hat-trick (20150213)

Had a short amount of time in the field in the morning. It was calm so I headed for Eskilstorpsstrand to check for sea-duck. Very few offshore though and those that were were mostly out of range. At Stensåns mynning I finally connected with a black woodpecker for the year - a singing male.

Last stop of the day was Klarningen where pintail (1) and barnacle goose (4) were year-ticks too. Otherwise quiet. So ducks are returning early this year by the looks of it.

kingfisher (20140924)

Whilst the car was being repaired I had a couple of hours birding around Riviera/Hemmeslövsstrand/Eskilstorpsstrand. The river at Rivieran had a kingfisher calling on it and I did not have to wait long at the bridge before it whizzed past. Only my second of the year.

Walking the beach produced a few interesting birds; black-throated diver (1 - Hemmeslövsstrand) and grey plover (1 - Eskilstorpsstrand).

The rest of the week was spent working on the roof, including Saturday which saw a great shearwater pass Yttre Kattvik... Painful but no proper birding till the roof is on.

kingfisher

A morning birding netted another three year-ticks. First up was the often elusive kingfisher at Båstad, which gave itself up in less than five minutes luckily. Hemmeslövsstrand produced three superb flyby redhead smew and a calling black woodpecker, but the light was too poor to go through the assembled scoter with any confidence. Last stop of the morning was at an icy Klarningen which surprisingly produced some passerines in the shape of a flock containing one reed bunting and four meadow pipits.

blue sky birding

With blue skies forecast for today I abandoned my computer and house work and shot out the door, it has been awfully grey lately and I am not used to being at home at this time of year...

Hit the beach between Hemmeslövsstrand and the top of Eskilstorpsstrand, hoping for a great northern diver, my bogey bird this year. Reported a few days ago, it failed to put in appearance yet again. The big surprise was the huge number of herring gulls feeding along the shoreline and it did not take long to find at least two 1K caspian gulls in amongst the flock. There may have been more!

Meanwhile the flat calm conditions and good light were good for a look through the available seaduck. Highlights included a nice close flock of at least 110 scaup and a Slavonian grebe, an oystercatcher flew south at one point and the beach had six feeding snow buntings. The oystercatcher was my first BK bird in December.

Afterwards I had lunch at Klarningen. A little action here with whooper swans on the move - 34 through and ten on the ground. They are moving late this year. Otherwise quiet, a kestrel and rough-legged buzzard in residence and just three mute swan, four tufted duck and a goldeneye representing the other wildfowl.

blank

Took the team out in the afternoon. We fed the ducks at Båstad, hoping to pull in a flock of gulls. No sign of the glaucous. We tried Klarningen - whilst the team skated, I tried hard to record a bird on site but failed! There was a bitter NE wind and things were pretty grim. Last thing we checked Hemmeslövsstrand again hoping for the glaucous but we had to settle for a BK year-tick - brambling. Tough session.

bah!

Had a look for pine grosbeaks today in the stretch of coast from Malen to Eskilstorpsstrand. There has been several reports of birds just off-patch to the north of here lately, so I was hoping... In vain it transpires! I did get a three hour walk under a grey sky and a brisk westerly with almost constant light snow, nice.

Birds were few and far between along the coast with a handful of tit/nuthatch flocks encountered that produced a few marsh tits, a coal tit and two long-tailed tits. Just one brambling in three hours. The best birds were a sparrowhawk (south) and a goshawk (hunting).

Nipped up to Klarningen to see if there was any open water. No - it has shut for the season leaving just raptors hanging about as usual. Today I watched the rough-legged buzzard hunting and had flyby white-tailed eagle and at least three common buzzards.

Crane fly

This lone crane circled the field at Klarningen a few times but decided not to land in the end and continued on north.

Finally a day in the field. Kicked off at Klarningen which was rather quiet but enjoyed a reasonable amount of passing trade which made it all worthwhile. Wildfowl on the ground included three female pintail, eight shoveler (mostly male) and the elusive male garganey. Four coot have taken up residence, which I am slightly sad to say excites me greatly, it feels like a proper wetland now! Waders present included a single little ringed plover, two ruff and two greenshank. Many of these had moved on by the time I left though. Flybys included a single crane, an osprey and a 2K little gull.

Petersberg produced my first BK crested newt this morning. This site is slated for development if they ever finish the tunnel under Hallandsåsen, be interesting to read the Environmental impact assessment. Do not build on it - would be my advice. Unmanaged land and open water are at a premium in BK.

Next stop was Petersberg (the hunt for a BK water rail continues...). A singing male redpoll was an over-looked year-tick here but the main action came from the herps, with a fiesty grass snake and a great crested newt in the bag (the latter my first in Sweden). Also moor frog singing here. In 2012 I am targetting the herps of southern Sweden as well as birding and doing my dragonfly atlas work so it should be interesting (for me anyway!).

