sun and plovers

  Golden plover

The sun was shining so I got out during the morning. Walked around in the woods at Segelstorpsstrand searching yet again for a stray yellow-browed warbler but failing. One day... Plenty going on overhead though, with skylark, reed bunting, brambling/chaffinch and siskin obvious and perhaps I should have paid more attention to the vismig instead of going for glory! On the ground a count of five great spotted woodpeckers suggested movement too and a crested tit was hanging about. The best birds were on the beach though, seven spanking new grey plovers.

 Seven grey plovers at Segelstorpsstrand this morning, all immatures.

Checked out Ranarpsstrand on the way home and bumped into Mikael Olofsson. We had a good old natter, apparently Siberian tits are on the move up north, which is unusual. I think it is going to be a cold winter... Ranarpsstrand was quiet but I kicked up a jack snipe along the shoreline and offshore there were three Slavonian grebes.

Jack snipe plummeting back to earth.

One of two red squirrels at Segelstorpsstrand this morning.

dysphaea dimidiata

Dysphaea dimidiata at Taman Negara this month. Trying to find the time to blog about my recent tour of Malaysia but it may be some time. Also long overdue is a trip report of our summer odo-tour of Europe...

quick look

Checked the sunny edge of Glimminge plantering at noon, quite a few crossbill (10) and chiffchaff (9) and also a single redstart, but nothing more exciting. Best bird of the day came in the village later on in the afternoon when a nutcracker flew high overhead.

snow goose

Today's 1K white-tailed eagle, moments later it scragged an eider and drowned it before tucking in.

Managed to drag myself out into the field just before 0800 today. Hit Ripagården for an hour but there was very little moving overhead here and not much on the ground. A 1K white-tailed eagle cruised past and grabbed a male eider, calmly drowning it before tucking into breakfast. A black woodpecker called in the plantation and bouncing around in the tops of the pines a flock of ten crossbills was predictable enough this autumn. A jay to the south on Gröthögarna was another sign of autumn. Little moved on the sea but two red-necked grebes heading south were notable.

Next stop was Norra Ängalag, a large gathering of gulls was checked thoroughly but yielded nothing. A single wheatear feeding n the seaweed-covered shore another reminder of autumn and colder days to come.

Torekov rev was strangely deserted (disturbance?). Only birds of note a single rock pipit and a flyby red-throated diver.

In the afternoon we all headed out to Klarningen, a snow goose had been reported yesterday and it was still present today. Plastic fantastic! Also here 21 ruff and a dunlin. Later we walked Eskilstorpsstrand but nothing could we find. Strangely quiet at the moment, most migrants have bugged out and there seems to be slim pickings on the eastern front.

half an hour

Been busy this week working in the gardens of the rich and famous. Had 23 cranes south over Hov on Tuesday otherwise things have been fairly quiet at work. This afternoon I grabbed half an hour at Ranarpsstrand but nothing much was happening - three adult lesser black-backed gulls and a greenshank...

quiet hour

Had an hour at Klarningen this morning before working in the garden for most of the day. Quite a few greylag about (175) but nothing in amongst them. Also 230 lapwing resting on site and 12 ruff. A single gadwall is still present alongside five shoveler and good numbers of wigeon (43) and teal (85). The only good bird was the water rail which showed well again before sloping off. Overhead the was plenty going on and I should have moved to the coast really; small numbers of chaffinch, brambling, siskin, meadow pipit and white wagtail heading south

jack snipe

Nothing makes it feel more like autumn than the first jack snipe of the season and today I got one. I got out for two hours in the afternoon and slowly walked about Ripagården hoping to scare up some migrants. Apart from the jack snipe things were pretty quiet, nine crossbill were noisy in the plantation and there was a general lack of insectivores about, just two chiffchaff. In the harbour I watched a confused female Aeshna cyanea egg-laying into the seawall...

it rains

Ed and got up early and checked out Hovs Hallar hoping for some vismig but the heavens opened up and we headed to Klarningen after half an hour. Here we found the place rather empty of birds, a flyby pintail, a gadwall and two little grebe being our only reward. Rain continued throughout the day and although we walked the Killeröd-Önnarp loop we failed to locate our target bird - nutcracker and had little else besides. A wash-out!

huge day counting ducks

Big raptor day in BK today with several merlins, a peregrine and this 1K goshawk at Torekov.

