white-fronts (20150308)

Had a nice session at Klarningen this afternoon with Mrs B. The easy highlight was a large flock of 175 feeding white-fronted geese, 74 teal and 9 wigeon in too. Two ringed plover were on territory, a big flock of 51 starlings and a reed bunting called near the tower. The temperature hit double figures for the first time this year.

Crane

On the way home we bumped into a pair of cranes at Hulrugered, they looked great feeding in the warm sun.

woo hoo!

Cracking day in the field today together with the kids, who kept themselves amused in typical fashion and enjoyed a superb burst of weather, with sun and ridiculous temperatures for the time of year.

Kicked off at Ripagården hoping for the three species of crossbill that have been hanging round. No dice with crossbills but the session here was not without excitement, most of which was offshore. The stiff southerly breeze produced a surprising number of seabirds. The best of which was a fairly close-in 1K pomarine skua. Further out a steady trickle of little gulls and kittiwake was evident and there were reasonable numbers of gannet in the mix too. Pleasant birding. Met up with Bengt here and as he was going south we went north!

Still a few cranes knocking about

Next stop was Yttre Kattvik just to see what the wind conditions were doing to sea-watching here. There were gannets going past but the gull passage was reduced. Interesting. Having promised the kids a burger for lunch our next stop was on the way - Klarningen. Some great birding here too with seven cranes flying in as we approached and quite a few geese on the ground. A quick look through the greylags and barnacle geese revealed at least four tundra bean geese and 11 white-fronted geese. The best bird here though was a redhead smew - only my second record of the year. Amazingly the curlew sandpiper remains, although this should not really be a surprise when we you consider that we have yet to experience temperatures consistently below double-figures this autumn...

After all this excitement we retreated to have lunch and run a few errands during which time I failed to notice that my phone was trying to tell me something. Jobs done we drove to Torekov, parked and finally received a text message saying that the rose-coloured starling was still being elusive!!! Where was it? Less than 300 metres from where we had parked! It took a while for members of the small team hunting for the bird to find it but there it was - a BK tick and one missed during a China trip two years ago. Amazingly this bird was found in the same place and on the same date as the one two years ago. The finder? Bengt of course. BK now has three records of this species and all come from Torekov.

Record shot of the rosy starling

Paul Cook had been one of the people trying to contact me during my 'lost hour' and he eventually joined us to have a look at the bird too. Before he arrived though the most surprising bird of the day drifted through the nearby gardens - a willow warbler, my first in October! Great day out.

another hour at Klarningen

Cranes over Klarningen (with a pair of barnacle geese), part of a flock of 425+ resting in the area after strong easterly and south-easterly winds after the last few days.

There has probably never been a better October to bag a BK yellow-browed or Pallas' warbler but I am stuck working on the house as usual... Hopefully I will have finished soon but I fear it may cost me a Sibe.

An hour at Klarningen was great though. So many birds present. The fields either side of the track had a mobile flock of waders that included 350 lapwing and 40+ golden plover. From the tower there were at least 1000 greylag geese and in amongst them I managed to count two tundra beans, one taiga bean, 11 white-fronts and 63 barnacle geese. Not a bad haul.

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!

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.

Flooding out

Cranes decided to head south today when the winds went northerly and the big rush saw me logging over 700 south from various locations in BK, including the garden.

Kicked off at Eskilstorpsstrand hoping for left-over seabirds in the dying NW wind. It faded fast and veered more northerly. I had to be content with three great skuas mugging gulls offshore and ignore the reports of Leach's petrel and sooty shearwater from points south of me in BK. Picked the wrong place! Ten scaup offshore here were my first of the autumn and I also recorded a single sanderling (my first October bird in Sweden). After an hour and a half I headed for Klarningen.

At Klarningen it quickly became apparent that birds were moving in big numbers. The first flock of cranes was 130 strong and the total in two hours was 554, many right overhead and trumpeting away. Greylag (172), buzzard (60) and woodpigeon (1060) were also obviously on the go. On the wetland were whooper swan (4), wigeon (89), teal (150), shoveler (14, a site record), lapwing (250), dunlin (1) and ruff (3). A single adult female marsh harrier was my latest in BK and the 1K female peregrine seen last time here was still ineptly chasing waders about.

