 Nutcrackers, 7 of which in one flock. Also a nice Osprey with fish.
Less than a week after the Balearic Shearwater, an Aquatic Warbler was found at Stora Amundön in the southern parts of town. Equal to the Balearic in terms of rarity - 26th find in Sweden or so - it was also the first in the county and uncommon in other ways since most of the previous finds were either ringed or found dead.
This bird was discovered around 9 in the morning, but we didn't go there until 4 in the afternoon, since E was at work and many warblers are more active in the evening anyway. When we arrived at the scene it hadn't been seen since the discovery, and so it had to be flogged from the reeds to be seen at all. By then there were probably a hundred bird watchers there.
Trampling through the reed proved a successful move and suddenly the warbler was found again and zoomed about from time to time, at one time perching in a small oak. A very nice tick! Pity I hadn't had dinner before leaving home and also a bit boring that photographing the warbler was impossible without getting mud in your shoes, so I took pictures of the local House Sparrows instead :)
On Monday I life ticked Manx Shearwater and today saw another one and also life ticked Balearic Shearwater. If we'd stayed at Kråkudden for another fifteen minutes, I could have life ticked Sooty Shearwater and two hours later came a Cory's Shearwater. Good day for shearwaters to say the least.
Would seem I can't really muster the energy to sort through the vast amount of pictures from Padjelanta. So many other things to do... But I will get there eventually...
Saw an Eagle-Owl today. My second ever and a Gothenburg tick :)
Not much activity from my part here lately... I'm almost done with sorting through and editing the padjelanta pictures. A proper post is probably not more than a day away. Jackdaw (Corvus monedula)
Finally home again (arrived on the 2nd). Had no time to update in between trips, so here's a little something about the trip to Skåne (Scania). It will be mostly pictures I think...
Day 1 (June 6)
The first field day of the trip resulted in five life ticks (White Stork, Woodlark, Kingfisher, Golden Eagle and Corn Bunting) and additional year ticks (Black Tern, Honey Buzzard).
Woodlark (Lullula arborea)
Red Kite (Milvus milvus)
Corn Bunting (Miliaria calandra)
The fairly odd assembly of lifers is in my opinion a quite good indication on how large the biotope diversity in Skåne is.
Day 2 (June 7)
We had no Golden Orioles the first day, which was well made up for day two with perhaps as many as seven singing at the same time and at least three flying over. No lifers this day but year ticks of Barred Warbler, Wryneck and Firecrest. Also life-second ticks of the afforementioned plus Tawny Pipit and Serin.
Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio)
Common Lizard (Zootoca vivipara)
Serin (Serinus serinus) Singing male
Black redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros) male
Black redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros) female
The above Black Redstarts were found among some high buildings near the harbour in Åhus, where we went on an evening stroll from our hostel. The following morning I also found two juveniles in a nook on one of the buildings.
Day 3 (June 8)
Last day of the trip. No year ticks but life tick of Hobby. On our way home we stopped at a spot for a very long time to look for Red-breasted Flycatcher without success, which resulted in a tired busdriver declining to stop by Galtabäck for a Little Egret.
White Stork (Ciconia ciconia)
Blue-headed Wagtail (Motacilla flava flava)
Four-spotted Chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata)
Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)
Soon there will be a post about the trip to Padjelanta. I got six lifers up there :)
Monday the 26th of May we went to Getterön and successfully ticked White-winged Tern with a bit of difficulty owing to distance. We also saw a fox trotting past a group of cranes in the shallow parts.
Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes)
Thursday the 29th we went out in the evening to listen for Nightjar. Not only did we hear at least two, we saw one of them sitting in a birch and then quickly and silently flying very near us before vanishing in the dark. A Blyth's Reed Warbler was reported about a half hour drive away, but we decided to skip it since it was quite late.
The morning of the 31st was spent looking for Common Rosefinch in Oxhagen (same spot as last year). Apart from six rosefinches (at least two of which were in complete breeding plumage) we had for example Whinchat, Kestrel, Marsh Warbler and Sedge Warbler. I spent the rest of the day photographing this and that, mainly the Blue Tits nesting in a vent on my house.
Hoverfly (No idea what species or even subfamily. ID help appreciated)
Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus)
We started the June list in Halland with a total of about 80 year month ticks. Year ticked Little Gull and Curlew Sandpiper and saw my first Grey Plovers in full breeding plumage. I've only seen intermediates and juveniles before.
Tomorrow I'm leaving on a four day birding trip to Skåne (Scania). After that I'm only home for less than two days before going to Padjelanta National Park up north to help surveying the populations of Rough-legged Buzzard, Merlin and Snowy Owl for three weeks. It will truly be an adventure since we have to go the last leg of the trip by helicopter. No power, no phone and of course no internet, so if I can't find time to update sometime sunday-monday, the blog will be inactive for almost a month.
I meant to post a summary of this week's birding today, but I didn't get around to it and now I have to go to bed because we're starting out for Halland at 4:30. I will post a proper post when I get home tomorrow. Have a Blue Tit on the house while you wait :)
As I've mentioned before, I spent May 22-25 on Öland taking part in a course about how to recruit and work with volunteers for the purpose of promoting bird conservation and getting more members for the Swedish Ornithological Society. With me were society members from all over the country and also two gentlemen from the RSPB. Of course there was also plenty of time for birdwatching.