The September duck count was not a chore today, as it was punctuated by several good birds including a heard-only BK tick. I worked the coast between Dagshög and Hov Hallar as usual and typically there was not much to count on the wildfowl front, although wigeon numbers were perhaps a little higher than normal. The best duck a single pintail at Ripagården.

But it was migrating passerines that dominated my attention. At Torekov mid-morning I finally heard the flight call of a red-throated pipit and looked up to see it travelling high overhead. A short while later a two-barred crossbill called on the edge of town but I had no time to look for it. [It was seen later with common crossbills by the sewage works]. Despite this scattering of exciting birds there was no large scale movement going on, just odd groups of chaffinch moving south and occasional calls overhead from tree pipit, yellow wagtail and reed bunting.

A scattering of raptors also kept me entertained with two merlins, a peregrine and an immature goshawk during the long walk. Waders were few and far between but did include a single grey plover at Torekov rev. A great day out in the field.

water rail (and another pallid harrier)

A 3K male pallid harrier through Klarningen this morning. Nice moment, shame about the image!

Could not resist a short session at Klarningen this morning, despite being under orders to clean up the house ahead of a visit from some mates from the UK. This irresponsible behaviour paid off handsomely when after an hour-and-a-half a 3k male pallid harrier cruised across the site in a leisurely fashion and landed in the pea-field for a few minutes to eat a packed lunch. My third male of the autumn, still not seen an immature! Anders Wirdheim arrived just at the right moment and when he got up the tower he found me a water rail. BK year-tick and Klarningen tick too I believe. Other notable birds here included a late swift, 16 ruff, a merlin and a single flyover crossbill.

Sixteen red-throated pipits went through Falsterbo today, but sadly none for me in BK. Perhaps a weekend of counting ducks will produce one.

black-throated diver for the year at last!

A few sparrowhawks are coming through BK at the moment, this one grabbed a tree sparrow in front of me at Ripagården at lunch time.

First stop today was Påarps Mal as I worked the coastline north towards Ripagården. Plenty of birds to look at here. Six shags of various ages were my first of the autumn. A black-throated diver flew through - amazingly my first of the year... Single little and Slavonian grebes were notable for the site. A scattering of waders included three ruff and three greenshank and a bar-tailed godwit went past south.

Could not find much between Påarps Mal and the rev, but the latter site had some good birds as usual. Waders dominated the returns with little stint (1) the easy highlight amongst 140 golden plover, 18 dunlin and two bar-tailed godwit. Overhead I heard crossbill and somewhere in the woods an autumn black woodpecker was calling. Offshore rocks produced the autumn's first rock pipits (3).

Norra Ängalag and Ripagården were rather quiet in the short time I spent there. Ripagården had two lesser black-backed gulls and the only redshank (5) of the day, as well as a single 1K knot.

pink-foot

1K peregrine over Klarningen today - it made a great deal of effort but failed to catch anything

Jet-lagged but pleased to be home after an epic dragonfly tour to Malaysia. Had a few hours in the field today in amongst the domestic chores. Two hours at Klarningen were excellent. Birds present in good numbers today including a staggering 102 ruff, 96 wigeon and 8 shoveler. A 1K peregrine kept me entertained by dashing about after birds. Other notable sighting included little grebe (1), gadwall (male) and 25 stock dove. I walked part of the site hoping for a red-throated pipit but drew a blank. Walking the dry pea-field did throw up a surprise though when I flushed a great snipe.

1K pink-footed goose - only my 4th BK record

In the afternoon I headed for Stora Hultsstrand - not so much wader habitat here now but the site did produce a single immature curlew sandpiper in amongst 20+ dunlin. Last stop of the day was at Ranarpsstrand, a good choice because an immature  pink-footed goose was present with 200+ greylag geese.