Bad twitch and great patch birding

With the now-usual pre-twitch feeling of foreboding, we all drove up the E6 to Falkenberg on a mission. A ring-necked duck had been spotted yesterday and we fancied a go. Although the bird was apparently present in the morning, we failed to connect with it in a cold and foggy couple of hours at the site. I got bored about the same time as the kids and we drifted back south. Plenty of birds on the move today though, with flocks of lapwing flying up the E6 and plenty of evidence of movement by reed bunting, chaffinch and skylark. If we could just shift the remaining snow and ice, it might start to feel like spring.

Rough-legged buzzard on the deck at Eskilstorpsdammar.

On the way home we stopped at Klarningen. The access track produced 11 bean geese, which flew over to Eskilstorpdammar and a host of skylark (65) and a single meadow pipit. Klarningen is starting to defrost and had a flock of 20 starling and a scattering of lapwing and greylag on it. Seeing a flock of mallard take to the air over at Eskilstorpsdammar had us trudging over for a better look, the kids enjoying the experience greatly. We were rewarded with at least four white-fronted geese, the bean geese (13) and seven migrating cranes. Patch is best as usual.