Arctic

My first Arctic terns for some time straggled through Yttre Kattvik heading west today

Got up early for a chilly and occasionally wet seawatch at Yttre Kattvik that failed to deliver despite some ferocious westerly winds. Finished a five-hour session with totals of: fulmar (1), black-throated diver (3), merlin (1 north), kittiwake (3), Sandwich tern (2) and best of all Arctic tern (34 west). Disappointing not to bag a shearwater.

On the way home I checked out Lya ljunghed for singing cuckoo and a pair of red-backed shrikes. Driving up Sinarpsdalen was greatly improved by a hobby flying alongside the car for a while.

more weather

I took the bus down to Båstad late in the morning to see if anything was going past. It was quiet here again with just a couple of little gulls past in a sample hour. I then headed for the bus only to watch it leave two minutes early...

This prompted a four-mile walk home through Sinarpsdalen on the lookout for more year-ticks - which netted some common woodland birds but not the hoped-for hawfinch. Nearing home I got news of a grey phalarope at Torekov, so we borrowed a car and spent the last hour of light searching in vain in the stormy sea offshore. I did pick up a south-bound 2K pomarine skua for my trouble and we could look south to the the glaucous gull at the sewage works.

nutcrackers

Still busy putting a roof on the house and in the longest spell of non-birding since I met Mrs B all those years ago. That said I could not fail to notice the two nutcrackers that flew over the car at Sinarpsdalen today. 

self-found hoopoe - just splendid

Today's highlight was easily my single-observer five minutes with a hoopoe at Hovs Hallar. There were too many non-birders (NoBs) walking the path for it to stick around for those trying to twitch it sadly, but it may still be lurking somewhere.

Got up rather late this morning but got to Sinarpsdalen for 0800 and my attempt to add lesser spotted woodpecker and grey wagtail to the year-list was partially successful with a single female grey wagtail popping up to look at me.

Klarningen next, chasing garganey. No joy but there were a few birds on site including 23 wigeon, four shoveler and eight redshank. News of a hoopoe flying over Förslöv sent me off to Hovs Hallar on a gamble. After a random police breathalyser test I reached the site and eventually settled in my usual place looking south from the low ridge towards Gröthögarna. Now Hovs Hallar is the site in BK where I should spend more time. Geographically it has huge potential, especially in spring and it is hugely under-watched. This New Year I made a resolution to visit more often but it is a hard place to work in the traditional sense but a great place to sit and watch birds go by. This static form of birding has taken me ages to get used to but it paid off very quickly today.

I had hardly settled in when a bird flying past caught my attention. A single avocet resolutely heading north high above the sea. Only my fifteenth BK record and coming after a blank year in 2013 a most welcome addition to the year-list. On the sea a single gannet and red-necked grebe. Raptors were dribbling through with sparrowhawk and kestrel heading north and out over the sea, their presence indicated by corvid harassment. Amazingly a snow bunting went through north too hugging the shoreline but not stopping. Then the crows were up again and I looked on in amazement as the hoopoe appeared to the south flying towards me for a minute before dropping into the scrub - my second BK bird. I texted out a message and looked up in time to see it coming on towards me again. This time it landed in view and after a few desultory pecks of the turf it was flushed by Easter walkers and hopped the wall. I gave chase but looking over the wall revealed no bird, an amazing vanishing act. Håkan J arrived just a few minutes too late and Jan was not far behind but I fear they dipped.

After lunch we all took the bus down the hill and walked back up Sinarpsdalen in the blazing sun. Butterflies and bees were on the wing. I finally caught up with a singing willow warbler and four hawfinches were good to see as usual. A black woodpecker called in the distance. A great day.

Peacock

Hawfinch

arctic roll!

Had my first proper morning in the field for some time today and it was packed full of birds. I worked the coast between Stora Hult and Gröthögarna searching in vain for a large congregation of feeding eider but sadly failing. No king this year perhaps...

Stora Hultstrand had single Slavonian and red-necked grebe and redshank (2), as well as a decent-sized flock of common scoter (130+). Nearby Grytskären had a single flyby curlew and more redshank. Ranarpsstrand produced a single flyby white-tailed eagle, another red-necked grebe and (far inland) a flock of 200+ golden plover took to the air. Segelstorpsstrand was quiet (just five great crested grebe). At Glimminge I heard my first reed bunting song of the year and also bumped into three twite.

