bugging and honeys arrive

Took the kids out bugging at Greviebackar after school. When they weren't accidently whacking each other with the net things went quite smoothly in a rare patch of sun. We found several new micromoths, a new hoverfly and enjoyed being out and about. As usual the haul will take some time to fully identify... The easy bird highlight was two honey buzzards migrating overhead at the start but icterine warbler was skulking about and singing sporadically too.

 Number 2 earned an icecream by finding this smart little cantharid (Cantharis decepiens) at Greviebackar today. New for BK.

Honey buzzard falls at last, two migrated overhead at the start of our walk.

hot and windy

 Dragonflies were the order of the day, despite the windy conditions and the fact that I would probably of been better off birding! My first Coenagrion puella were on the wing at a number of sites.

Out and about again today in the hot sun and windy conditions. Hit Drängstorp first hoping for Coenagrion armatum but instead had to settle for a huge emergence of Coenagrion lunulatum and my first Leucorrhinia rubicunda for the Atlas square.

 Coenagrion pulchellum

Next stop was Boarp, which was disappointing as the  water level in the ordinarily shallow and very good fourth pond was way up. Did get more puella here though and Coenagrion pulchellum, but very small numbers and no sign of any emergence at the site.

 Hovs Hallar produced at least seven migrating honey buzzards in a one-hour watch

Hovs Hallar for an hour in the middle of the day was good for honey buzzards (seven through) but the hoped-for rosefinches failed to sing. After lunch I had a quick look at the pool at Lönhult but it was too exposed for a reasonable odo-survey.

 Mute swan

Last stop of the day was another speculative listen for rosefinch at Öllövsstrand, again no joy, just a noisy thrush nightingale. The stars here though were two territorial map butterflies.

 Map butterfly

Driving out I glimpsed a male black redstart around the farm buildings at Öllöv and Number 1 and I returned later finding the nest-site and watching both adults shuttling to-and-fro with food for the hungry chicks. Nice find.

Last bird of the day was perhaps the best find, a breeding pair of black redstarts feeding young at Öllöv

epic garden birding

Had a great day in the field today. Kicked off with a look for a few things that may still be lurking on the hill. Lya Ljunghed failed to produce any stonechats but spring was in the air with whinchat and cuckoo singing lustily away. Taking the road through Tvehöga produced a few singing wood warblers but a quick check for red-breasted flycatcher failed too. In Östra Karup a grey wagtail joined me going down the road.

Klarningen produced the first year-tick of the day with a high honey buzzard over north. Also here one male shoveler and 40+ eider south! Otherwise quiet, recent rain has put the water level too high for passage waders! The ducks are breeding though with fluffy mallard, goldeneye and coot available.

High honey buzzard north over Klarningen

Next task was to check a few sites for the black stork that was present during my last tour. I checked the road between Frestensfällan and Baramossa. No joy although Baramossa (just off-patch in Laholm kommun) did produce a nice young family of whooper swan. Typically when I stray out of BK there is a reminder to return to the fold and this time it came in form of an SMS from Mats Ljunggren - he had a firecrest in his garden at Glimminge. As this was one of my most-wanted BK birds I was interested but did not exactly dash over. I checked a few more sites and then headed home for lunch and a look in my garden. I think it is the bible that it states that one should not look at birds in another person's garden until one has thoroughly checked one's own...

Over lunch I was stunned to hear an Acrocephalus warbler singing from one of the hedges.  A reed warbler! Superb and totally unpredicted addition to the garden list. Things were even better in Mats' garden in Glimminge plantering. The firecrest put on quite a show but I totally failed to secure a good image. Also here a honey buzzard over.

The best I could do with the firecrest but what a great bird and a superb find by Mats

Mats' garden was also busy with redstarts.

A walk around Glimminge and Vasaltsheden produced Slavonian grebe (1, full summer-plumage), two little terns, a couple of male red-backed shrikes and a singing icterine warbler. The latter two my first of the year.

A quick look at the pond at the Mäsinge end of the plantation produced a damselfly year-tick - Enallagma cyathigerum and a big grass snake.

Last stop of the day with some kids in tow was fantastic. We went up the hill to Hålehallstugan and the sun shone down. The carpark must have had 150 Cordulia aenea sheltering in it and down by the lake edge we found a good number of Coenagrion lunulatum. Overhead a male honey buzzard displayed with a frog grasped in it's talons. A nice end to a superb day in the field.