A quick look at Stensåns mynning revealed a number of scoter offshore but the easterly wind was cutting up the surface and made detailed examination of the birds difficult. If we get a calm day I will go back though, scoter numbers are good along this stretch and there must be something rare lurking in amongst them. From here I could see terns off Båstad so I checked it out. Two Sandwich terns were resting on offshore rocks and hawking over the sea were at least 13 common terns. Nice to have them back. A boat put up the duck offshore and revealed at least one Slavonian grebe panicking amongst the velvet scoter.

Had lunch up at Salmon Heights (Salomonhög), not a bad place for a house really, drumming snipe and displaying curlew overhead in the garden, very atmospheric. Nearby I had a pair of marsh harrier (breeders or migrating birds?). Last stop of the day was the tiny Lönhult dämm, this site rarely fails to surprise me and today it produced my first common sandpiper of the year.

Scratching about with Number 2

Spent three hours in the morning birding with Number 2, it was cold and we did not see a great deal. We went to feed the ducks at Båstad first, the ducks were wary but our efforts pulled in all the gulls in the area. No white-wingers or the much lusted-after Med gull sadly. Laholmsbukten has completely frozen over - a first in my experience and testimony to the very cold conditions of the last few weeks. A collared dove flew by here, my first of the year!

We also checked out the mouth of the Stensån where a big flock of roosting Canada geese (1000+) slowly headed inland to feed. Also 22 whooper swan here.

Driving over to Torekov to warm up we checked the rev. Here a large flock of goldeneye, included on closer inspection a variety of other ducks. Most exciting was a male pochard, always a surprisingly scarce bird in BK, this was only my tenth record in five years. Also here two long-tailed ducks and a dozen scaup (my first Torekov birds). A quick check of Svarteskär and the sewage works produced a blank and then we drove home to make biscuits.

Wet morning

A horrible wet dawn greeted me this morning and the weather got worse during my two-hour session. Kicked off at Klarningen where scoping across the river to Eskilstorpsdammar produced a good flock of feeding geese that included 18 barnacles, two white-fronted geese and yesterday's flock of 25 bean geese.

Next stop was Hemmeslövsstrand where an oystercatcher was tripping along the beach and 17 waxwing bombed past south. The last stop of a day was a quick look around Båstad harbour where the easy highlight was a kingfisher flushed from under the walkways. It took me 12 months to see one last year but predictably was much easier this year.

More twitching!

Since saying earlier this week that I could pretty much take or leave twitching, I have mostly been taking it! This morning I had breakfast with the team and then the phone went. Martin Ekenberg had flushed a Lapland bunting from the fields south of Klarningen. I have been trying to find a Lapland bunting here all autumn so off I went. It was in the weedy stubble field that really attracts birds and I found it pretty quickly, along with a handful of linnet, reed bunting and skylark. I flushed it, it showed nicely in flight, called a few times and then was suddenly jumped by a great grey shrike. Wild evasive tactics on the part of the bunting worked eventually but my heart was in my mouth for a few seconds. Needless to say the the bird did not land anywhere close after that. A quick look over the wetland from the south produced the lingering 1K peregrine and it was joined in the air briefly by a hen harrier. Nice 45 minutes.

In the afternoon we all went down to Båstad to look again at the juvenile surf scoter. There it floated, hardly changed position since yesterday, ten gannets fed behind it out in the bay. A walk up to Hemmeslövsstrand produced little of note, although we found a surprising number of 1K black-headed gull wings and a few dead auks.

The winds are going east for the first time in ages, it looks good for a BK yellow-browed warbler, but where to look?

First frost

Out again for sunrise at Klarningen this morning. Just 1 degree and frost on the ground. No sign of yesterday's reported Lapland buntings sadly, despite a good hoof around the stubble fields south of the wetland. Plenty of skylark (50) and linnet (ditto) though. With a light easterly wind blowing there was little evidence of much migration going overhead but the hedgerows produced a few migrants including an impressive 48 goldcrests, two blackcaps and 12 song thrushes. Viewing the wetland from the tower produced my first Klarningen great grey shrike, madly chasing starlings. A hen harrier went through high and south, my first at the site this autumn I think.

After some taxi-driving I headed out to Segelstorpsstrand to look for yellow-browed warblers. There are not many YBW's around in Sweden at the moment so this was likely to be fruitless and indeed it was! Just four chiffchaff and a handful of goldcrests for my troubles.

After lunch we all took a walk between Båstad and Hemmeslövsstrand along the beach and back through the woods and gardens. Båstad produced a couple of grey wagtails and a chilly looking Arctic tern and at Malen there were four barn swallows briefly. We said goodbye to the latter and wished them luck.

All quiet in Laholmsbukten

Wrecked - guillemots are still dying along the coast in BK.