The 1K female peregrine is still terrorising prey at Klarningen but I have yet to see it kill anything.

Over lunch the garden produced a flock of 55 cranes south as well as two goldfinch feeding in the rowan out the back with a couple of blackcaps. We all went out in the afternoon for a walk in the woods around Killeröd and Önnarp. More migration spotted in the clearings with a flock of 64 crane south and a steady string of buzzards weaving across the sky. Best birds though were four two-barred crossbills and two great grey shrikes.

Two great grey shrikes livened up a family walk around Killeröd and Önnarp this afternoon.

Gröthögarna magic

The best bird at Gröthögarna this morning was this short-eared owl, only my second in BK.

Another morning session on Gröthögarna for me today. I have birded this area reasonably consistently for four years and so was overjoyed to get three site ticks in four hours! A great session. Walking the back trail against the light at the start of the walk was almost immediately brightened up by a soaring short-eared owl, which floated about idly sparring with a marsh harrier before drifting off. Birds had dropped out all over the site, good numbers of whinchat and grey-headed wagtail evident and a few pied flycatchers. The thrush nightingale was singing away lustily - still no others in BK, a late arrival for this species this year. Walking on into Ripagården I was overtaken by a male pochard heading north, my first for the site. The reedbed still had a singing reed warbler, with sedge warbler singing nearby too. The final icing on the cake came back near the car at Norra Ängalag - a reeling grasshopper warbler. Offshore on Tjällran sat a single turnstone. Great session.

Two cranes remains at Gröthögarna.

In the afternoon we walked Vasaltheden (marsh harrier) and nearby Glimminge (hobby) and checked out Greviebackar for pasque flowers. Nice day.

Birding - 21/08/10

Nipped out to Torekov before breakfast. The rev was busy but many of the birds were roosting out of view and it was hard counting them. The highlight was my first patch sanderling of the year, other waders present including; grey plover (1), knot (8), curlew sandpiper (1), dunlin (36), ruff (1), bar-tailed godwit (3) and turnstone (1). A huge movement of tree pipits evident with perhaps 400 flying past in just over an hour. A few grounded tree pipit and yellow wagtail about too.

A pair of cranes south whilst we were at Klarningen this morning, plenty of other migrants on the move too.

Took the kids out of the house after breakfast to allow Mrs B to take it easy and recover from a nasty cold. Klarningen was the chosen spot and we had an entertaining two hours here. After all the recent rain and windy weather the water levels were up nicely and there were plenty of birds about. Big flocks of greylag (450), teal (180) and lapwing (250) contributed to the almost bustling feel to the place. The pintail flock has grown to nine birds and single shoveler was also present. Despite the good numbers of teal I could not find a garganey. A 1K goshawk entertained us, sitting up to be admired and occasionally sparring with hooded crows and a marsh harrier and also making more serious efforts to kill a common gull. Other raptors included up to five marsh harriers and two red kite. Two cranes drifted south and there were four whinchats on the fence. Waders were present in a reasonable variety and the raptor action ensured that most were flushed for views at some point or another. Hightlights included golden plover (1), Temminck's stint (1), ruff (1), snipe (10), curlew (8) and wood sandpiper (4).

Be nice to see Klarningen bank-full one day but things are moving on nicely, it is a delight to watch the gradual colonisation of the site by aquatic macrophytes and water quality seems good.

Before lunch we just had time to nip into Petersberg and look for a few dragonflies in the sun. We got eight species, including a single male Lestes virens (over-looked in the last three years evidently...), a nice male Aeshna cyanea and two late Libellula quadrimaculata. The kids enjoyed a big longhorn beetle we found (Aromia moschata).

Aromia moschata or musk beetle at Petersberg today.

Southern hawker (Aeshna cyanea), my first at Petersberg.

Two late Libellula quadrimaculata were flying at Petersberg too.

