Birding - 31/05/09 - Mothers Day

Singing Blyth's reed warbler in Halland - twitched off today at Mrs B's request. It was Mothers Day so I could not refuse...

Mrs B called the shots this morning and asked for a quick look at the singing Blyth's reed warbler just north of Halmstad in the morning!! She is such a twitcher! We did it and it was a very obliging and educational bird. I am finding the leap from two Acros to five rather a strain and have to listen to as many as I can. Be good to find Blyth's on the patch one day... They seem to be turning up with increasing regularity in Sweden and this may be part of a westward expansion in range I suspect. Got some good recordings of the song and two types of call.

On the way home we stopped at Tönnersa for a swim and had a great time but few birds. Fishing osprey and two goosander were the highlights. Brown tiger-beetles were chased for photos and the first Calyopteryx virgo of the year appeared briefly by the car.

Brown tiger-beetle (Cicindela hybridus) - abundant in the dunes north of the Lagan River in Halland

Birding - 30/05/09

A pair of barnacle geese at Gröthögarna - barnacle geese breed in small numbers on the west coast. They started breeding on the east coast in the 70s and the habit is spreading

Another variable damselfly female

Common butterwort at Gröthögarna

Calopteryx splendens - the first of the year

The kids loved these mute swan chicks at Hasslarps dammar, interestingly includes one pure white 'Polish' morph individual

Number 3 has been incubating a cold virus for many days now and has finally unleashed it. Feel awful. Dragged myself out mid-morning to stagger around Gröthögarna. Just south of Ripagården, this untouched lump of habitat was worth investigation, being dotted with small pools, mires and fen areas, it looks great for dragonflies and possibly garganey. Notable birds included a pair of barnacle geese (breeding?), sand martin (1 north) and a pair of spotted flycatcher at Ripagården.

Had to go shopping in the afternoon, but broke the journey at Hasslarps dammar - very quiet although hairy dragonfly, variable damselfly, Calyopteryx splendens and Enallagma cyathigerum were flying. On the way home stopped at Stora Hultstrand - a light passage of painted ladies was evident coming 'in-off' and a pair of grey partridge valiantly fought off a hooded crow at nearby Lervik.

Baby-sitting - 29/05/09

With Mrs B away at a conference I was left holding the babies. We spent a pleasant hour at a deserted Torekov rev. Just the breeding birds for company. Over on nearby Hallands Väderö the rosefinches and red-breasted flycatchers were in full song...

More sea-watching - 28/05/09

The forecast looked good but I awoke to find the wind direction had shifted southerly in the night and had failed to strengthen. It was going to go west during the morning (and did) but I feared that the southerly winds overnight would not bring us any fresh birds and I was right.

Kicked off just before five all the same and had a close gannet and fulmar pretty quickly. Spent the next three hours for another distant fulmar, a single kittiwake (year-tick) and a light passage of common scoter. I am pretty sure I spent part of the watch in the company of vismig supremo Nils Kjellén - he reminded me a bit of that other bird-finding dynamo Ken Shaw. Anyway between us we failed to see the hoped-for Manx shearwater, so a little disappointing. Maybe we will get more windy weather in June...

Birding - 27/05/09

Star bird during an hour sea-watching this morning was this fulmar - a much bigger deal here than in the UK

Overslept this morning and so did not get out early for the predicted reasonable sea-watch. Did manage an hour at Yttre Kattvik mid-morning and scored the fulmar above (year-tick). Little else moving though. Conditions look good for tomorrow... I still need Arctic skua for the year and brent geese sometimes come through at this time of year.

Birding - 26/05/09

Female Coenagrion pulchellum - the English name variable damselfly refers to the large variation shown by females

Quick look around in Halland part of Båstad kommun in the evening after my Swedish lesson resulted in me being booted off the pools at Eskilstorp (private road apparently). Will have to walk in from now on. Highlights were a grey wagtail at Petersberg and a pair of little grebes on the nest at Sinarpsdalen.

Birding - 25/05/09

Did the usual pre-shopping trip to Rönnen today, but the clear and calm overnight weather had prompted a mass clear-out of waders. Just one little stint remained.

In the evening Mrs B and I headed for Eskilstorps pools and had a few good birds. The pick of the crop was a fine peregrine that stormed through and tried to mug one of the wood pigeons that has taken up residence in the area in a large non-breeding flock (late migrants or surplus local birds??).

Birding - 24/05/09

Red-backed shrikes are fab. I remember doing my stint protecting the last pair in the Brecks at Santon Downham in 1986...

Spent a couple of hours last night chasing quail. Could not hear any but I should not have gone on Saturday night, the roads were surprisingly busy. The thrush nightingales were superb though. This meant no early morning session again today. Did get out to Glimminge with the kids - pretty quiet here although there was a little ringed plover pair on the beach and a male shoveler loafing about.

In the evening Mrs B and I headed out to walk between Hovs Hallar and Ripagården. Very pleasant but again quiet with spotted flycatcher (1) about the best of it.

