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.
26 year old birder from Gothenburg, Sweden.
My goal for 2007 was get above 200 life-ticks. I managed 215 and will attempt to get to 250 in 2008. A lot harder!
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)