Tits!

Yesterday during my snowy walk at Gunnarsö, I came across a mixed-flock of crested and willow tits. They were very excited and hopping about on the snow, closer examination of the the area of interest revealed an indentation where a moose had obviously laid up that night. Whilst I stood by the tits fearlessly examined the area minutely, presumably looking for parasites and other possible food items. It is not very hard-core, but encounters like this are why I go birding.

No mistaking the Scandinavian willow tits.

Swedish tick - black grouse!

If I get a colder dawn than this one this year I will be surprised.

A freezing (-13!) dawn greeted me at Tranebo, a lookout over the north end of the huge Dumme Mosse (peat bog), near Jönköping. I lasted just under an hour. Frost was forming on my telescope and my eyelashes kept freezing to my hat! But occasional scanning finally revealed a female black grouse feeding high in a distant birch tree - my target bird, in all its glory. Also here the feeder attracted a number of species including bullfinch (3), brambling (1), nuthatch (1), marsh tit (1) and jay (7).

Driving around to Gunnarsö, a fruiting rowan near Axamo produced three redwing and a mistle thrush, in amongst the more abundant fieldfare. There has been a black-throated thrush nearby recently, so any thrush flock is worth a check. Gunnarsö was hard work in the snow but I managed a 4 km walk. Plenty of crested and willow tits in the woods and a nice adult golden eagle over a large clearing was excellent. But sadly no sign of any capercaillies. Next time, perhaps.

Lifer – Tengmalm’s owl (Småland) – 01/03/09

After decades of looking at them in field-guides - he finally scores!

At last! I have been trying to find one of these great little owls on my own for a long time. No guide, no nest box, just me and the bird. Well I finally did it and this solo sighting has more than made up for missing the big invasion in Skåne last autumn. Now that I’ve got my eye in, all I have to do is find one on the patch this spring… My fifth lifer this year - what is going on?

How it happened. Team Benstead relocated to Mrs B’s sister’s place (near Jönköping) for the weekend, a move which opened up a range of possible birding opportunities. I decided to go for owls. I got up at 0400 and hit the road, a short drive saw me at Gunnarsö, on the edge of the huge Dumme Mosse (bog). The cold was intense and was not helped by my having crept out quietly without breakfast. I drove and listened regularly but heard nothing for the first two hours. Then just before first-light I heard a Tengmalm’s near the road. After half an hour of chasing he was perched out on an exposed snag. Superb. The victory boogie shocked the bird slightly and helped warm me up a bit.

Tried a nearby observation point (Tranebo) for an hour and half after dawn. Bean geese were on the move – a flock of fifteen passing directly overhead. My first bullfinch of the year fed at a nearby feeder. But the cold had seeped into my bones and after the owl I was done. Breakfast tasted good.

Afterwards Team Benstead went en masse for a walk. The three daughters of the apocalypse scared pretty much everything away and failed to flush a capercaillie as I had hoped (they are very good at finding woodcock). The forest looked great for caper though and much better than anything we have in Båstad kommun. We did get very brief views of four parrot crossbill and a roving tit flock contained crested tit (2), willow tit (2) and a couple of treecreepers.