Weak migration and another longhorn

 Number 1 found my first Stictoleptura rubra for me this afternoon on a walk around the Killeröd-Önnarp loop with the team. This is the female and we watched it egg-laying on a conifer log.

Got out a bit late this morning to look for migrants around Gröthögarna. Nothing much doing just a few tree pipits, three red-backed shrikes and a scattering of warblers and chats. Nearby Torekov rev produced a few waders, notably three sanderlings, but no big surprises.

In an overcast afternoon we all headed out to walk the Killeröd-Önnarp loop. Birds were few and far between but included a black woodpecker heard and a spotted flycatcher sallying out into a clearing. Invertebrates were good but a bit of sun would have helped matters. Even so number 1 found me a brace of Stictoleptura rubra - a new longhorn beetle for me. Later I had fun trying to photograph Aeshna juncea in flight but was defeated by the low light levels.

Number 1 managed the double, finding me a male Stictoleptura rubra later on! Longhorns can exhibit surprising sexual dimorphism.

Aeshna juncea captured in flight in poor light, you can just make out the yellow spots behind the eyes, a diagnostic feature when trying to rule out subarctica.

Back on patch!

After nearly six weeks away I have finally made it home... Great to be back on the patch and the first job today was to look for two-barred crossbills (several have dropped in to BK in the last two weeks in my absence and I 'need' it). No chance of an early start as normal, but I got two hours in at Killeröd mid-morning. No sign of any two-bars though, but two 1K common crossbills were nice. Two nutcrackers were also welcome but failed to show well. A tit flock here included both willow and crested. Dragonflies started to appear as the day warmed. Plenty of Sympetrum vulgatum throughout and a few Aeshna juncea warming up on spruce trunks.

Aeshna juncea - several flying in the woods this morning. Lower down the hill mixta was flying.

Quick looks at Lindab (Sympetrum flaveolum) and Vysterborg (several Aeshna grandis) were useful for the dragonfly Atlas totals for that square. Last stop of the day was Mäsinge for a quick look at the pond, the easy highlight being a male Anax imperator (a recent addition to the Odofauna in Skåne). One day a female will turn up too. Fancying a bit of birding I checked out Glimminge for waders but just one common sandpiper and one greenshank kicked up in a quick look.

Aeshna mixta at Lindab today.

Just one Aeshna cyanea today, this female egg-laying at the pond at Mäsinge strand.

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.

rOdotrip 2 - the Nehalennia gamble

With the window slowly closing on the Nehalennia season, I cracked and decided to try and find them on a warm but overcast day. A gamble that just paid off. It's a 3.5-4 hour drive up to Asby in Östergötland from my house, ie a lot further than I normally drive for a day out. But Nehalennia is a special species and a must-see beast. Believed extinct in Sweden until re-discovered in 2006, it is currently known from just five sites.

Arriving at 0930 I quickly located the site, a fantastic mire, quite an open 'sward' in places and a submerged aquatic macrophyte species (hornwort?) growing in amongst the sedge, bogbean and horsetail. I was surprised by it's heterogeneity and also it's accessibility. Sadly I do not think we have any habitat quite like this in BK but I live in hope of turning up a site nearer home. [That said, there is a site in Denmark which is nearer and I hope to visit it soon.] As I cleared the trees around the mire margin a Coenagrion flew up and was swiftly netted, as I expected it was a male johanssoni - a bonus species present here at the southern margin of it's range and only my second encounter in Sweden.

My first male Coenagrion johanssoni for at least five years, S2 in profile is just splendid.

All boded well, but it was some time before I coaxed out a single mature female Nehalennia. Tiny, short-winged, with a short, pale pterostigma, she fluttered up into the net like a teneral, it was sublime! Looking up for a change I noticed a goshawk flying by with what looked awfully like a red squirrel in it's talons.

If Odonata are your thing then it does not get much better than ticking Nehalennia. Nothing wrong with mature females either.

Nice!

Also here my first Aeshna juncea of the year, as well as Lestes sponsa, Coenagrion pulchellum (1), Erythomma najas, Leucorrhinia dubia and Libellula quadrimaculata. With no sign of any sun on the horizon I headed home at 1130.

A 'blue' female juncea, my first of the year.

Female johanssoni are as distinctive as the males.

No time for stopping on the way home and mostly grey and overcast anyway. Did stop at the Smedje near Skottorp hoping for a burst of river warbler, but no luck. Did get the Blyth's reed warbler again though at Dömestorp, which had added green sandpiper to it's repertoire since I last listened. By way of explanation the nearby eastern pools of Skottorps våtmark were crammed with waders. 'Management' is spot on here with a nice draw-down from bankful over the last week that has pulled in migrants. Totals included: wigeon (1), teal (25), shoveler (6), ruff (4), green sandpiper (10) , spotted redshank (4), greenshank (15) and massive 85 wood sandpipers. Along the river were at least four Sympetrum sanguineum, my first of the year. Had to check Klarningen after that just to compare; ruff (1), wood sandpiper (5) and redshank (2). Oh well!

My fourth Odo year-tick today was Sympetrum sanguineum, closer to home at Skottorps våtmark.

Subarctica in Skåne!

One of at least three red kites flying through Klarningen this morning. Clean look, shallow tail fork and pale-tipped greater and primary coverts make this a 1K bird.

My first male hen harrier of the autumn, a fly-through at Klarningen. One day my pallid will come.