The king eider search continued north. I dropped into Rammsjöstrand (a rare event), no eiders here but the small birdy bay just north of the harbour had some redshank (2) and a pair of gadwall. Next stop was Påarps mal and here I got three year-ticks in no time at all. A white wagtail was feeding along the shoreline, as were at least three dunlin and back in the juniper there was a pair of linnet. Offshore at least two shags on the rocks. The rev was busy with birders when I got there but I had a quick look, counting one dunlin and 17 purple sandpipers out on the rocks before the crowds sent me scuttling on my way.

Last stop of the morning was a look at Norra Ängalag but before I got there I was stopped in my tracks by the Rålehamn redpoll flock. Back again and still containing an Arctic redpoll (this bird was last seen on 1st February) . I got reasonable views on the deck through the scope but the bird was very skittish as usual so no chance of a photo. Also in the mix, at least three twite and 25 linnets.

Very little time remained to me to examine Norra Ängalag but a quick look revealed a pair of gadwall and yet another redshank.

In the afternoon we all walked in Sinarpsdalen, the only bird of note being a single jay, although the kids made so much noise they were probably disturbing birds down on the coast...

wildfowl count - Torekov to Hovs Hallar

Another morning duck counting, this time in much milder conditions, between Torekov and Hovs Hallar. In between the counting I found a few good birds. A male pintail popped up at Rålehamn. I finally found a raven (!) for the year, one flying noisily around Norra Ängalag. Ripagården produced a treecreeper in a small flock that also included three goldcrest. Tjällran had a roosting peregrine.

After the count I headed for Båstad to have a quick look for the oystercatcher, no sign but 18 whooper swans in the bay. Klarningen next hoping for the great grey shrike that has been reported occasionally over the winter. It was quiet on site but amazingly on the way home I picked up a great grey shrike as I drove up Sinarpsdalen. Year-tick number four for the day but as I opened the door I added another as ten waxwing swept over the front garden.

geese

Had a morning in the field at long last today. It was quite windy with just a hint of westerly in the northerly wind so I decided to check out Eskilstorpsstrand. On the way I picked up a nutcracker in Sinarpsdalen that flew alongside the car for 200 metres. At Eskilstorppsstrand a kittiwake floated past and got me excited but the wind direction made my the site uncomfortable so I relocated to Båstad. I swear the wind veered north whilst I drove round because when I got sat down on the breakwater I was still in the wind! Nothing doing here anyway in an hour, just ten grey heron east.

Checked out Klarningen next. Plenty of birds here with 1200 greylags topping the bill. Careful searching revealed at least eight white-fronted geese (three 1K) and four tundra bean geese. Also present were 43 barnacle goose, two shoveler and three pintail. A 1K marsh harrier here was my latest BK bird and 1K hen harrier put in a performance too.


On the way home I checked out Älemossen and was rewarded with great views of a great grey shrike, six red kite (a big migration day for them) and three jays.

In the afternoon, the kids and I just had time to check Stora Hultsstrand and kicked up two more jack snipe for the already large BK total this autumn.

five great egrets!

Cranes have been a big feature of the last two days, smaller numbers through today though.

Three BK year-ticks today - a real red-letter day. Kicked off just after dawn at Segelstorpsstrand and although I had planned to walk about listening for yellow-browed warblers there was the obvious movement overhead so I dug in and got my ears on. Twelve twite on the beach were my first birds this autumn. Constant small flocks of chaffinch/brambling, great tit and blue tit were a feature this morning and in amongst the hordes heading south the occasional gem. Crossbills were also on the move in a modest way and I got great views of a small flock of parrot crossbills that stopped a while in a nearby birch. My first BK grey wagtail of the year was swiftly followed by the "twiddle-diddle" call of my first wood lark of 2013 too. Jackdaws filled the sky with their calls as large flocks headed purposely south. A goshawk materialised briefly. Birds were on the move. Heading home for a pit-stop I was soon back out at Klarningen picking up a jay in Sinarpsdalen on the way.

Klarningen was busy, a flock of 420 greylags included three white-fronted geese, and ten shoveler and two pintail remain. Overhead things were going on here with good numbers of buzzard through (200+ in an hour-and-a-half), one rough-legged buzzard and seven cranes. Passerines occasionally buzzed the tower including a total of 80+ redwing heading east and five common crossbills.

