Cold weather movement - 29/11/09

Nipped out early to listen for owls this morning and had a tawny at Axeltorpsravinen. Moved on to Älemossen and listened to a good passage of thrushes overhead in the last of the darkness. Mostly redwing, but with a few fieldfare, mistle thrush and brambling in the mix. The northern half of Sweden has got cold recently and birds are finally moving out. Also here I watched 29 ravens come out of roost and all head in the same direction.

When it got light I decided to head for Petersberg. A few redwings were still flying overhead and wildfowl on the move as well. Whooper swan (36) and small groups of Canada and greylag geese heading south. Walked by the reedbed and had a calling water rail, spurred into sound by a close pheasant flyby. A single stock dove whizzed past and the pit had 35 tufted ducks. Time for breakfast.

Black woodpeckers are great. I watched this one at close range at Vasaltheden, as it levered off huge bits of birch bark whilst foraging.

Black woodpecker feeding signs.

After breakfast took the gang out for a walk along the stretch of coast from Öllövstrand to Vasaltheden. A flock of 16 ravens were feeding together in the fields at the beginning (perhaps from the Älemossen roost?). At least three Slavonian grebes were noted during the walk but other migrants stole the show today. I was hoping for the chiffchaff reported yesterday by Mats Ljungren at Glimminge, but instead the easy highlight was a 1K barn swallow over Vasaltheden and heading north. We also recorded a single white wagtail (south), nine crossbills (south) and a single snow bunting (south). The shoreline had teal (3, scarce at the moment) and redshank (2). Overhead a red kite made an appearance and to top it all off at the end, in the birches up against Glimminge was a superb (and rather confiding) black woodpecker.