Spent the morning walking the harbour area in Båstad and north between Hemmeslövsstrand and Eskilstorpsstrand. Båstad was fairly quiet, I was hoping for a kingfisher but had to settle for a grey wagtail, a rock pipit and a 1K little gull. Further north I walked a long way and recorded just four tree pipits. All other sub-Saharan migrants seemed to have moved out overnight. On the beach a flock of dunlin contained seven 1K grey plover and two sanderling. Had time for 50 minutes at Klarningen before home. Loads of wildfowl in here now with 400 teal, 150 wigeon, 12 pintail and 2 shoveler. A family party of three whooper swans arrived whilst I was here, autumn it is. Also here little grebe (1) and ruff (5).

In the afternoon we all headed out for a quick walk between Mäsinge strand and Rammsjöstrand. A single crossbill over was the only bird highlight but we did find a juvenile or eft common newt walking along the road.

This tiny common newt eft at Mäsinge strand this afternoon was a big hit with the kids.

Cuckoo!

I must be bonkers because it was not until after tea last night that I finally went down for the last hour of daylight and what would have been an epic seawatch if I had missed my tea and gone straight away! Highlights were my first skuas of the year, a dainty 1K long-tailed skua that angled in from the NW and bounced off again and at least two Arctic skuas. I managed to miss at least one sooty shearwater and a red phalarope, ho hum. Hopefully more of them later, if the autumn weather continues on in the same vein we could have a bumper year for seabirds. Two grey plover past close were nice. Got home to find that Martin Åkesson had found a 2K Mediterranean gull just up the beach and off-patch of course...

Today I decided to walk the beach between Båstad and Eskilstorpsstrand, in case the Med gull was still around and to see if any wrecked seabirds were present. Highlights on this long and often wet walk were as follows; osprey (1, Båstad), Arctic tern (3), guillemot (2 plus another dead), knot (singles at Båstad and Eskilstorpsstrand), little stint (1 south at Hemmeslövsstrand), sanderling (1, Eskilstorpsstrand) and little gull (4 1K birds south at Hemmeslövsstrand and another resting there on the way back). A fall of wheatears was very evident all along the stretch walked.

Moving on I headed for Torekov, picking up a cuckoo over the car at Lugnet, just outside town. The rev was looking pretty busy. At least 35 wheatears grounded here, quite a spectacle. Waders hanging about included; golden plover (84), grey plover (3), knot (1) and bar-tailed godwit (2). As I watched a magic merlin shot along just above the sea and bumped a flock of starlings feeding in the seaweed, emerging somehow with a greenfinch! A neat trick! Looking south I could see a lot of calidrids feeding on the weed by the harbour. Closer inspection revealed a flock of 60 dunlin which included four little stints. After two sparse years for this species I seem to be back on track.

Last stop of the day was Glimminge Plantering, the beach here produced a single shelduck, seven knot, five dunlin and a brace of greenshank. Then it started to rain again...

Shrike attack

A grey dawn saw me watching a dinky little lesser spotted woodpecker drumming away madly at the Slottet nature reserve, near Förslöv. Drove over the top hoping for ring ouzels but no sign of any thrush flocks, might do better on the coast everyone else seems to be finding them at the moment. Did get a singing male hawfinch at Tvehöga though, before dropping down into Klarningen.

Klarningen was quieter; wigeon (2), teal (70), shoveler (4), marsh harrier (pair), moorhen (back in the pond by the tower), ruff (two males), curlew (5) and wood sandpiper (2). It started to rain as I left and this continued for the rest of the morning but did little to dampen my enthusiasm. Checked Petersberg next where the big surprise was five green sandpipers, there is no edge at this site so they must have been perching on reed stems. Also here water rail and green woodpecker called.

Walked the stretch of coast between Hemmeslövsstrand and the top of Eskilstorpsstrand for my final bit of birding and it was excellent. A huge total of 53 Slavonian grebes were counted, along with two red-necked grebes and 12 great cresteds. Hemmeslövsstrand also produced at least two jays and on the return leg I followed up some mobbing calls to find a nest-hunting great grey shrike in the middle of a pile of brash. It popped out and sat for photos before heading north into Eskilstorpsstrand and away. Nice end to a productive session.

We always get a little pulse of great grey shrikes in mid April, but this was my first on the Halland coast part of BK.

Moose hunting

Took the team up to Älemossen for an hour and got really close to a moose but did not see it as we tracked it through the snow. Just one great tit in the hour we spent there! Ended our tour at Hemmeslövsstrand where the offshore seaduck included tufted duck (10), scaup (40) and velvet scoter (6).

Shelducks!

Managed to spend the morning in the field today, despite the evil easterly wind. Headed over to Klarningen first to to check the fields for swans and geese. Nothing doing on the ground but a lot of birds flying east - Canada geese (695), greylag geese (65) and whooper swan (2) in 45 minutes. Two stock doves over on Eskilstorps dammar were my first for the year.