The SMS that five (!) great egrets were at Torekovs rev was well-received and we got there eventually to find them still present. My second BK record. Also here four twite and a flock of 30 cranes south.

Four of the five great egrets gracing Torekovs rev this afternoon. Mental!

20 minutes

Not much time in the field today but managed 20 minutes in the late afternoon, carefully negotiating the valley mire in Sinarpsdalen looking for dragonflies. Surprisingly few damsels on the wing here just Pyrrhosoma nymphula. Got my first Leucorrhinia rubicunda for the site though and a few Libellula quadrimaculata were on the wing too.

double dip disaster

BK ticks do not come along very often for me these days but yesterday two were on offer and I managed to connect with neither of them! Overnight Martin Ekenberg had found a singing corncrake at Bränneslätt so that was my first port of call in the morning. No sign.

I drifted towards Torekov rev which had four grey plover (year-tick!) and then checked Flytermossen for dragonflies. No sign of any armatum this time, although the edge had dried up a lot, but quite a few Brachytron. Whilst here we heard that Ulf had seen a serin whilst playing golf at Sönnertorp near Västra Karup. Failed again with this much-wanted target species but at least surveyed the rather poor ponds on the course for dragonflies whilst we were there.

Later on I went for a night-drive but things were quiet. No sign yet again of the corncrake and just a marsh warbler at Klarningen, some young ringed plovers at Petersberg and a tawny owl family at Sinarpsdalen. Rather disappointing.

hobby

Managed to oversleep this morning but still scraped myself into the field at Eskilstorppsstrand at 0630. Not much doing here, very little moving overhead and just a gannet and a scattering of red-throated divers moving offshore.

Had two hours at Klarningen on the way home. Surprisingly few birds here too, the highlight being a 2K hobby circling around before shooting off on a mission. My only year-tick of the day. New birds in included a pair of moorhen and single ruff and greenshank remained.

Walking to the river I gazed enviously across the border in Laholms kommun. The wetland here is holding water (unlike Klarningen which is obviously still leaking badly) and a good-sized black-headed gull colony is building. Such colonies are the beating heart of any wetland, protecting other breeding birds by continual gull-pestering of potential predators. Black-headed gulls tried to breed at Klarningen last year but most nests were left high-and-dry and got predated by foxes. I cannot blame them for not trying again. Anyway the pools north of the river held a shoveler pair and I bet they will hold garganey this year, if they do not already...

In the afternoon we all headed out on a local walk around Sinarpsdalen. This proved to be rather good with a black woodpecker flying about and then three ring ouzels flew in and landed in front of us at one point. The low point was a nearly wryneck, flushed from the base of a stone wall and disappearing forever in the juniper.

the weekend that was

 Rhagonycha fulva (a type of soldier beetle) is everywhere at the moment in BK.

The trouble with pan-species listing is that the learning curve is so steep it makes your brain hurt a lot and the identification process for even the common things can get rather lengthy! Spent the weekend walking and photographing mostly on Hallandåsen. Did a bit of birding with Klarningen being rather disappointing on Saturday (water levels too high for waders after the rain) but had some nice encounters with young red-backed shrikes just out of the nest at Älemossen. Sunday saw some serious invertebrate searching in Sinarpsdalen near the house and we found a nice male black woodpecker (amazingly my first BK bird of the year!!) as well as a possible first for Skåne in the shape of a huge female sawfly Xeris spectrum. An afternoon picking blueberries at Älemossen produced more invertebrates including a monster puss moth caterpillar.

Nice to see a few familiar invertebrates during the weekend, such as this Coenagrion hastulatum.

Number 2 found this nice Chrysomela populi at Sinarpsdalen.

Bee beetle (Trichius fasciatus).

The big one, the nationally near-threatened sawfly Xeris spectrum, this may constitute the first record for Skåne, a great find in Sinarpsdalen yesterday.

Black woodpecker, whistled in for good views at Sinarpsdalen but difficult to capture with a macro lens!

Top beast at Älemossen was this enormous puss moth (Cerura vinula) caterpillar caught wriggling feverishly across the trail.

