SWEDEN - 10th August

 Overcast and calm first thing so we were expecting a good ringing session at Rysjön but a breeze picked up with a few spots of rain limited the catch to 65 new birds but these did include 2 Savi’s Warblers (two 1cy birds next to each other in the net), another 3 Red-backed Shrikes, 2 Marsh Warblers and another 18 Siskins.   

Other birds seen included a flyover Common Redpoll, a single Hawfinch, 2 Tree Pipits, 2 Hobbies, the Smew and now 4 Slavonian Grebes on the lake and a group of 5 Great White Egrets in a tree (my peak count so far).   

The clouds parted in the afternoon to become hot again but the main feature of a long walk round the reserve was a big influx of 750+ Cranes with 550+ in fields south of Hammarmaden and numerous small flocks extremely high up, vaguely drifting south although many came down nearby – as this is a well-known staging area.   

Other bits included 4 Ringed Plover, 14 Ruff, 2 Spotted Redshank, 37 Golden Plover (including 31 over Löten), 2 Common Sandpipers and 32 Wood Sandpipers.   

Savi’s Warbler

Thrush Nightingale

SWEDEN - 5th August

A busy morning ringing at Fågelsjön – at least for the first few hours anyway produced some decent highlights, consisting of 2 Blyth’s Reed Warblers, both juveniles – one, the re-trap from three days ago plus a new bird (presumably from the same brood), a good 4 Red-backed Shrikes (an adult female and three juveniles), a pristine juvenile Lesser Whitethroat, 5 Marsh Warblers – all juveniles and a re-trap Thrush Nightingale.   

A brief look at Löten at lunchtime produced 2 Temminck’s Stints, 14 Ringed Plovers, 2 Little Ringed Plovers and 3 Ruff.   

This is the second Blyth’s Reed Warbler, new today with better photos showing the wing formula, the wing was top end at 65mm but its clearly emarginated on P4 and even a bit on P5 (much more obviously than on the previous bird) with a longish notch (12.0mm) and P2 equalling P5/6.   

The overall colour is also distinctive (although not 100% accurately represented in the photos) being somewhat in between Reed and Marsh Warblers with limited rufous tones – apart from the rufous wing panel visible in some photos which is a good feature of Blyth’s Reed and also lacking the yellowish / olive colour of a fresh juvenile Marsh Warbler.   The head pattern is also spot on for Blyth’s Reed but is not completely diagnostic.   

I don’t if its written anywhere else but I found that as soon as I held both the Blyth’s Reeds that I could tell they were different (!), the bird just felt softer and fluffier than the hundreds of Marsh and Reed Warblers that I’ve been handling over the last month.   It felt similar to other northern species that I’m familiar with such as Waxwing, Hornemann’s Arctic Redpoll and Northern Bullfinch where the feathers are naturally looser, giving a softer feel to allow warmer air to trapped next to the skin more readily in response to the colder conditions they experience.   I swear I’m not making this up but it would make sense as they are a more northerly breeding Acrocephalus species however, I certainly did not notice this on the five or six October vagrants I’ve handled on Fair Isle and North Ronaldsay.   

This is the original Blyth’s Reed Warbler re-trapped this morning, while still obvious, it was not as clear cut as the above new bird – maybe because I’ve got my eye in and am more aware of the features.   

Lesser Whitethroat   

Adult female Red-backed Shrike   

Thrush Nightingale

SWEDEN - 25th July

A busy ringing session at Rysjön in the morning produced the highlights of 2 Savi’s Warblers (both fresh juveniles), the first juvenile Icterine Warbler of the year and good numbers of Sedge Warblers, Blackcaps, Garden Warblers and Willow Warblers.   

Other birds seen included a surprise juvenile Smew on the lake with a bit of an influx of 41+ Goldeneye (must be unusual at this time of year, this far south) while a smart, pale adult Honey Buzzard was around the house when we got back.   

A walk round in the afternoon didn’t produce much new but plenty of birds including single Bar-tailed Godwit and Ringed Plover on Löten along with 40+ Wood Sandpipers, 2 Spotted Redshank and 17+ Snipe, 3 Great White Egrets, a Hobby, an adult White-tailed Eagle and a good count of 129 Cranes.

White-tailed Eagle

Buzzard

Savi's Warbler

Thrush Nightingale

SWEDEN - 3rd July

A similar pattern to the weather at Rysjön in the morning but the strong wind started just a few hours in to the day; birds caught included three Thrush Nightingales (two adults and a little fluffy potato of a juvenile), an Icterine Warbler, a juvenile Pied Flycatcher which I ringed as a nestling on 18th June in a nest box there and a seven-year-old Garden Warbler.  Other birds around included six Crossbills which went south (a Swedish tick!), a calling Black Woodpecker, 350+ Swifts which came in when the wind picked up, the three Great White Egrets, a little flock of juvenile Goldeneye which have been increasing every day – now up to ten birds (presumably locally bred) and a distant Lesser Black-backed Gull – also a Swedish tick.   

We returned to the forest near Morskaga in the afternoon but the Great Grey Owls had fledged and there was no sign; the only other birds of note were a pair of big, chunky Northern Bullfinches – a Swedish tick!

