trees and sea

Dragged the team out for a walk around the woods around the Önnarp firing range today - it was ridiculously mild and almost bird-free. Warm winters are always a bit dull here. No hard weather movements and always a curious lack of birds...

Tried Grytskären for a while and this was better the mild weather encouraging more grey heron (4) than usual to attempt to over-winter. Also here a mobile flock of at least 25 dunlin - a large flock for winter here in BK. Also here a nice close Slavonian grebe.

misty morn

Horrible misty, drizzly morning but I got out for a little while. Checked Klarningen at dawn. Ducks are on the move and still using the site; mallard (77), teal (5) and a solitary pintail. Next stop was Eskilstorpsstrand, nice conditions on the sea for looking through the sea-duck but the visibility was rather poor. A close flock of 175 scaup was a treat though and in amongst them were three pochard (a real surprise) and about 35 tufted duck. Also here gannet (2), long-tailed duck (4) and Slavonian grebe (3).

return of the black duck!

Had a day in the field today - first job was to chase down the black duck re-found yesterday by Mikael Olofsson. It was almost the only duck (with it's female partner as usual) just offshore which made things easy. Offshore two gannets, a few kittiwake and a Slavonian grebe.  No sign of any water pipits here though so I moved up the coast to Påarps mal, a late reed bunting greeting me at the car park and there were tow waxwing in the junipers. An adult white-tailed eagle flew in and sat on the rocks scaring all the birds away just as I arrived. More gannets and kittiwakes here and a few whooper swans going south, ahead of colder weather up north. Last stop of the morning was at Torekovs rev where I finally caught up with some water pipits (they came in very late this year). Two birds in amongst a mixed flock of rocks and meadow pipits. Also here little grebe (1) and dunnock (1).

In the afternoon I worked Lervik and Grytskären but only came up with two goldfinch before I had to go.

more chiffies

Had a nice afternoon walk around Rammsjöstrand and Mäsinge this afternoon. The weak sun was enough to get two chiffchaff feeding in the gardens along the front at Rammsjöstrand, also here a small flock of teal (9) and two grey heron. All signs of the mild weather. Walking south to Mäsinge produced a big flock of siskin (150+) feeding in the alders, 20 whooper swans heading east and seven waxwing south. 

back in the saddle

Been hard to get out of the office since I got back from two months abroad but got back into the field today and I am even back to blogging after a mostly moth-related hiatus! A first season of mothing became rather time-consuming!

Today I checked Påarps mal for water pipits but it was very windy from the SW and small passerines were difficult to pin down. Offshore there was a large concentration of gulls that proved to be mainly kittiwakes (at least 150), as awell as six gannets. Two dunnocks in the car park were a good reminder that temperatures were hovering near double figures in December!

To get out of the wind we headed for Båstad and enjoyed some mild December birding here too with white wagtail (2), wren (1), chiffchaff (1) heading up the notable passerines. In the harbour a kingfisher kept calling from a concealed perch. Offshore we had a flyby great northern/white-billed diver, that looked like the latter but I need better views for a BK first... As dusk approached a pre-roost gathering of hawfinches got into double figures here - my largest flock to date in BK.

As dusk approached we went for coffee at Klarningen to look for raptors. Nothing doing on the raptor front but there were still wildfowl on site, although nothing exciting.

Black-splashed elf - first for Ethiopia

Just back from Ethiopia where we recorded this black-splashed elf (Tetrathemis polleni) at Bishangari Lodge (Lake Langano) - perhaps the first record for the country!

garden moth trap (20150621)

 The garden produced a few more moths this morning. Totals: Korscheltellus lupulinus (1), Korscheltellus fusconebulosus (3), Hepialus humuli (1), Smerinthus ocellata (1), Xanthorhoe fluctuata (1), Odontopera bidentata (1), Hypomecis punctinalis (1), Ptilodon capucina (1), Phalera bucephala (1), Autographa gamma (1), Cucullia umbratica (1), Charanyca trigrammica (5), Agrotis exclamationis (14), Ochropleura plecta (2), Noctua pronuba (1), Ethmia bipunctella (1), Aphomia sociella (3), Pseudargyrotoza conwagana (1) and Hedya nubiferana (1).

that's more like it (20150620)

The highlight for me this morning was my first Pseudoips prasinanus - a stunning little moth.