A presumed female ichneumon at Älemossen yesterday. Anyone?

Number 1 found me this roosting four-spotted footman (Cybosia mesomella) at Älemossen.

Missed!

Number 2 and I headed out to Klarningen this morning, fewer birds in evidence today but we still came away with three year-ticks. Wildfowl present included the five pintail and male garganey from yesterday but nothing new in. A light passage of raptors was evident again overhead, including a high marsh harrier and my first osprey of the year. Waders failed to impress today, with just four redshank and a green sandpiper leftover from yesterday, that is until I heard the distinctive "chu-it" call of a spotted redshank and watched it heading north low over the site and off into Laholm. Nice one. Thinking it might have dropped in on the newly re-modelled Skummeslövs dammar we squelched over there and peeped over the river into Laholm kommun. No sign of it but we were rewarded with another year-tick in the shape of a rather neat little ringed plover.

We checked out Eskilstorpsstrand, plenty of scoter here and worthy of more attention soon. Single scaup, long-tailed duck and great crested grebe looked good on the flat calm sea. Driving home we bumped into a nice male hen harrier coming through Sinarpsdalen on his way north.

In the afternoon the kids and I had time for a quick look at Hasslarps dammar (three pochard) and a long drive looking for a reported black kite. This bird crossed form Denmark earlier in the week and unknown to me had probably flown south through BK whilst Number 2 and I had lunch. Around the same time a black stork probably did the same but heading north! Doh!

That's more like it

Despite a late start I managed a great day in the field today, catching up with a few winter specialities and bolstering the year-list. The late start meant that breakfast looking out into the garden inevitably produced some new birds for the year, most notably at least 1500 brambling that flew north out of Sinarpsdalen. At least 750 more brambling were noted as I went over the top of Sinarpsdalen as I drove down to Båstad.

First stop was a look at Eskilstorpsstrand. Serious damage to the dunes here and the beach has been re-profiled. Sea levels are still high and the beach was covered in foam. Not much here in a short watch, the best birds being a flock of 75 scaup just offshore and a black-throated diver north.

Klarningen was busier with 25 bean geese over on arrival and a total of 22 white-fronted geese also probably newly arrived. As Sweden freezes up to the north we should get a few geese through, it normally happens in November but it has been so mild this winter. Other notable birds here were mallard (22), tufted duck (6), hen harrier (2 ringtails) and 30+ starling.

Drove home over the top where a 5 minute stop at Lya ljunghed produced the hoped-for great grey shrike as well as a complete surprise in the shape of a west-bound merlin (probably a female).

In the afternoon we grilled sausages at Ripagården (meadow pipit and goldfinch) before heading to Torekov. The rev was completely submerged and rather quiet for birds, just 13 wigeon and a rock pipit noted. Nearby the harbour was providing a refuge for a single guillemot and viewing across the sound Vinga Skär produced singles of both peregrine and white-tailed eagle. Last stop of the day was at Påarps Mal where a water pipit performed well before dusk.

Already over 100 species have been logged in BK this year, I added a few today but it will be some time before my year-list hits the ton.

kingfisher - 223

Nipped down early to Båstad this morning. It was sunny and bright on top of the hill, but as I descended into town the fog thickened up really well and visibility was very poor. Despite this I headed for the harbour, but before I got there a kingfisher loomed out of the fog. It tried to land on my head and then, realising it's error, beetled off east. Year-tick, at last! Probably the last one too, unless something great happens this week. So after ten whole minutes in the field I headed home.

In the afternoon we lunched at Dagshög under a blue sky - just 92 golden plover over and a goshawk through on the way back to the car. Mrs B dropped me at the bottom of Sinarpsdalen on the way back to chase Martin Ekenberg's pygmy owl but all I got was a decent walk home. Highlights of the trek were a very vocal great grey shrike and a single hawfinch.

221!

My BK year-list hit 221 today, my best ever total and still a few birds to play for. Kicked off at first light with a circuit of Gröthögarna and Ripagården. Nice sunny day with first easterly winds here for some time, and forecast to go on through the week! Could be interesting.

Plenty of in-off finch action on the headland this morning with high flocks coming in from the west and just carrying on east overhead. At least thirty crossbill in amongst the commoner species and a low Lapland bunting called a few times overhead but did not appear to drop in. Bullfinches have started to appear in small numbers with at least eight during the walk. Gannets milled about offshore.

