SWEDEN - 18th June

Thick fog first thing gave way to a scorcher after 08:00 – very hot and sunny; a few new bits as we looked over Fågelsjön including two singing Marsh Warblers, a singing Icterine Warbler, two Black Woodpeckers showing well, a single drake Pintail in with big numbers of Teal, Mallard and Gadwall, the odd Spotted Redshank, Ruff and Wood Sandpiper, good flight views of a Bittern over the road, singing Thrush Nightingales in almost every little copse and all the other [now] usual things that are really cool but I’ll stop mentioning them every day!

Common Tern

Marsh Warbler

Black Woodpecker

Svartspett

A couple of Black Woodpeckers today in Lebeltet Nord showed really well; feeding by chipping off big chunks of bark off fallen trees and stumps and despite [slightly annoying] people wandering by every five minutes (weekends are great!) they were very approachable, feeding unconcerned by me under 5m away.

2nd November

A very pleasant day with light winds and the sun making a few appearances; managed 35 new birds in the nets including another Blackcap and 4 Coal Tits in amongst a little influx of Blue Tits and Great Tits.   I didn’t really see much on the sea in the short time that I looked but there was a bit of overhead passage especially when the sun came out properly mid-morning with 400+ Bramblings heading NW along with a few Yellowhammers, Redpolls, Goldfinches, Siskins and Skylarks; there were also 2 Waxwings, a/the Black Woodpecker which made a foray out to the lighthouse [again], 2 Peregrines, a late Curlew which went south, 2 Sparrowhawks and a couple of Grey Wagtails.

                There was little change out round the coast in the afternoon with 2 Wheatears on Skarvodden, 4 Grey Wagtails in Sevika, another Sparrowhawk which went high south and a Snow Bunting on Karveneset; inland it was even quieter with a Goshawk and a Great-spotted Woodpecker in Lebeltet Nord the only things of note.

 

House Sparrow

Black Woodpecker

Snow Bunting

Wheatear

Mink have been more obvious in the last week around the coast

 

20th October

Still very calm but with plenty of cloud cover coming and going with a few heavy looking showers surrounding us but never actually raining here; the nets were saved by a flock of 27 Bramblings which were caught together early on while a big female Northern Bullfinch and a Common Redpoll were also noteworthy.

                There were a few birds around as well with Robins, Blackbirds and Song Thrushes calling from dawn and some good overhead passage unfortunately going NW slightly inland from the lighthouse so counts were very inaccurate with 300+ Bramblings dominating along with a few Goldfinches, Redpolls, Yellowhammers and Skylarks amongst others.   A late juvenile Arctic Tern flew south offshore and the Gyrfalcon did a close flypast before having a bit of a tussle with a Raven.

                There was little new along the coast with the Surf Scoter still in the same place, the Gyrfalcon cruising around, the Slavonian Grebe still in Sevika, a Jack Snipe, a Wheatear and a Lapland Bunting while there was a Black Woodpecker and 35 Fieldfares in Lebeltet Nord.   The female Scaup was still in Vågsvollvika along with 18 Goldeneye, another Wheatear, the Brent Goose and 99 Wigeon.

 

Brambling

Northern Bullfinch

Gyrfalcon making friends with a Raven

Surf Scoter

Common Scoter

Black Woodpecker

 

16th October

A cold, annoying little NE breeze at dawn soon died away to leave another calm, sunny and warm day; the nets were again busy with another wave of Goldcrests out at the lighthouse, 94 new birds were caught with the highlight being an awesome female Black Woodpecker which bundled into a net in the Labyrinth while more variety was provided by 2 smart female Northern Bullfinches, 3 Treecreepers, a Coal Tit (very scarce this year), a Common Redpoll and a Chiffchaff.

                A similar morning’s migration saw maybe 7 Black Woodpeckers come out of Lebeltet along with a Great-spotted Woodpecker while other birds included a Hen Harrier, another Northern Bullfinch and c90 Crossbills which headed off NW in small flocks through the morning.

                The afternoon was fairly quiet in the glorious conditions but birds did include 2 Great Grey Shrikes, a Great-northern Diver south, my first 2 Twite of the autumn in Sevika and a cracking adult male Hen Harrier floating over Gunnarsmyra where the male Stonechat was still present.

Black Woodpecker

Common Redpoll

Northern Bullfinch

Short-eared Owl

We only need to catch 20 more for it to become a record autumn for Goldcrests

Its ace when flock of Black Woodpeckers come out and circle the lighthouse!

14th October

With the big high pressure system sitting right on top of us it was a glorious day with not a cloud in the sky, hardly a breath of wind and once the sun got going (there was an early morning frost) warm temperatures; I wasn’t ringing this morning so I went out round the coast first thing but there had obviously been a clear-out of many birds as totals included 7 Wheatears, c50 Rock Pipits, the Common Sandpiper still, a Short-eared Owl and a few flocks of Crossbills, Goldfinches and Siskins heading NW.

                I concentrated on the inland areas through the rest of the day where it was a pretty good day’s birding especially for Woodpeckers as totals included at least 3 Three-toed Woodpeckers (maybe four), at least 4 Black Woodpeckers (maybe up to 6), a Grey-headed Woodpecker in Lebeltet (the first of the autumn) and 2 Great-spotted Woodpeckers.    Raptors were also well represented in the fine conditions with a Rough-legged Buzzard, 2 Common Buzzards, a Hen Harrier, a Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrels and awesome views of a Peregrine hammering into a flock of Jackdaws repeatedly but ultimately coming away empty taloned.

                Other birds of note included the first 3 Northern Bullfinches of the autumn, 3 Lapland Buntings in the stubble fields, a confiding Great Grey Shrike, 2 Mistle Thrushes, a nice male Stonechat and a Jack Snipe in Gunnarsmyra, a single House Martin with 56+ Swallows and a few flocks of Bramblings, Chaffinches and Siskins heading NW.

 

She made several awesome stoops into the flock but just kept missing!

She then got part of the flock treed but couldn't get at them

and then had to give up!

Rough-legged Buzzard

Great Grey Shrike

Black Woodpeckers were bombing around all over the place

Kestrel

Latest prey choice - the silly juvenile Shelduck that's been hanging around in Sevika (basically asking for it!)

Lots of insects still on the wing in the warm conditions today; a Common Darter and a Black Darter here.   There were also quite a few Migrant Hawkers around and a little late movement of Red Admirals across the area