After lunch we headed out again this time to twitch a broad-billed sandpiper reported yesterday at Stora Hult. No problems with this bird, it was one of the few waders present at the site and good views were had. Walking on to Vejbystrand we were rewarded with close views of three 1K curlew sandpipers and a dozing 1K little gull. Last stop wasa quick look at Ranarpsstrand, a few waders here including; dunlin (2), snipe (6), spotted redshank (2), greenshank (4), green sandpiper (1) and wood sandpiper (9).

Bank holiday blues

Nipped out early to Ripagården this morning to see what was about. Two cranes called from Gröthögarna as I got out of the car. The wood produced a few new migrants including wood warbler (1) and spotted flycatcher (2). Walking north produced four yellow wagtails and a singing thrush nightingale. Overhead my first BK swifts of the year (5). Slightly disapppointed I headed back to the car. From the carpark I could see a birder peering into a bush towards Dalen, I walked over and found him looking at a male bluethroat. Nice! Went home for breakfast determined to return to Gröthögarna with the team for a good look around.

A birder called Morten showed me this after an unproductive hour-and-a-half at Ripagården. Bluethroat number one today!

The kids managed to walk right round Gröthögarna from Dalen to Torekov during the day and we saw some good birds. Almost immediately we bumped into another superb singing bluethroat that sat up and allowed us all scope views.

Bluethroat number 2 on Gröthögarna was watched by the whole family through the scope as it sang in full view.

Other good birds seen on the walk included two excellent spotted redshanks, four wood sandpipers, another bluethroat (three in one day!) and a few spotted flycatchers. Walking back for the car, I bumped into the two cranes heard earlier in the day as they flew in to roost.

Dead fulmar

One of a pair of cranes currently using the wetlands on Gröthögarna.

Picking up the team at Torekov rev later on, I had time to look at the place quickly. Plenty of disturbance out on the rev today, but this seemed to push the birds nearer and we got great views of two turnstones and my latest-ever purple sandpiper.

Stuff is moving

Got out on my own this morning about 2 hours after first light for a thrash around the Halland part of BK. Kicked off at Eskilstorpsstrand for an hour to see what was moving. A lot of wildfowl on the go with whooper swan (14), wigeon (31), teal (37), pintail (6) and tufted duck (4) all heading through. A few passerines over too, mostly chaffinches but also rock pipit (1), white wagtail (1), mistle thrush (1), a flyby chiffchaff and common crossbill and brambling heard.

Lots of cranes migrating today. These two were part of a total of 14 through Klarningen this morning.

Petersberg was still completely frozen over but a few birds moving through here too. Again mostly chaffinch but also white wagtail (2), mistle thrush (3), brambling and linnet. A singing chiffchaff here was nice and there were at least three more feeding along the river. Other residents included a host of reed buntings, a redpoll and a dunnock.

No surprises that Klarningen was next on the list. The thaw here is more-or-less complete and birds are dropping in. Wildfowl included shelduck (4), wigeon (4), teal (130) and goosander (5). Along the access track on on the pools were my first green sandpipers of the year, a total of 8 in all. Snipe (16), white wagtail (1) and linnet (20) are back on site too. Fourteen cranes drifted through. Walking around I was able to view across to Eskilstorps dammar and find an amazing array of wildfowl; wigeon (6), teal (50), pochard (4), tufted duck (2) and best of all a superb pair of smew. Good morning out.

In the afternoon we all went out for a play at the seaside. En route Ljungbyholm had a good flock of golden plover (136) and 13 whooper swans. Ranarpstrand was quiet but did have gadwall (3), white wagtail (2) and the first wheatear of the year. Up at Segelstorpsstrand a single Slavonian grebe was close in and Number 1 pointed out a flock of 16 cranes going north.

Sea-watching and other stuff - 18/08/09

Ospreys popped up a few times today, probably all the records relating to this one individual, which has been hanging around Båstad for a while now.

Up and about for dawn again, hoping for more seabird action. Tried a rather windy and almost spectacular Eskilstorpstrand for three hours first thing. The easy highlight was a superb male hen harrier going south through the surf and an osprey just overhead. Seabirds included a single dark Arctic skua, three kittiwakes and a single Arctic tern. A trickle of waders tested my mettle as they came fast along the strandline in front of me - grey plover (6), knot (4), redshank (3) and dunlin (4).