Checked out Eskilstorpsstrand next and was unsurprised to find a large flock of Canada geese (500) in the bay. Also here tufted duck (9), scaup (40), common scoter (20) and velvet scoter (25). The bushes produced a noisy flock of 6 bullfinches. Walking south produced a single long-tailed duck off Båstad.

Drove over to Torekov next chcking the rev for shelduck (5), smew (1), purple sandpiper (14) and black guillemot (2). Not a sniff of a passerine on the shore, a cruel hard winter. Three white-tailed eagles mucked about over Hallands Väderö.

In the afternoon I squeezed in half an hour at Vejbystrand and Stora Hultstrand for shelduck (5), wigeon (31) and goosander (1). No sign of this weather breaking so I guess I will have to get used to it. It is amazing to me that shelducks are turning up when the weather is so poor. Last months lapwings obviously decided to head south again, will these shelduck melt away too?

Quick blast

Today was supposed to be about me spending most of a sunny day in the field but something cropped up (an emergency visa application...) and I only ended up getting 1.5 hours for my troubles. Birding the patch has been cursed by weather and other problems so far this year. Despite the short time I did bag three year-ticks so all was not lost.

Kicked off at Hemmeslövsstrand where I finally connected with a flock of 40 scaup just offshore, also here 35 tufted duck, 55 common scoter and best of all a Halland black guillemot (much scarcer up this end of BK). Moving quickly on to Kattvik, the stretch between the harbour and Yttre Kattvik produced more black guillemot (2), three coot, a single guillemot and red-necked grebe and 8 great crested grebes. No sign of the large number of grebes reported over the weekend though.

Lastly drove over to Ripagården and had time to count ten coot and not find a jack snipe before the phone rang and I started running about like a headless chicken for the rest of the day...

Foggy

No birding over the weekend, just a short walk along the beach between Hemmeslövsstrand and Eskilstorpsstrand on a rainy Saturday that netted 33 tufted duck - whooo!

Today I spent the morning in the field, more fog and rain and mushy underfoot. Went off patch to look at Farhult. No sign of the reported oystercatcher, but two curlew were year-ticks. Also here my first Canada geese (30) of the year, a nice adult white-tailed eagle and a calling bearded tit.

Rönnen next hoping for the gyr falcon but had to settle for two more white-tailed eagles, the best birds were three lapwing. The first sign of a thaw and they come back - too early in my opinion!

Last stop of the day was Vejbystrand, just metres off-patch this time and still hosting a female pintail amongst a sizeable flock of mallard, teal (9) and wigeon (60). Also here four starlings - another year-tick. The year-list stands at 79 - hard work this year.

Back in the field

Back from a long weekend in the UK, it was time to hit BK this morning after yet another overnight snowfall. It has thawed a little whilst I have been away but conditions remain harsh. Checked out the sewage works at Torekov, scene of a recent water pipit (scarce this winter). No joy with the pipit but did scare up three rock pipits and finally connected with the long-staying grey wagtail. A small flock of fieldfare here provided my third year-tick of the day. Walking up to Torekov from here failed to produce any shags but did produce two teal and more fieldfare.

Checked Båstad next and added more year-ticks in the shape of two immaculate male long-tailed ducks, and single great crested grebe and red-throated diver. Three coot have taken up residence just outside the frozen harbour. Last stop of the day was a quick look for the dipper along the Stensån, no luck here either but did get a large flock of woodpigeons (30) and heard my first black woodpecker of the year.

The year-list no stands at just 70 species, hard going this year.

Garden tick and more birding with the kids

Checked the feeders this morning to find a coal tit skulking at the back of the garden (number 99 on the garden list), also 8 bullfinches (a garden record).

Stensåns mynning today, the small area of open water contained 17 tufted duck and a male common scoter. It is starting to look Arctic. Basking seals have been absent lately as most of the inshore rocks have been iced up, but now they are starting to haul out onto the ice floes... [Note the typically flamboyant colouration of the winter-plumage Swedes.]

After breakfast we went for a walk to look for the dipper recently reported along the Stensån. No luck with the dipper (we dipped...), but we did find a few new birds for the year including a nice tawny owl that the kids actually looked at!! Also here siskin (1, very scarce at the moment) and a woodpigeon (likewise).

After a spot of lunch we headed to Vråen to look for the bunting flock, they were way off feeding at the back and I did not inflict bunting hunting on the kids after their long walk in the morning. Instead we enjoyed the raptors that have been hanging around this site. Plenty here today with goshawk (adult), rough-legged buzzard (1), red kite (1) and kestrel (1) all being new for 2011. Two rooks here were the first of the year too.

Last stop of the day was at Torekov. A brief stop here produced at least one purple sandpiper and a distant peregrine out on Vinga.