The concept of actually studying while a university student (somewhat new to me) means there’s very little time for birdwatching, and even less for blogging. Hopefully I will learn to study properly and get more spare time.

The serious complaining, however, is about Two-barred Crossbills. I reported one early in the autum and it was life tick 280. Because of that, I didn’t go to look at the two-bars that settled in for a bit in remote parts of the city some time later. Now, the report committee declared my observation to be lacking in documentation and stuff and therefore, I can’t count it. A setback in the quest for 300! On a positive note, I managed to haul my ass south to look at a Turtle Dove, for a new 280

Sunday morning will probably be spent at Hönö with the spanking new Gothenburg Ornithological Society Youth Group. Hasn’t been a proper one in like 15 years…

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.

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)

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

Eurasian Pygmy-owl (Glaucidum passerinum)

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.

Isabelline Shrike (Lanius isabellinus) adult male

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)

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.

Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus)

C ringing a Crow (Corvus corone cornix), Staloluokta 2008-06-15