SWEDEN - 16th October

 A beautiful morning, calm, crystal clear and frosty but somewhat predictably the nets were fairly quiet with the exception of the first two smart, frosty, pale Common Redpolls of the autumn.   

Other birds around included single Rough-legged Buzzard, Peregrine and Merlin perched around the bay first thing, the Little Gull still, 185 Dunlin, a Greenshank, 3 Ruff, the single Whooper Swan and 3 Sparrowhawks south.   

A good walk round the coast from Sillhallsvik to the point in the afternoon was quiet for grounded migrants with only a very few Goldcrests and Robins seen but birds did include 2 Jack Snipe and 2 Shoveler (both the first I’ve seen down here), some great views of three young White-tailed Eagles, the Short-eared Owl again on the point, 11 Twite, 2 Sparrowhawks and a single Gannet offshore.

The two Common Redpolls

White-tailed Eagles

SWEDEN - 2nd October

 A very windy morning for the first ringing session at my new site of Getteröns near Varberg, south of Gothenburg; despite the conditions we still struggled up to around 50 new birds, mainly Robins, Reed Buntings and Chiffchaffs.   

A walk in the afternoon out to the headland west of the reserve produced a range of new Swedish ticks comprising 3 Stonechats, at least 6 Eiders offshore along with a single 1cy Black Guillemot, 5 Brent Geese and a single distant Gannet; there was also a scattering of migrants around the place consisting of Goldcrests, Chiffchaffs, Robins, Song Thrushes, Meadow Pipits, Skylarks, a Wheatear and high numbers of Reed Buntings around the coast.   Other birds seen included a Hen Harrier seemingly coming in off, 2 Pintail and a Slavonian Grebe with good numbers of Goosander, Red-breasted Mergansers and Goldeneye, a couple of White-tailed Eagles and a Greenshank with a few Bar-tailed Godwits and Grey Plover.   

An hour and a half in the evening spent overlooking the bay from the Obs then produced 1,190+ Cranes coming into roost, 6 Taiga Bean Geese, a ringtail Hen Harrier, an adult male Peregrine, a Marsh Harrier, at least 4 White-tailed Eagles, 13 Goosander, single Spotted Redshank and Greenshank with Ruff and Dunlin, 2 Great White Egrets, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls in with plenty of big Gulls coming into roost (presumably intermedius birds) and a Kingfisher.

White-tailed Eagle

Red-breasted Merganser

SWEDEN - 17th September

 A surprisingly nice morning, bright and sunny with lighter NW winds than expected (although they inevitably picked up later on); the nets had a few birds but nothing really different, another three Dunnocks, a Brambling and some Reed Buntings the highlights.   

There was a good selection of other stuff around, some of which was encouraged by the fine weather and slight swing of the wind into the NW with my first Rough-legged Buzzard of the autumn over and a massive influx of Geese onto Rysjön comprising 1,190+ Barnacle Geese and 100+ Taiga Bean Geese with the millions of Greylags along with 2 Little Grebes, a ringtail Hen Harrier, 2 White-tailed Eagles, a Peregrine and a bit of an irruption of 17+ Jays (including a flock of 13).   

A good walk in the afternoon to Löten and back was also productive especially for raptors with another beautiful Rough-legged Buzzard in the fields opposite Vallen and many, many White-tailed Eagles – I don’t really know how many there were, the most I saw together was five but there were four very high ones just before this; other birds included plenty more Barnacle and Taiga Bean Geese, a Great White Egret and a Tree Pipit.   

White-tailed Eagle action

Taiga Bean Geese action

Barnacle Geese

SWEDEN - 28th August

 A quiet morning in the nets at Rysjön was highlighted by the first round which included 2 Bluethroats (a 1cy male and an adult female) and a new 1cy Savi’s Warbler, apart from that it was slow with just the usual warblers.   

Other birds of note comprised 2 Little Grebes and the Smew on the lake, 9 Ruff, 7 Dunlin and a Spotted Redshank flying around, 2 Black Woodpeckers, 4 Tree Pipits and a very impressive 4,000+ Swallows leaving their roost from somewhere in front of the tower from where they slowly spiralled up all calling together.   

Walked round Oset in the warm afternoon which was pretty productive with a nice spread of migrants concentrated along the middle path as totals included an excellent 23+ Whinchats (all in a loose flock), a Redstart (only the second I’ve seen in Sweden), 5 Yellow Wagtails, 35+ White Wagtails and a Tree Pipit.   

Other birds comprised a good selection of waders with a smart juvenile Little Stint with 13 Dunlin, 4 Ringed Plover, 17 Ruff, 5 Spotted Redshank, 6 Greenshank and 6 Wood Sandpipers, a Hobby and a White-tailed Eagle being relentlessly mobbed by an Osprey out over the lake.   

Savi’s Warbler – quite a well-marked individual

Bluethroat

White-tailed Eagle vs Osprey

SWEDEN - 15th August

 The pattern remained the same with ringing at Fågelsjön fairly busy for the first couple of hours but soon tailed off as the temperature rose; there wasn’t too much variety in the catch which included 6 Marsh Warblers, another re-trap Great Reed Warbler and a Lesser Whitethroat.   

Other birds included a Great White Egret, at least 4 Ospreys, a few Yellow Wagtails and Tree Pipits in the fields, an adult White-tailed Eagle causing trouble and a selection of juvenile Red-backed Shrikes.   

Not too much else through the hot day but a look at the Hammarmaden platform in the evening was pleasant with another White-tailed Eagle sat on the scrape which probably was reason there wasn’t too much else to mention!   

White-tailed Eagle

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 - 28th June

A pretty quiet morning ringing at Fågelsjön with three Thrush Nightingales (two re-traps) and a dispersing juvenile Coal Tit the highlights with the only other thing of note being a flock of 12 Curlews over at first light.   

A very productive walk out to Löten in the afternoon (it had clouded over with a fresh breeze and a few spots of rain) then produced probably 4 White-tailed Eagles – two adults and two first-summers with two of them hunting over Rysjön, a cracking CASPIAN TERN fishing over the canal and Rysjön, the Quail singing again, single Wheatear and Stock Dove new for my Kvismaren list (it’s the first time I’ve ever seen Black Terns mobbing a Stock Dove!), 2 Hobbies, a Peregrine (also new for my Sweden list) and the two Great White Egrets along with the usual selection of waders on Löten including 125 Lapwing, 4 Little Ringed Plovers, 3 Curlew, 22 Ruff, 2 Snipe, a Green Sandpiper, 46+ Wood Sandpipers, 6 Redshank, 2 Greenshank and 5 Spotted Redshank.

White-tailed Eagle (and various things attacking it)

Caspian Tern record shots

Sedge Warbler