Rosentorp produced a bumper haul this morning (by this season's standards anyway) that actually took some time to process. Totals: Korscheltellus lupulinus (1), Korscheltellus fusconebulosus (14),  Hepialus humuli (1), Drepana falcataria (2), Timandra comae (1),  Xanthorhoe montanata (2),  Xanthorhoe fluctuata (1),  Cosmorhoe ocellata (2), Ecliptopera silaceata (1), Colostygia pectinataria (2),  Dysstroma truncata (1), Hydriomena impluviata (2), Opisthograptis luteolata (1), Hypomecis punctinalis (7), Biston betularia (2), Siona lineata (7), Deltote pygarga (2), Charanyca trigrammica (1), Apamea crenata (2), Diarsia rubi (1),  Pseudoips prasinanus (1), Calliteara pudibunda (11), Spilosoma lubricipedum (2), Spilosoma luteum (1) and Eurrhypara hortulata (1).

 

My first Pyrochroa coccinea actually landed on Number 1 as she was walking along, she had the presence of mind to quickly pot it and run it to me. Getting them trained up nicely!

Number 2 had a poor session today but typically produced the goods with this smart staphylinid (Platydracus fulvipes). Only 8 records for Skåne for this species on Artportalen at the moment, so she got the prize for best find of the day.

In the afternoon we all went out searching out invertebrates. Just before we got to Frestensfälla we bumped into a huge female moose with a tiny youngster as they crossed the road. Big! Frestensfälla was great if a little cool and windy and we found some great stuff. Number 1 did well today finding a nice cardinal beetle (Pyrochroa coccinea), only to be trumped by Number 2's Platydracus fulvipes - a smart little staphylinid that has only been recorded in Skåne eight times! There were also a pleasing number of new micromoths during this session...

garden mothing (20150619)

Male ghost moth (Hepialus humuli) a welcome addition to my list and flying around my garden at night apparently...

The garden trap produced some nice moths this morning, but again in small numbers/diversity. Totals: Hepialus humuli (1), Pterostoma palpinum (1), Charanyca trigrammica (2), Apamea crenata (1),  Agrotis ipsilon (1 - are spring individuals migrants?), Agrotis exclamationis (8),  Agrotis segetum (3) and Aphomia sociella (1).

wood-stacking (20150618)

Spent the day trucking scrap wood down from the nearby workshop for the winter fuel supply. As I sweated away birds occasionally appeared including a nice hobby and a flyby crossbill.

rosentorp trap contents (20150617)

Rosentorp produced my first Apamea remissa this morning.

Moth totals for Rosentorp this morning: Korscheltellus fusconebulosus (3), Smerinthus ocellata (1), Drepana falcataria (1),  Xanthorhoe montanata (2), Colostygia pectinataria (1), Odontopera bidentata (1), Plagodis pulveraria (1), Opisthograptis luteolata (2), Hypomecis punctinalis (2), Siona lineata (3), Pheosia gnoma (1),  Peridea anceps (1), Apamea remissa (1), Diarsia mendica (1), Calliteara pudibunda (3) and Hedya ochroleucana (1).

mothing with the kids (20150616)

The highlight of a sparse haul from the garden trap this morning was my first Sphinx ligustri!

Dragged the kids out for a cool and rather windy moth session at Lya ljunghed and nearby Älemossen this morning now they have finished school. The net at Lya produced my first Xanthorhoe spadicearia at last. It was busier along the trail to Älemossen and Number 2 distinguished herself by finding a huge number of cryptic or just plain tiny species and earning numerous ice creams as a result. Perhaps her best observation came when she pointed out a roosting Clostera curtula dangling from the tip of a spruce branch above the trail! A nightjar perching and flying about in daylight was a fine sight and then it was time to take the cubs back for a rather late lunch.