Juvenile and adult Thrush Nightingale

SWEDEN - 27th June

A few more birds were caught at Rysjön in the morning with fledglings beginning to make up a higher percentage of the catch, juveniles today included Pied Flycatcher, Thrush Nightingale, Willow Warbler, Robin, Chaffinch and Reed Bunting.   There wasn’t too much new from the tower as birds seen included my first Swedish Green Woodpecker, a singing Icterine Warbler, the Savi’s Warbler giving a little burst of song and a Curlew.   A look at Löten late afternoon produced 7 Pochard, a singing Quail in fields nearby, 7 Little Ringed Plovers, 2 Curlew, a Green Sandpiper, 6 Spotted Redshank, 40+ Wood Sandpipers, 15 Ruff and 3 Redshank.

Willow Warbler fledgling

Juvenile Pied Flycatcher

Thrush Nightingale fledgling - I really don't know how or why this got into a net!

SWEDEN - 25th June

A nice morning ringing at Rysjön produced a Thrush Nightingale and the first fledgling Sedge Warblers and Reed Bunting; birds seen from the tower included a female Montagu’s Harrier which flew across the back, my first two Swedish Pochard, the two Great White Egrets, a calling Wryneck, at least four Cuckoos going mad with lots of female bubbling calls heard, a brief reeling Savi’s Warbler and a Hobby.   A little look at Löten in the evening saw slight increases in wader numbers including 48+ Wood Sandpipers, 8 Spotted Redshank, 5 Redshank, a Little Ringed Plover, 22 Ruff, a Green Sandpiper, a Greenshank and the first post-breeding flock of 85 Lapwing that I’ve seen.

Fledgling Sedge Warbler

Thrush Nightingale

Male Blue-headed Wagtail

Female Blue-headed Wagtail

Red-necked Grebe

Common Tern

Hobby

SWEDEN - 19th June

Not really anything new on another scorching hot day as we mainly prepared the ringing sites, strimming net rides etc.   Always nice to see Red-necked Grebes feeding chicks, singing Marsh Warbler and Great Reed Warbler, booming Bitterns, Goldeneye broods and several fishing Ospreys, taking their catches high off to the north – all things that are the norm here!

Osprey

Broad-bodied Chaser

Thrush Nightingale

SWEDEN - 16th June

Ran away to Sweden!   I arrived last night at Stockholm Arlanda Airport and after a peaceful night I got up early and had a walk around the airport and over to a lake called Halmsjön within easy walking distance; for being just rough wasteland and a few marshy, grassy bits it was great to see such as wide range of stuff in a short time.   Highlights included a singing Corncrake, 2 Swifts, a few Lapwings with chicks, 2 Little Ringed Plovers, some Snipe (with birds displaying and perching on street lights), a few displaying Redshank, a Green Sandpiper, an agitated pair of Common Sandpipers, 4 Common Terns on the lake, plenty of Skylarks carrying food, breeding Fieldfare with some fledglings seen, 5 Wheatears, 6+ Blue-headed Wagtails and a singing Tree Pipit.   

A three-hour bus ride west from Stockholm then produced the highlight of a Black Woodpecker seen flying across the road near Enköping before I arrived at my new home of Kvismaren Bird Observatory.  

It rained all afternoon so I didn’t get out but around the house birds included a pair of Thrush Nightingales feeding chicks, a Crane flying across the fields and a few other bits including Marsh Harrier, Pied Flycatcher and Tree Pipit.

Thrush Nightingale with food

Great-spotted Woodpecker feeding a fledgling

GEDSER - 2nd August

Bright and breezy again with a similar array of birds in the nets through the morning including another Thrush Nightingale, 4 Marsh Warblers and 2 Icterine Warblers.   We soon exhausted the ringing so we closed a bit earlier and had some time out on the point (1045-1215) where in the shadow of at least three awesome water spouts a few birds passed with 2 Little Gulls, 23 Common Terns, 15 Arctic Terns, 2 Whimbrel, 2 Dunlin, 3 Grey Plover and 11 Teal, a Tufted Duck and 2 Velvet Scoter with 161 Common Scoter while a juvenile Black Guillemot was with the Eiders and Cormorants on the sea at the tip.

Slightly better pictures of a Thrush Nightingale

Swallow

Grumpy baby Garden Warbler

GEDSER - 1st August

A completely different day to yesterday being bright and breezy with a little spell of heavy rain mid-morning; these conditions reduced the numbers of birds in the nets but birds caught did include the first Thrush Nightingale of the autumn, 7 Marsh Warblers and 3 Icterine Warblers.

                A couple of hours at the point late afternoon (1600-1800) produced a good mix of things heading SE including a steady wader passage totalling 42 Bar-tailed Godwits, 8 Grey Plover, 16 Knot (actually a Danish tick for me!), 24 Dunlin, 3 Sanderling, 2 Curlew, a Common Sandpiper and a Snipe (Gedser is not well known for its waders so these are decent totals); other birds of note were 308 Arctic Terns, 77 Common Terns, 3 Little Terns, 16 Sandwich Terns, 326 Eiders, 2 Teal, 2 Common Scoter and a Heron.

 

Sprosser

Arctic Tern

Heron going south over the sea