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!

Patch tick - great egret!

Last day with my sister and her family, so in the afternoon we headed out for a walk out onto Gröthögarna. This proved to be an inspired choice. As we walked south a marsh harrier put all the herons off the wetland in the centre of the headland. My 'spidey-senses' were tingling so I checked carefully through the five grey herons for a possible purple. Nothing doing, then I looked up and saw a great egret slowly flying north! Excellent bird. Got nice views, did a victory boogie and then remembered I should be taking photographs...

It looked good going past but by the time the camera was out... Scarce in BK and a good NW Skåne bird. They should get commoner though and will certainly be easier to see in BK when Klarningen comes online.

Other birds here included dunlin (2) and snipe (1), as well as four massive mullet along the harbour wall at Norrebrohamn when we were having a swim...

Big mullet (Mugil cephalus) , there are several species in European waters but I struggled to identify this one on Google due to it sharing it's English name with a disastrous hair-style...