SWEDEN - 30th October

 Nice and calm again but poor visibility, never enough to stop any ringing but you couldn’t see across the bay at its worst, the nets were steady with Wrens and Robins without anything else thrown in while other birds included a redhead Smew on the southern pits, 2 Sparrowhawks, 10+ Bearded Tits by the hides, single Grey Wagtail and Rock Pipit overhead and 28+ Twite feeding on one of the islands.   

I cycled south in the afternoon down to Rödskär where, despite the almost constant light rain, birds included at least 11 Shorelarks in the bay, 2 Waxwings which went north, 75+ Twite, 5 Rock Pipits, 2 Red-throated Divers and a single female Pintail.

Shorelarks

This Golden Plover was injured but could still fly distances but obviously not far enough to attempt to migrate - still smart though!

SWEDEN - 29th October

 A lovely calm morning allowed me to open the nets which were relatively productive until a spell of heavy rain forced me to close after only a couple of hours; the highlights in the nets was a fine male Hawfinch and a late Chiffchaff (which also may have been touched by the east but no where near a Siberian).   

Elsewhere the pick was a Yellow-browed Warbler which called loudly and frequently for a few minutes in the bushes by the house just before the rain started but was no seen afterwards along with a 2cy male Peregrine, a single Waxwing over and a Grey Wagtail.   

There were a few more spells of rain through the day but generally it was wonderfully calm but I only managed a walk north, along the cycle-path where the highlights were a good flock of 7 Shorelarks south over the house and a fine-looking Northern Treecreeper along the path – the best, frostiest looking one I’ve seen so far.

Hawfinch

Barnacle Geese

SWEDEN - 28th October

 After a wild, wet and windy night worthy of the Northern Isles the rain lingered through the first couple of hours of the morning but as soon as it stopped I went out, starting with a good walk around the point (and a little half-hearted seawatch) where birds included a single Velvet Scoter, 4 Razorbills, 2 Kittiwakes, a Red-throated Diver, a Sparrowhawk, a lost looking Great-spotted Woodpecker out on the point, 2 Bullfinches which flew north over the carpark, a few Greenfinches whizzing around and a flyover Yellowhammer.   

I then walked right round the coast, heading round the north side first and cutting across to the Marina and back along the south coast, birds of note comprised 15 Waxwings (a four and an eleven – a Swedish tick!), a redhead Smew hanging out with Mergansers off Sillhallsvik, a couple of Crossbills heard overhead, 8 Little Grebes by the Marina and 13 Reed Buntings.   

On the reserve later on there was a Brambling at the feeders and a Greenshank in front of the hide on the SW side.

Sparrowhawk

Waxwing

Goosander

SWEDEN - 27th October

 The strong southerly winds returned so ringing was off the table so inevitably I went out to the point first thing but the seawatch was unremarkable (need some west in the wind!), totals did include though slight increases of 24+ Kittiwakes and 75+ Gannets along with 2 Long-tailed Ducks, 67 Common Scoter, 16 Razorbills and a Guillemot.   

From late morning I explored north, around the big rocky hill of Gamla Varbergs and the bay below it called Frystrandsfjorden where a good walk around produced the highlights of a male Ring Ouzel on top of the hill (a Swedish tick!), 3 Wheatears in the bay (getting late now) and a Slavonian Grebe (only the second I’ve seen down here) along with a Rock Pipit, 16 Reed Buntings, a good total of 73+ Greenfinches (two big flocks), 85+ Eiders in the bay, 4 Skylarks and a few Robins, Wrens, Goldcrests, Song Thrush etc.   

A good total of 171 Great Black-backed Gulls came into the bay in the evening – more than double my previous high count.

Ring Ouzel

SWEDEN - 26th October

 A much nicer day, still overcast but much lighter winds so I managed to open the nets but predictably it was quiet with a few new Robins and Blackbirds caught; there was a little influx of ducks on the reserve with 11 Pintail and 49 Gadwall counted.   A good long walk round the coast of Getteröns (Sillhallsvik and right round Gubbanasan) from late morning produced a few little bits including 4 Brent Geese, 40 Red-breasted Mergansers, a Red-necked Grebe close inshore off Gubbanasan, a Jack Snipe on the coast just past Sillhallsvik, a smart adult male Sparrowhawk south, a few Goldcrests and Robins still, 25 Fieldfare and 6 Redwing out on the point, 28+ Meadow Pipits still, 19 Twite and 9 Reed Buntings.

SWEDEN - 25th October

 Strong southerly winds again prevented any ringing so I headed out to the point again for a seawatch; single Shorelark and Grey Wagtail flew south first thing even before I got settled but the seawatch was quietish as birds seen comprised 13 Pintail south at sea, 72 Common Scoter, a single Velvet Scoter, 12 Goldeneye, 18 Red-breasted Merganser, 2 Kittiwakes, a Red-throated Diver, 36 Gannets and 14 Razorbills.   