 Cordulia aenea

Honey buzzard displaying with a frog dangling from it's talons

postcard from the Pyrenees

 Spanish gatekeeper

Orthetrum brunneum

Tawny pipit

Honey buzzard

Lizard orchid

Lady's slipper orchid

Pyrenean brook newt

Bird's-nest orchid

sick note

 

Great to be back in Sweden and the sun is out at last. Warmer than Turkey this is! Lots of dragonflies on the wing, including plenty of Coenagrion hastulatum to wade through to find lunulatum...

First things first this morning, having stepped off the plane in Turkey two weeks ago with ears that no longer worked and got no better it was time for a trip to the doctor's. Big infection apparently, should have gone sooner! Dosed up with antibiotics now so things should improve hopefully. Being pointed in the right direction for singing birds by sprightly 75-year olds whilst in Turkey felt distinctly topsy-turvy but I took the embarrassment like a man!

First up was a trip to Klarningen. Jan Skidell found a calling spotted crake last night and I was hopeful but not confident. Will try and get back at a better time tomorrow. Water levels have dropped at Klarningen but the birds remain. There are now a fantastic total of six garganey (one pair) and eight shoveler, also two whooper swans dropped in and a pair each of wigeon and teal remain. Waders included Temminck's stint (1), dunlin (3 and a year-tick!), at least 20 ruff and two wood sandpipers. Four black-headed gull nests have magically appeared.

The hairy one (Brachytron pratense), plenty flying at Eskilstorpsdammar today.

Walked into Eskilstorpsdammar next for dragonflies but got lucky with birds picking up the last few migrants I still need for the year. Cuckoo, marsh warbler and garden warbler were all nice. At least three red-backed shrikes and stacks of icterine warblers on site too. I also thought there was a brief snatch of rosefinch song from the riverside trees, there has been one lurking at Klarningen lately and maybe this was the same bird. Dragonflies included all the usual suspects, with eight species on the wing, including Cordulia,  Brachytron and a few Leucorrhina rubicunda. Also map butterfly on the wing here.

Leucorrhinia rubicunda is mostly found on the higher ground in BK but occurs in small numbers at Eskilstorpsdammar. Note the costa is yellow all the way to the base of the wing

Last stop of the day was a rapid transect through Bösketorp pools, had a quick skim through the Odonates but again no surprises and no lunulatum. Some frisky common newts though.

Watched a resident pair of honey buzzards today too.

Four-fingered salute!

Birds all over BK this morning with this wryneck at Ripagården showing well in the same bush as my first BK red-backed shrike for 2012.

I always like to bird on my birthday and today produced a great session in conditions conducive to grounding migrants. Started off with an hour at Klarningen before breakfast and the school-run. All was quiet here with the a pair of cranes, two male garganey floating about, eight wood sandpipers and a ruff. The place was nearly empty of duck, with just nine teal and two mallard remaining. I was contentedly taking in this tranquil scene when my composure was abruptly shattered by the arrival of a skinny-looking harrier! Scope on and I could hardly believe my eyes - a 2K male pallid harrier was giving me the birthday flyby! It went through on a mission, just circling once on it's way north-east. Amazingly this was the first of three pallid harriers to be seen migrating through NW Skåne today. It looks like last autumn's birds are heading back by the same route they went out. Will this species become a regular feature? A great start to the day whatever.

After my birthday breakfast and some light taxi-driving I headed over to have a look at Gröthögarna. The walk was dogged by occasional light showers but the birding was good, so I was not complaining. The highlights of nearly four hours here included three spotted redshank, five wood sandpipers, as well as my first thrush nightingale and spotted flycatcher of the year. The biggest surprise came when I flushed a jack snipe from the edge of the pool in Dalen. This is a rare bird in May here and it even called that squelchy frog-like call that is seldom heard (I've only heard it from one other individual in BK). Otherwise Ripagården provided the best action with a fine wryneck, my first BK red-backed shrike of the year and a trickle of raptors that included four honey buzzards.

A mini-flurry of four honey buzzards hit the coast at Ripagården at midday. My first of the year.

Last stop of the day was Torekov rev. Heavy rain hit as I arrived but that did not stop me spotting three turnstones flying about from the car. A chat influx was evident too, the rev heaving with wheatears and a single whinchat. Somewhere to the south another thrush nightingale was singing. Nice end to a productive day.

Falsterbo!