Birding - 23/05/09

The consolation prize at Trönninge ängar was this spectacular male grey plover - they do not come better than this

Up and at it again this morning, with rain interfering with play so much during a tour of Eskilstorp and Petersberg (thrush nightingale and icterine warbler singing at the latter site) that I eventually sacked it off and went on another abortive spoonbill twitch to Trönninge ängar. The peripatetic little bugger had flown again overnight. Did get a brace of Temminck's stints, dunlin (1) and the grey plover pictured above. On the way home drove back through Sinarpsdalen and picked up a pair of grey wagtail. Black redstart may be breeding up here I am told, so will have to look for them soon.

Leucorrhinia rubicunda - one of four seen at acidic pools located near the E6 this afternoon

In the afternoon took the family for a walk in the woods and we found a number of small pools that were good for Leucorrhinia rubicunda. Listened out hard for firecrest but no cigar.

Leucorrhinia rubicunda again - note the costa colouration

Birding - 21/05/09

Amazing - a pine marten raiding a crow's nest in the middle of the day. I have seen them before but only at baited hides - good to see a proper self-found one at last.

Big Swedish family party today so slipped out for some time alone in the early morning. Tried out Torekov rev - very quiet here for birds lately but did get a red kite over the town. They are a daily occurrence hereabouts, and often drifting over the house, but this was my first bird in Torekov. Tried the wood behind the rev, to see if any migrants were about. Icterine warblers 'new-in' were singing lustily, otherwise things were quiet. Until I went in search for the source of a huge amount of mobbing just off the track. A pine marten! Unbelievable views of this animal as he darted around through the foliage, trying to outwit a determined pair of hooded crows defending their nest. Superb.

Checked out Dagshög on the way home but it was quiet for birds too. After breakfast took the kids and their grandfather out for a walk so the the house could be prepped for the big shin-dig. We went to Eskilstorp pools and had a pleasant walk. I have been going there at the end of the day mostly, so it was nice to find hairy dragonfly, four-spot chaser and Coenagrion pulchellum flying about. Birdwise a few things were noted. A fine red-backed shrike was present. A marsh warbler sang beautifully and rather disconcertingly (because I need it for Sweden) it kept slipping in a convincing snatch of quail mimicry. Nice morning.

Coenagrion pulchellum is much more frequently encountered in Sweden than it is in the UK (where it is rather local)

Small heath

Birding - 20/05/09 and garden tick!

Take the honey and run. Shot these from the hip, just one bird through early this morning at Ripagården.

Will try and do better photos in the autumn when birds come through in bigger numbers, or may score tomorrow, who knows?

Overnight rain ensured that I was up and about early again this morning. Revisited the coast between Ripagården and Hovs Hallar but things were deadly quiet. A few yellow wagtails flying over and grounded and the latter included both flava and thunbergi males. No sign of yesterday's big warbler in the reedbed. Marsh warblers are definately 'in' now. A single male honey buzzard migrating low overhead and pictured above was the highlight.

Back at home I was quickly stuck up a ladder and from this high vantage I could hear a thrush nightingale in the woods behind the house (I cannot believe these Rob Fray tactics work). Superb and a garden tick. Mrs B had told me about the bird yesterday and I went to listen for it in the evening. Today it (or another) had moved within earshot of the house and the rest is history.

Patch tick - great reed warbler!

Painted lady - new in on southerly winds that brought the patient birders of north-west Skåne the first stone-curlew for 53 years! [I did not go but after ten years without a stone-curlew I might be tempted]

An early start got me in the field before another DIY session on the house... Ripagården is always a good bet for migrants so I headed there as usual. Things looked quiet initially but when I got to the reedbed I quickly became aware that in amongst the reed warbler song was the testosterone-charged gruntings of a great reed warbler. A bird that may not have been recorded in the municipality before and was certainly a patch tick for me - result!

Spurred on I searched all the way to Hovs Hallar for other migrants but came up with nothing. A pair of red-backed shrikes have taken up residence though. Always great to see these birds.

Took the kids, Mrs B and the in-laws on a wild spoonbill chase in the afternoon to Trönninge ängar. The bird had flown and the other two potential year-ticks were nowhere to be seen either! Good birding on the beach nearby though with turnstone (1 - scarce this spring), 32 ringed plovers (migrants?) and great numbers of sea-duck offshore. Also here the first painted lady of the year. The best bird came as we drove away from the site and stopped to look at a migrating ringtail hen harrier (getting late for them here).

Nipped out in the evening for a quick look at Ranarpstrand and Glimminge, ignoring the news that a stone-curlew was 45 km away... Not much doing at either spot but as I drove home I stopped first for a long-eared owl being harrassed by a crow. Nice. Stopped again when a male merlin whipped in front of the car and wheeled about to give great views. It then headed for a female merlin that was carrying prey - do not ask me what was going on, I was astonished. Merlin do not breed on the patch so what were they up to? Do far northern breeders pair up en route? [Apparently merlin have a strong monogamous pair bond and have been recorded wintering together as pairs - these birds were presumably migrants stopping off en route north.] Great day.