Ripagården produced the best birds in some ways with two grey wagtails, a great grey shrike and my first waxwings of the autumn (25 streaking south).

Picking up the team we all walked to the sea down Sinarpsdalen. I was hoping to make contact with the 1K golden eagle I saw sneaking along Hallandåsen and probably into BK two days ago. Just before lunch I got text telling me there was one offshore on Hallands Väderö. Well at least we knew which direction it would come from if it came our way! We had lunch at a suitable vantage point and blow me if the bird did not turn up flying in from the west just as we were packing up; a nice clean 1K bird and my first in BK since December 2007! It was also 221 for the year! Following close behind it was a rough-legged buzzard.

This young golden eagle was a most welcome addition to the BK year-list. In my first year here I saw two birds and since then nothing, so long overdue for a re-appearance.

Båstad harbour continues to host a little auk.

Walking on into Båstad we enjoyed another quick look at the surf scoter and took in the harbour little auk before taking the bus home. Great day in the field.

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.

Anyone for crickets?

Great green bush-cricket - female nymph. One of many in the valley mire at Sinarpsdalen today.

Another lazy start saw us in the field at midday for a look at the valley mire at Sinarpsdalen. Strong westerlies and a cool temperature put down all Odonata activity. Twenty minutes tramping about failed to turn up a single damselfly or dragonfly. But I did find my first BK raft spider (Dolomedes fimbriatus), a shy female close to a web-nest crammed full of young. There were also plenty of Great green bush-cricket nymphs (Tettigonia viridissima) in the wetland today.

A quick look at Klarningen after lunch revealed the site to be empty of waders and ducks but a quail was singing away and as we drove off a 2K hobby dashed about after swallows.

Atlas work - more Odonata

Had a leisurely start today and headed out when things got warm to search Vasaltsheden for Ischnura pumilio, dropping the team at the beach. The mire here is very dry and much of it was accessible for a change, amazingly I could not find a single damselfly, just one Libellula depressa had a look around before buzzing off. The bushes in the mire had a singing icterine warbler, surely a recently arrived migrant.

Before picking up the team I checked Mäsinge pond again whilst I was in the neighbourhood. Things have really picked up here with several new species recorded: Erythromma najas, Brachytron pratense, and a pair of Libellula depressa.

After a quick lunch I dashed out again. The weather forecast for the rest of the week looks dicey so these sunny days have to be capitalised on. I checked out a few sites near home. Lönhult pond is an odd spot, by rights it should have a rather poor Odonate fauna. It lies in the middle of an agricultural area, is clearly highly eutrophic and has little submerged aquatic vegetation. I was stunned therefore to record 11 species of dragonfly at the site including both Coenagrion lunulatum and hastulatum. After walking the superb Vasaltsheden mire and recording just one species it seemed a little strange. At least 15 Libellula depressa here were entertaining. It was not just dragonflies either, I flushed two green sandpipers off the pool and the small area of scrub and trees included within the buffer surrounding the man-made wetland had singing marsh warbler and thrush nightingale.

The pond at Lönhult - it may not look like much but it is going to be an interesting place to watch.

One of two Coenagrion lunulatum spotted at Lönhult today, I thought this species would have narrower habitat tolerances but it looks like it is going to be widespread in BK.

Last site for the day was the valley mire part of Sinarpsdalen, plenty of red-backed shrikes in here plus one fly over hawfinch. The mire was chocker with Pyrrhosoma nymphula and Coenagrion puella (easily the best site for these two that I have found in BK so far). But the prize went to the five or so Calopteryx virgo along the little brook. This spot may well produce my first Cordulegaster in BK I reckon.

Stunner! virgo in all it's glory.

Bits and bobs

Had a short amount of time in the field today as we said goodbye to Ma B who was heading back to the UK. Half an hour at Klarningen produced shelduck chicks, two little ringed plovers, three wood sandpipers and two yellow wagtails. The quail failed to sing for us. Nearby Skottorp, just across the motorway and off-patch, produced a Caspian and a black tern...

Driving home we stopped for the black redstarts in Sinarpsdalen and actually saw the male! Then it was time to wash the car, mow the lawn and catch up all the jobs we have not been doing over the last fortnight.