I started out early, spending four hours on the train to Kalmar and then another two hours in Kalmar waiting for people arriving with the next train before going onward to Öland and the birds :) If we had gotten there earlier and hitched a ride down to the observatory I could have life ticked a Nightjar, sleeping in a tree in the lighthouse garden.
A walk in the woods south of the hostel generated only one year tick, but one quite hard to find at home, Collared Flycatcher. By the coast east of the forest we also got Sanderling. Supposedly there were Broad-billed Sandpipers there as well, but we couldn't distinguish them properly from the Dunlins.
Fallow Deer (Dama dama) Feral herd, introduced in the 16th century.
Back at the hostel I got another year tick, and well deserved it was. My first Bluethroat since 1997!
Bluethroat (Luscinia svecia)
The next morning almost all of the participants were set on Golden Oriole. After a while I decided to go down to the observatory area to meet up with an old birding friend. Twenty minutes of brisk walk later I found two men with parabolic microphones who pointed and whispered 'Oriole'. I walked on more cautiously and managed to hear the distinct song a bit down the road. First life tick of the trip! (As mentioned elsewhere in the blog, according to swedish rules, identifying a bird by the sounds it makes also counts as a tick, even for example the sound of a fleeing Capercaillie). My sound recording below actually has the song of two Golden Orioles, but they are perching rather close to each other.
Golden Oriole (Oriolus oriolus)
Further south I year ticked Red-breasted Flycatcher and Brent Goose and down by the observatory Red-necked Phalarope. During lunch break I also year ticked Common Rosefinch and Little Stint. Later in the evening I year ticked Marsh Warbler near the hostel. Reasonable catch for a single day nowadays.
Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa striata) They were all over the place! Swarms!
Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella)
The third day started very early with going to the observatory and lighthouse area in search for the Kentish Plover resident since late April, but instead of heat shimmer being the problem like the day before, this time he was seen further north east and only at a great distance, but when we arrived to the tower by the reported spot he had just flown away again. Year ticks that morning: Grey Plover and Red Knot and also ssp. tick of Light-bellied Brent Goose. After an outdoors assignment during the morning I also life ticked Grey Partridge on the way back south and later in the afternoon life ticked a newly ringed Serin in the observatory garden.
Serin (Serinus serinus)
Little Tern (Sternula albifrons)
The last morning of the trip we also went down to the southern point of the island (after dipping a River Warbler near the hostel), except those who still hadn't seen or heard Golden Oriole. This resulted in the fourth life tick of the trip, Black Kite. It was spotted going southwest at good height but reconsidered and started working it's way against the wind to the northeast and therefore could be seen very nicely from where I stood for almost two minutes. No course activities this day, so the focus was on birdwatching until lunch. Managed to year tick Caspian Tern, but not a very good observation. Spent an hour or so photographing the resident Jackdaws. At the time of departure a Black-winged Stilt was reported further north along the eastern coast, but we didn't have time to go look for it.
Jackdaw (Corvus monedula)
A good trip and very interesting course, but there were quite a few irritating dips such as Red-footed Falcon, Great Reed Warbler, Common Guillemot, Spotted Crake, Turtle Dove and probably a few more.
27 year old birder from Gothenburg, Sweden.
Last year we twitched for year ticks. I ended up with 250 which is more than I had lifers when the year started. This year I'll go fairly easy on the year ticks (Though anything under 200 is shameful) but will instead aim for 300 life ticks in Sweden. A task and a half probably...
Yellowfoot (Cantharellus tubaeformis) laid out to dry.
Nuthatch (Sitta europaea). This nuthatch sat very still on my balcony bird feeder, looking a bit dazed
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)
House Martins (Delichon urbicum)
Eurasian Pygmy-owl (Glaucidum passerinum)
Isabelline Shrike (Lanius isabellinus) adult male
Eagle-Owl (Bubo bubo)
Jay (Garrulus glandiarus)
Willow Tit (Poecile montanus )
Great Tit (Parus major)
Nuthatch (Sitta europaea)
Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus)
C ringing a Crow (Corvus corone cornix), Staloluokta 2008-06-15
Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica)
Siberian Jay (Perisoreus infaustus)
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), Maraena Whitefish (Coregonus maraena)
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
Rock Pipit (Anthus petrosus)
Jackdaw (Corvus monedula)
Woodlark (Lullula arborea)
Red Kite (Milvus milvus)
Corn Bunting (Miliaria calandra)
Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio)
Common Lizard (Zootoca vivipara)
Serin (Serinus serinus) Singing male
Black redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros) male
Black redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros) female
White Stork (Ciconia ciconia)
Blue-headed Wagtail (Motacilla flava flava)
Four-spotted Chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata)
Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)
Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes)
Hoverfly (No idea what species or even subfamily. ID help appreciated)
Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus)
Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus)
Fallow Deer (Dama dama) Feral herd, introduced in the 16th century.
Bluethroat (Luscinia svecia)
Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa striata) They were all over the place! Swarms!
Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella)
Serin (Serinus serinus)
Little Tern (Sternula albifrons)
Jackdaw (Corvus monedula)