The ups and downs of 2009

I spent a lot of time birding in BK with the family in 2009, I think they enjoyed it as much as I did.

As the year draws to a close, I thought I would write a review of the year. In many ways 2009 was an odd one. The economic downturn meant fewer trips abroad for me and as a result more time at home. The patch list benefited accordingly and I scored a superb 220 species in BK - a total that will be hard for me to beat in future years. It has been a year of consolidation, after two and a half years I am now familiar with the geography of BK and seen most of the commonly occurring species. Now all I need to do is to work on improving my strategy and flight call/identification skills and find more birds!

Patch highlights

Cold weather in the early part of the first winter period saw sightings of over-wintering jack snipe, woodlark, water pipit (perhaps four) and black redstart on the patch. A bizarre encounter with a bittern at dusk as I was driving down Sinarpsdalen was the highlight of January.

My return from India in February was a shock weather-wise, but soon produced my best find to date on the patch - a superb hawk owl at Torekov. A successful shorelark twitch followed shortly afterwards. A night birding session on the Älemossen circuit produced a calling pygmy owl - my first on the patch. A great month.

My best find this year was this superb hawk owl on-patch at Torekov, one of three in Skåne last winter, this bird was the most elusive.

March delivered the goods too, with my first patch bean geese and a twitched king eider at Rammsjöstrand. Spring was a quiet affair for me but April produced self-found grasshopper warbler and most importantly my first ring ouzel - the latter a long-anticipated patch tick. May followed on quietly but included a great reed warbler singing from the reedbed at Ripagården.

Summer saw me spend an increasing amount of time around the Klarningen area, as this fantastic new wetland started to attract birds even before its completion. Quail, Egyptian goose and short-eared owl were added to the patch list in June as a result. A run of red-necked phalaropes was a feature of the late summer and early autumn and I managed to find one myself at Klarningen - one of the most satisfying finds of the year (I love phalaropes). A singing 2K male rosefinch at Öllövstrand in June was good value and highlighted the potential of this site.

Usually a very scarce BK bird, this autumn saw multiple sightings at a number of sites. I saw three and self-found this little beauty at Klarningen.

Sea-watching came good in the autumn and I managed to do OK this year. Slowly getting my act together on this discipline. A Cory's shearwater gave me the run around on a few occasions and remains a much-wanted addition to the patch list. New birds seen whilst sea-watching were Caspian gull and a superb brace of red phalaropes (on what for me was the most exciting sea-watching session of the year). October finished with a Lapland bunting (at last) and a Siberian chiffchaff before heading abroad again. The back end of the year is always quiet in terms of new birds, but just before the cold snap the Klarningen area came up trumps again with Bewick's swan, bean goose and white-fronted goose.

The patch - nowhere better! 16 new birds in 2009 and still plenty to play for in 2010.

Off-patch twitching highlights
The year kicked off with a 2K gyr falcon at Rönnen and the regular adult was spotted a few times in the first winter period also. The unbelievable news of a yellow-browed bunting (a much-wanted lifer) near Stockholm in early January had me arranging an impromptu and successful family holiday. On the way home my first Swedish hawk owl was one of the wildlife highlights of the year, pretty quickly followed by finding my own on-patch.

March was notable for another Swedish lifer, after hearing singing birds on a number of occasions in my life, I finally got the better of a male Tengmalm's owl in Småland. A highlight of the year.

My encounter with the hawk owl at Vist in January was a definite highlight of 2009.

Spring was in full flow on my return from Saint Lucia and first up was a successful twitch into Halland for a glorious male surf scoter. The black scoter just a bit south, may or may not have been present on the same day, we could not find it.

A trip down the south end in early May produced corn bunting and serin for the Swedish list. Nearer to home, Sandön produced a run of white-winged tern sightings, in what was a bumper year for this species. Nearby at Rönnen, a routine look-see, saw us jamming in on a nice marsh sandpiper. May unfortunately was more notable for it's dips (great egret, spoonbill and dotterel) but finished with an excellent singing male Blyth's reed warbler in Halland.

Spent most of the autumn on the patch where I should have been but could not resist the great grey owl nearby in Halland in early October. Just sneaked it in before it died. November saw successful twitches for a late red-footed falcon, the much-debated and contentious [citrine] wagtail, a definite barred warbler and a superb two-barred crossbill. The off-patch year ended as it began with a successful attempt to see the regular wintering gyr falcon, now in its fifth winter here.

Overseas highlights

Feb/March saw the first trip of the year, a successful tour of Gujarat and Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh (India). Highlights of this excellent itinerary included tiger, Asiatic lion, wild ass, Sykes' nightjar, the harrier roost at Velavadar, great birding at Kanha (including this lesser adjutant) and a handful of new dragonflies.

A surprise trip to St Lucia in March/April produced at least 30 lifers and some other great birds. Surprisingly pleasant to be this side of the Atlantic again and to be able to enjoy American shorebirds and migrants. The star bird though was the long-staying vagrant Eurasian spoonbill!

A difficult trip to Poland in September, delivered some stunning landforms, including this intact floodplain view at Biebzra.

Last trip of the year was Namibia, another great trip with Orlando Haraseb and a fantastic group of people to share it with. Stunning views of leopard and cheetah were the real take-home memories. But the country is just phenomenal and delivers fantastic wildlife every day.

2010?
Well a packed programme should see me abroad on a regular basis in 2010, so I may get a few new birds. On the patch 'Most Wanted' list includes: garganey, black grouse (possibly just one remaining from the former breeding population, seen twice this year but not by me), black tern, Caspian tern, bluethroat, firecrest, penduline tit, two-barred crossbill and ortolan bunting. No doubt there will be a surprise or two and a repeat Cory's shearwater would be nice.

The site to watch on-patch in 2010 will certainly be Klarningen, this wetland is sure to be very productive in its first couple of years and I look forward to spring eagerly.