Number 2 and I headed for Klarningen tis morning for a two and half hour session in a brisk easterly. A few raptors on the move with red kite (3-5), marsh harrier (3), hen harrier (male), sparrowhawk (1) and kestrel (1). A flock of five barnacle geese dropped in briefly before heading off again - my first at the site. Otherwise wildfowl numbers have dropped away with just one greylag, seven wigeon and 47 teal. Likewise waders are getting scarce with just ruff (3), snipe (2) and greenshank (2) and no lapwing! A little passerine vismig noticeable this morning with small numbers of tree pipits, yellow wagtail, chaffinch and siskin evident. A short walk secured a fine male Sympetrum flaveolum but no sign of the recent red-throated pipits. The numbers of wheatear (9) and whinchat (5) along the access track continue to build.

After lunch we all headed out to check a likely wetland near Bränneslätt, it proved to be a little gem of a bog pool, complete with a pack of male Aeshna subarctica. Also here Aeshna cyanea, Sympetrum danae and Lestes sponsa.

My recent prediction that I would sadly be unable to find Aeshna subarctica in the Skåne part of BK has been shown to be so much b**locks, and all in just five days! I am often wrong but rarely demonstrate it so quickly... A great find though.

Across the road at Bjäred våtmark we found a good number of Aeshna juncea and small numbers of Enallagma cyathigerum and Sympetrum sanguineum and vulgatum flying and brought the Odonata daylist to 9 species.

Across the road in Bjäred våtmark Aeshna juncea was flying - allowing a timely comparison.

An egg-laying female Aeshna juncea was hard to resist - I am not that familiar with this plumage.

Dragonfly tick!

Nipped out this morning briefly to check Eskilstorpstrand (hoping for little gull or black tern, both reported nearby and just off-patch recently) but nothing seen of note. Also spent an hour up the tower at Klarningen too before breakfast. The teal flock has reached 51 and a few fieldfare, yellow wagtail and tree pipit were on the move. Waders were not very obvious but I scraped up ringed plover (2), golden plover (6), lapwing (75), snipe (1) and curlew (2). On the way home drove over the top but the high ground was too foggy to bird.

In the afternoon we all checked out the loop trail near Killeröd, which I thought we had walked before but actually was new! Nice walk, mixtures of different conifer species and plenty of softwood too. Some nice wet hollows choked with Sphagnum as well. Despite the overcast conditions we did well for dragonflies; recording Aeshna grandis, Aeshna juncea, Sympetrum danae, Sympetrum vulgatum, Sympetrum sanguineum and best of all a single female Lestes virens (a lifer). Birds did not feature much although we did get a pair of bullfinch and a female red-backed shrike.

Aeshna grandis, lots of these guys on the wing at the moment. One of my favourite dragonflies.

Lestes virens a female, my first in Sweden or anywhere for that matter. I originally mistook this for dryas but the pterostigma was brown with pales sides and the ovipositor sheath (although not pale but bicoloured, contra Dijkstra and Lewington) was gently pointed.

A rather cross grass snake I showed the kids, they were quite keen until it stank the place out by voiding a cloacal secretion that smelled strongly of rotten garlic. Who needs poison?

Female Aeshna juncea in the hand - such good views allow the diagnostic yellow costa and yellow spots behind the eyes to be appreciated.

On the way home we quickly checked Hålehallstugan hoping for more dragonflies but the weather had deteriorated too much. Big flock of tufted duck here though (19) and a single little grebe.

Dragging - 23/08/09 and some birds

Another mid-afternoon walk, saw us all visiting the dragonfly pools at Frestensfälla. The late afternoon was warm enough for several species to be flying. A number of Aeshna juncea were patrolling and it was good to catch one to compare with yesterday's subarctica. Also on the wing were Sympetrum danae (small numbers) and Lestes sponsa (still abundant).

Aeshna juncea - in the hand pale spots were noted on the occiput and the underside of the thorax was plain.

Whilst we were looking at dragonflies, a flock moved through the trees and we heard both willow and crested tit. The former is hard to find here but does breed on the patch, the latter is hard to pin down in the breeding season but come the autumn and winter is much easier to see. Last winter a cresty took up residence at Torekov rev and could be watched feeding out on the seaweed with rock and water pipits!

On the way home we watched the 'retro-farmers' at Ehrenstorp cutting a crop with a horse-drawn reaping machine. On the other side of the road the family party of cranes was feeding quietly. A horse field nearby had at least ten yellow wagtails feeding in it. Nice afternoon session.

Dragging - 22/08/09 and another wryneck

We all got out of the house mid-afternoon and headed out to Älemossen. The sun was shining, so I made sure the dragonfly net was in the bag.

The only wet areas remaining at Älemossen are clustered together and look artificial; possibly the result of a last-ditch (!) excavation of pools to ensure the continuation of a wetland flora and fauna in this rapidly drying former bog complex. Whatever, the floating sphagnum moss in the pools is fantastic acid-loving dragonfly habitat.

Bird-wise the bog was quiet, a few redstart called from the bushes as we walked in. On arrival at the wet pools, we noted a few hawkers patrolling over the soupy sphagnum, making the most of the late afternoon sun. I quickly got into position and soon had my first ever Aeshna subarctica safely in the net. I had predicted this species presence at the site, but last year had visited in July and only managed Aeshna juncea I think juncea may have been flying today as well, but never managed to confirm it. The only other odonate identified was a single Lestes sponsa.

Aeshna subarctica - nice to have on the patch. This was a tick for me! The frons-clypeus suture widens as it approaches the eyes on this individual. Costa brown not yellow. Two pale marks on the underside of the thorax too. Looked darker and less impressive than juncea in flight.

Comparison shot of Aeshna juncea, same site but a month (27/07/08) before today's sighting of subarctica. The suture between the frons and clypeus narrows markedly as it approaches the eye. This individual also showed pale spots behind the eyes.

On the way home we looked for the cranes at Ehrenstorp but they have moved on. As we bumped down a track to the lake, we nearly ran over a wryneck, which flushed rather hesitantly right in front of the car, before flying off idly and perching for great views. Nice one!