First day of autumn

Male Sympetrum danae or black darter, quite a few still flying on Hallands Väderö this weekend.

Spent the 1st of the month with the team on our annual pilgrimage to Hallands Väderö, it is sadly too pricey to visit often but we always enjoy our day here each year. For a change nothing turned up on mainland BK to make us regret the journey. I think a light fall of common migrants may have taken place we certainly found spotted flycatchers and redstarts in every bush. Fifteen yellow wagtails were flying around the Kapelhamn area and that was about it. We spent most of our time looking for invertebrates but failed to find any brown hairstreaks. A painted lady was my first of the year though!

 I think this is Arion rufus, although the complex is tricky to identify.

Painted lady at last!

 Managed to identify this fly (Tachina fera), the larvae feed on noctuid moth caterpillars.

At the end of a long day walking the island the 'Nanny' was a welcome sight and somehow accommodated the huge number of people leaving the island on the last boat out!

patchy sun

 My first Sympetrum danae of the year appeared at Bränneslätt this afternoon.

Had half-an-hour at Ranarpsstrand in the morning and finally added avocet (1) to my BK year list, otherwise quiet with just 6 dunlin to write about.

The sun came out in the afternoon though (a very notable occurrence) so we all dashed out to pick blueberries at Bränneslätt. Managed to flush an aeshnid that would have been a year-tick but did add Sympetrum danae to the list. One side-effect of the appalling weather is a bumper blueberry harvest this year - sweet! Laden with berries we headed to our next site but the sun vanished by the time we got to Perstorp enefälad unfortunately and we searched for butterflies in vain, literally picking up an Idas blue for our troubles.

Last stop of the day was Klarningen for a quick look through the waders. Overnight rain has pushed up the water levels and there were fewer calidrids about as a result. The Temminck's stint and baout 20 dunlin remained but I could not find any curlew sandpipers. Also here a few ruff, ten greenshank and a single spotted redshank.

An Allantus sawfly spotted at Perstorp enefälad this afternoon, anyone know which one?

Elephant hawk

Sympetrum danae are on the wing in BK.

Nipped out for two hours today and spent time at both Bränneslätt and Sinarpsdalen looking for dragonflies. The mire pool at Bränneslätt produced ten species with recently emerged Sympetrum danae being a BK year-tick.

Emerging Aeshna juncea were also evident today. Still no definite subarctica but they are always commoner in August, so maybe I will just have to be patient.

Another stomp about in the Sinarpsdalen eutrophic mire before lunch produced a single male Ischnura pumilio, Somatochlora metallica and Libellula depressa but no Odonates on the stream.

This male pumilio was a surprise in Sinarpsdalen today.

This huge elephant hawk-moth caterpillar was a nice find too at Sinarpsdalen.

Dragging with the team

Went off-patch today with the team to have a look around the nearby Rossjön area with dragonflies in mind. The weather was overcast, muggy and with occasional showers but we had a good look at some interesting sites near Lärkeröd. Very few species on the wing, but we saw a nice selection of common species.

Sympetrum sanguineum - a diminuitive little jewel of a libellulid.

Teneral male Sympetrum danae, we saw a few mature black individuals too.

On the way home the kids went swimming at Västersjön and I spotted three goosander and a family party of great crested grebe.

Klarningen with the kids

Sympetrum danae - my first at Klarningen. Also on the wing today on site were Aeshna grandis, Orthetrum cancellatum and amazingly Somatochlora flavomaculata.

Took the kids for a wet walk around Klarningen this morning. The rain stayed away but overnight rain had made the long vegetation rather damp. We soldiered on and the usual circuit produced teal (7) and a single grey partridge, as well as quite a few waders; dunlin (2), ruff (1), snipe (2), two fluffy redshank chicks, green sandpiper (3) and at least 24 wood sandpipers (most crowded onto one small pond with the rest of the waders). Dragonflies were excellent too despite the overcast weather; on the wing were brown hawker, black darter and a brief Somatochlora flavomaculata, the undoubted highlight of the session.

Work continues on the bird-tower...

Birding - 16/08/09

Number 1 scored another hawk-moth caterpillar on the walk between Yttre Kattvik and Hovs Hallar - this splendid privet hawk Sphinx ligustris.

We all went out for walk this morning and had lunch at Hov Hallar. The wind was a breezy SW when we left home but by the time we got to Hovs Hallar it was blowing well from the west. Things are shaping up for a good sea-watch tomorrow I reckon. Number 1 kindly pointed out the only gannet of the day during lunch! It begins... This bird heralded a brief burst of activity with a couple of grey plover, one knot and one bar-tailed godwit past. Typically we moved off just before a pomarine skua went through...

After lunch I checked out Båstad for an hour. Nothing doing here, although a fine male velvet scoter floated just offshore and two goosander shuttled overhead. A quick look at Petersberg revealed some dragonflies including the year's first Sympetrum vulgatum, a Sympetrum danae and a possible Somatochlora metallica. Damsels included Ischnura elegans and Enallagma cyathigerum.

Moustached darter Sympetrum vulgatum - flying at Petersberg this afternoon.

This Sympetrum danae was a surprise find at Petersberg - not really ideal habitat, possibly a migrant?

Birding - 11/07/09

Slipped out mid-afternoon whilst the kids went to buy their Saturday sweets... Spent an hour at Klarningen - quiet here with curlew (2), green sandpiper (3), common sandpiper (1), lapwing (60), ringed plover (pair) and little ringed plover (pair).

Next stop was half an hour at nearby Frestenfalla, here some dragonfly pools are always worth checking and today was great. Plenty of damsels with Lestes sponsa, Coenagrion hastulatum and a single Pyrrhosoma nymphula. Big dragonflies were represented by an excellent Leucorrhinia rubicunda, lots of Leucorrhinia dubia, Libellula quadrimaculata, Sympetrum danae and a single Aeshna (prob juncea).

Plenty of Coenagrion hastulatum on the wing today

Sympetrum danae was present in good numbers as tenerals, just one adult located

Leucorrhinia rubicunda, just one present in amongst plenty of dubia. Note the blackish pterostigma, pale costa and the pattern along the abdomen.

A Leucorrhinia dubia for comparison.