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.

Patch tick!

A dawn twitch produced the goods - a superb male king eider feeding 150 metres offshore with a large group of common eider. Great views and a great patch bird. Just wish I had found it myself, I have been looking hard enough through all the eider this week. It is on part of the coastline I rarely watch though! The weather was pretty bleak, cold southerlies and snow on the cards, so I packed it in after searching out a possible vismig venue near the house. Just after I got back the snow came on strong for an hour, vindicating my wimp-like behaviour.

Patch grip!

Well I predicted it here. You can see it here, now all I have to do is see it myself! Was going out birding tomorrow morning anyway, now will have to try and relocate the king eider - it was flushed by a boat at 1700. I am pager-less here (for peace of mind) but sometimes it is painful, must get a local grapevine going.