A much slower day today with brisk SE winds coming into play. We did have a lovely pulse of about 25 honey buzzards over the heath at one point though.

A slow start to my day this morning was a bad idea. I missed two pallid harriers (including a male) and two tawny pipits at the point early on. We all had a nice time though today, watching both Nabbben and the heath for raptors and visiting the Falsterbo Bird Show. Raptor watching produced another black kite and nice views of migrating merlin and hobby.

More atlas work

The well-hooked hamule of the secondary genitalia on male Leucorrhinia rubicunda is the most reliable feature.

We all headed out for a circular walk in the Venedike area this morning, taking in a number of dragonfly sites in the process. First up were the Venedike dammar. Plenty of pulchellum here but nothing out of the ordinary. Bengt-Olsmossen was heaving with over 250 Libellula quadrimaculata, as well as smaller numbers of both Leucorrhinia dubia and rubicunda. Tramping through the woods to the sedge mire near Simonstorp we went outside BK for a while. Here we had a nice soaring honey buzzard and found a single male Calopteryx virgo in the outflow stream.

After lunch I nipped out for a quick look at the nearby Vysterborg pools. Plenty of marsh warblers in the nettles and rank vegetation around the pools here. The far pool also produced some good dragonflies with my first Lestes sponsa of the year, as well as Anax imperator and Brachytron pratense.

This honey blur was just yards from the BK boundary today, on the wrong side...

Klarningen garganey drought breaks

Migration in Sweden has been ongoing since the end of February, but we are now entering the exciting phase (at least for former UK birders like me). The later arriving migrants such as honey buzzard, red-backed shrike and icterine warbler all having a special cachet for me. This honey buzzard spotted from the car today was my first this year.

I always try and spend my birthday in the field and today was no exception. Kicked off early morning at Klarningen and finally found a pair of garganey at the site, these should be regular spring birds from now on I reckon. Also here were eight rather elusive Temminck's stints, nine ruff, one common sandpiper, at least 40 wood sandpipers and three whinchat. Cuckoos have arrived in force now, with singing birds or females at all today's sites.

After picking up the team and dropping Number 1 at school we headed to Hasslarps dammar. Birdsong filled the air, with grasshopper warbler (1), reed warbler (2) and sedge warbler (4+) singing away. Overhead two swifts added themselves to the year-list. Waders included common sandpiper (1), greenshank (1) and wood sandpiper (15). Driving away from the site we stopped just north of Hasslarp village for a migrating honey buzzard - another year-tick.

We just had time to check Sandön and Rönnen before picking up Number 1 from school. Sandön was very low, with plenty of exposed rocks and sand. Highlights in 40 minutes of spotting included; bar-tailed godwit (10), spotted redshank (5), greenshank (5) and an immaculate adult little gull.

Rönnen was even quicker but we just had time to look at Lilla Viken - six Temminck's stints stole the show here, otherwise quiet with just one ruff and one wood sandpiper.

After picking up Number 1 we headed for a birthday picnic at Ranarpsstrand. Sitting in the sun, sheltered from the SE wind it was all very pleasant. Out on the rocks sat an untidy huddle of nine ruff, also here one gadwall and one shoveler. Lounging back and relaxing, I occasionally scanned the skies and the approaches. I was delighted to pick up two black terns, that drifted down to have a look at the rocks before slowly gaining height and drifting north. Superb and a great end to our time in the field today. The last few days has seen a huge movement of black terns, just glad to have cashed in on it - only my second BK record!

Birding - 20/05/09 and garden tick!

Take the honey and run. Shot these from the hip, just one bird through early this morning at Ripagården.

Will try and do better photos in the autumn when birds come through in bigger numbers, or may score tomorrow, who knows?

Overnight rain ensured that I was up and about early again this morning. Revisited the coast between Ripagården and Hovs Hallar but things were deadly quiet. A few yellow wagtails flying over and grounded and the latter included both flava and thunbergi males. No sign of yesterday's big warbler in the reedbed. Marsh warblers are definately 'in' now. A single male honey buzzard migrating low overhead and pictured above was the highlight.

Back at home I was quickly stuck up a ladder and from this high vantage I could hear a thrush nightingale in the woods behind the house (I cannot believe these Rob Fray tactics work). Superb and a garden tick. Mrs B had told me about the bird yesterday and I went to listen for it in the evening. Today it (or another) had moved within earshot of the house and the rest is history.