Heavy rain moved in through the afternoon which pretty much ended the day but 725 Lapwings were counted on the airfield and a Peregrine was cruising around.

SWEDEN - 23rd October

 Another windy and overcast morning with no ringing again so I headed out to the point first thing for another seawatch; there was a decent spread of stuff although not much was actually moving, rather just blogging around with the exception of my first 22 Little Auks in Sweden heading purposefully south (apparently a good total for this early in the year).   

Other birds seen included 3 Long-tailed Ducks (also a Swedish tick!), 17 Common Scoter, 9 Red-breasted Mergansers, 8 Kittiwakes, 4 Red-throated Divers, a Black-throated Diver really close in to the rocks, 24 Gannets, 45 Razorbills and 4 Guillemots while 2 Crossbills went over the carpark.   

I didn’t do too much else although a group of 13 Bewick’s Swans (with a single Whooper Swan) arrived in the bay at lunchtime, rested for a couple of hours before heading off high south while other bits comprised a Spotted Redshank and 779 Barnacle Geese counted.

SWEDEN - 22nd October

 After a wet and windy night, it wasn’t much better first thing so there was no ringing, instead I headed out to Gubbanasan for a seawatch but despite eventually finding a decent sheltered spot, the wind unfortunately eased off more and quicker than expected which produced the reduced totals of 72 Gannets, 36 Razorbills, 4 Guillemots, 2 Tysties, 16 Kittiwakes, 31 Common Scoter and 4 Velvet Scoter while a young male Peregrine chasing Razorbills offshore provided the most entertainment.   

There were then 38 Grey Plover, 12 Curlew, a Bar-tailed Godwit and 2 Ruff in the bay at high tide before a quiet return visit out to Gubbanasan in the afternoon failed to add to the seabird totals for the day.

Twite

SWEDEN - 21st October

 A miserable day, breezy, damp with very poor visibility right throughout the day; got a few nets open for some reason but inevitably I didn’t catch too much while other birds seen in the morning through the murk included the 2 Whooper Swans, 34 Grey Plover, 216 Dunlin, 3 Ruff, a Greenshank and the 1cy Little Gull which reappeared in the bay.   

I didn’t do too much through the rest of the day as it was pretty grim but the days highlight came late on as a 1cy Caspian Gull came into the bay with the usual build-up of other gulls just before dusk where some big counts comprised 919+ Herring Gulls, 42+ Great Black-backed Gulls and loads of Corvids with 561+ Hooded Crows and 115+ Rooks counted.

SWEDEN - 20th October

 The anticipated change in the weather did happen today turning overcast (with overnight rain) with a strong and blustery SW wind; I opened a few nets but predictably I didn’t catch too much with 2 Blackcaps the pick while other birds seen included 2 Whooper Swans, 3 Ruff, 190 Dunlin, a ringtail Hen Harrier and 33+ Herons.   

Went out to the point at lunchtime for a seawatch and while there wasn’t anything of great import it was great to finally see some seabirds after so long with 2 Kittiwakes, 2 Velvet Scoter and 2 Guillemots all being Swedish ticks along with 14 Gannets, 7 Common Scoter, a Grey Plover and 22 Razorbills also counted heading south at sea during two hours.

Shorelark from yesterday

Black Redstarts from yesterday

SWEDEN - 19th October

 No change in the weather again this morning although there was a slightly heavier frost, the nets were therefore still very slow highlighted by a smart adult male Common Redpoll and the first 2 Chiffchaffs for a while (one of which was lightly touched by the east); there was nothing new around the reserve through the morning although a good array of species were seen including 3,100+ Barnacle Geese, 6 Pintail, 5 Little Grebes, 5 Moorhen, a single, late, lonely looking Crane, 27 Grey Plover, 3 Golden Plover, 203 Dunlin, 7 Ruff, 3 Greenshank, a Kingfisher, a Grey Wagtail and 23 Twite which flew north past the Obs.   

A stunning afternoon, sunny and remaining calm and a very pleasant cycle then walk south along the coast at Gamla Köpstads produced 6 Shorelarks, 2 Black Redstarts, a male Stonechat, 2 Rock Pipits, 8 Twite and 3 Oystercatchers (don’t see too many round here!).

Goldfinches

This Wren was looking at something

It was this Slinky Minky

SWEDEN - 18th October

 Same again in the morning, clear, sunny and calm so the nets were again very quiet although a smart male Bullfinch and a Redwing were some compensation; other birds present on the reserve included 7 Ruff, single Spotted Redshank and Greenshank, 2,040+ Barnacle Geese, 5 Little Grebes, a high flock of 8 Bearded Tits over the bay, a Grey Wagtail and a Hawfinch.   

A walk from the Marina along the southern shore out towards the point was pretty quiet in the blustery NW wind but it did produce my long overdue first Rock Pipit in Sweden.

Bullfinch

Hooded Crow

Rook