A day out with the kids

Promised the kids a day out today so off we went to enjoy the sun during the Easter holidays. The garden over breakfast produced a year-tick - a nice feeding male blackcap, slightly overdue. I could also hear a redstart but we have yet to see one in the garden this year. Driving to Klarningen we stopped off at a Sinarpsdalen overlook and had the male black redstart at the farm and we could also hear common redstart here too.

Klarningen was fairly quiet; just the ruff (male), two barn swallows and a late twite (1) to get excited about in a quick look. Then we drove offpatch and had a walk around Hasslarps dammar. Plenty of birds here, as usual making Klarningen seem a bit ordinary. At least 7 displaying marsh harriers were up in the air on arrival. Duck had great variety with a splendid pair of garganey (year-tick) and a pair of pintail too. A reasonably thorough search for waders failed to produce the recent black-tailed godwit but did turn up my first common sandpiper of the year.

After lunch we tried Sandön. Plenty of terns here with at least six Sandwich terns, two Arctics and nine commons. The latter two were year-ticks and a single greenshank added another to the annual total. Before home we just had time for a quick look at the new wetland at Stureholm. A great spot which produced three pairs of red-necked grebe, as well as the sought-after two spotted redshank.

Cold easterlies and vanishing avocets

We had this monster visitor to the feeder this morning, my first hawfinch this month.

Over breakfast this morning we scored a superb hawfinch at the feeders. I love seeing these monsters in the the garden.

The kids finally got tired of me after being stuck at home ill for a week and requested a transfer to their grandparents. This allowed me to slip out to work the area between Sandön and Mjöhult. I was hoping to catch up with the recently arrived avocets reported this week and also have a go at the unseasonal (early) bar-tailed godwit. Neither could I find, perhaps the easterly blow and chilly conditions have sent them south again?

Sandön did produce calling bearded tit and reed bunting. The sandflats were fully exposed but few waders were present apart from a handful of curlew and oystercatcher and 17 ringed plovers. Rönnen was even cooler in the wind and apart from a hunting white-tailed eagle had little to recommend it. At Farhult I felt that I would surely track down the errant avocet but it really was not to be. Here though a pair of pintail and a single dunlin were some consolation. Both redpoll and bullfinch called from the trees.

Driving home through Lönhult and Stureholm I found 55 whooper swans and connected with the golden eagle again. A great end to the session.

Last bird of the session was the 2K golden eagle at Stureholm, a nice way to end the day.