get by with a little help

Been busy of late. Wednesday I was working and picked up at least three two-barred crossbills at Hov again. The next day I was working nearer Torekov at Varan and had my first rough-legged buzzard of the autumn through and a jay was knocking about here too. In the evening I took the kids for a quick walk along Ranarpsstrand and kicked up two jack snipe.

Yesterday we dragged a load of bedding and food down to Grytskären and spent the night in the shelter there. We have been promising the kids we would do this all summer so we decided to get it done before things get too cold! It rained overnight but this did not produce any birds in the plantation in the morning, apart form a single goldcrest and great spotted woodpecker. A flock of 11 parrot crossbills that dropped in very briefly were my first for a while though. Luckily reinforcements were in the field to help me out. Mikael Olofsson relocated the Lapland bunting at Lervik for us (as well as gripping me off with a Caspian gull...).

 A typically confiding Lapland bunting, my first of the year.

Later  Håkan Johansson texted in a red-throated pipit on the beach at Vejbystrand, so we checked Storahultsstrand on our way to checking it out. Then exhausted by our overnight activities we returned home to chill out! A goshawk burst out of a roadside hedge in Lervik as we headed home. Good session but not my own work!

It was better than this in life - honest. Red-throated pipits on the deck are always welcome.

Waterfowl survey - Torekov to Hovs Hallar

A 10 km coastal walk in September is always going to produce a few good birds. Today was rather quiet, but two superb Lapland buntings at Gröthögarna on the trek back to the car more than made up for it.

Walked the coast from Torekov to Hovs Hallar today to count waterfowl. As usual the September count was easily done as there were very few waterfowl around! The five-kilometre stretch of coast produced the following; grey heron (3), cormorant (239), mute swan (10), mallard (110), wigeon (48), gadwall (1), teal (6), common scoter (3), eider (82), goosander (1) and red-breasted merganser (5).

During the count I was entertained by a merlin (catching and then drowning an irate starling, before settling down to a messy breakfast), a couple of lesser black-backed gulls, good numbers of wheatear and smaller numbers of rock pipit and whinchat. The bushes were full of common migrants this morning but nothing of note appeared.

It was the walk back that produced the bird of the day when I was jolted out of my reverie by a couple of Lapland buntings on the path. It was one of those occasions where you find yourself looking at a great bird through your bins without knowing quite how you became aware of the bird in the first place. Auto-birding!