Moved on to Yttre Kattvik as they had seen more skuas (a great and a pomarine) in the early morning. Things quietened down sadly for the rest of the morning but the watch was not without interest. The raptor theme continued with a great male merlin (as I sat down) and a peregrine in-off later on. Wader passage still ongoing here with grey plover (2), golden plover (22), redshank (4), knot (3) and oystercatcher (61).

Took the kids out in the afternoon. Malen had a fly-over osprey and after the kids had a swim we went on to Klarningen. Here we had another (or the same?) osprey, a marsh harrier, ruff (3), greenshank (5), snipe (2), whinchat (6) and wheatear (2).

Driving home we bumped into the same family party of cranes as the other day at Ehrenstorp (photo and video below).

Another shot of one of the cranes currently using road-side fields at Ehrenstorp. I should get a better camera really... In the video below the plaintive cries are from Number 3 - it is not some previously undescribed juvenile crane call.

Birding - 13/08/09

A family party of cranes at Ehrenstorp this afternoon. They fed unconcernedly beside the car. Migrants or locals?

More rain, so more birding today. Took the family out to a few sites. Checked Båstad quickly for goosander (1). Klarningen was also a hurried stop, not much happening here bar four greenshank, a migrating sparrowhawk and a whinchat. Had lunch at Dömestorp but the kids were tired from a party the night before and we did not get far on our walk before melt-down occurred. On the way home had four superb cranes at Ehrenstorp before dumping off the kids and getting out for a couple of hours.

Walked the coast between Lervik and Ranarpstrand. Lervik was devoid of phalaropes but the bay still held greenshank (1), redshank (2), wood sandpiper (8) and common sandpiper (7). Grytskaren had a huge flock of 20 common sandpipers and the bushes held whinchat (1) and red-backed shrike (pair). Ranarpstrand was difficult to count but had good numbers of waders with greenshank (5), redshank (1), wood sandpiper (7), common sandpiper (5), ruff (1), snipe (15), golden plover (20) and grey plover (1). As well as 85 Sandwich terns and 8 common terns.

More birding - 20/03/09

The view south from Salomonhög

Had an hour up on the hill behind the house this afternoon. A brisk wind from the south kept things decidely cool. Nothing much doing until the last fifteen minutes when 52 cranes went through north in three groups. The peak of the passage through our area is next week, which I will miss sadly, so glad to see some before I go. Common crane is a widespread species (recorded in over 80 countries) but I never tire of watching these magnificent birds heading to the breeding grounds.

Common cranes going north

Birding - 09/03/09 - cranes!

The big twitch - there was scarcely room at the end of the pier!

Torekov rev today - two migrating common cranes and three gadwall were the highlights, if you do not count the sausages we BBQ'd on the beach.

Ripagården - looking a bit gloomy but a great site. Not much doing today though.

Checking Salomonhög last thing produced these four cranes heading north, I think it will be a good vismig site (better than the garden which I can nearly see from there).

My big plan to check out Salomonhög (just up the hill behind my house) at dawn for vismig purposes failed when I woke to frost and heavy fog. I tried to climb above the fog but ran out of hill. I had hoped for a flock of disoriented cranes but had to settle for a few skylarks! As I came down the fog lifted of course.

Took Team Benstead to see the male king eider at Rammsjöstrand - and got the videoclip below for my troubles. It was showing really well (honest) - my videos always turn out very Blair Witch.

Headed to Torekov rev for our lunch and quickly had a small charcoal fire going on the beach and the sausages on the go. This allowed me to check through the denizens out on the rev. The usual flock of 14 purple sandpipers was present, spooked into a countable flock by a passing sparrowhawk. Three gadwall were new in. Migration was much in evidence during our two hour stint, with 47 whooper swans in total, 13 barnacle geese and best of all my first cranes of the year (2).

After dropping off the team I headed back out to Ripagården but things here were very quiet, the highlight being two reed buntings. Driving home checked Salomonhög again and in half an hour had eight whooper swan, four cranes and three starlings through. I think this will prove to be a great spot and I cannot wait for the raptors to start moving.