Kick off!

Klarningen may still by 97% iced up but recently arrived migrant birds are queuing up for territories. If the water levels stay up this year, we could be in for a storming spring at this new wetland site.

The changeable spring weather continued today with a fierce SW wind and plenty of rain in the morning and then a calm sunny afternoon. The southerlies dumped some early migrants on us, which were bizarre to see in the icy landscapes they found themselves in.

Spent two hours at Klarningen in the morning. Four snow buntings greeted me as I trundled up the access track, this inland site is a reliable one for this species. Arriving at the tower it was apparent that lapwing (7) and ringed plovers (5, BK year-tick) had taken up residence and were displaying. It was freezing here, wet and windy and hard work. I stuck it out though and was rewarded with various wildfowl flying by, including eight splendid white-fronted geese (another BK year-tick). My main target this morning was a tundra swan, but whilst many in the region scored this morning, I will have to wait a little longer. Lapwings and starlings slipped by on migration, often in mixed flocks.

On the way back home, I checked out the swan flock at Eskilstorp (just 19 whoopers) and spent 20 minutes at Eskilstorpsstrand notching up just a couple of shelduck and 7 oystercatchers.

Back in the village over an extended lunch break I finally heard a green woodpecker for the year before heading off for an hour at Ranarpsstrand. The weather had changed completely by mid-afternoon and we were greeted by calm sunny weather. The recent high water has seen off the bulk of the coastal ice and there were plenty of birds here for a change. A female smew was welcome, they are never as common as I would like, although we are seeing a few this spring. The seaweed banks were seething with invertebrate life and picking through the detritus were two ringed plovers, at least two white wagtails (year-tick), a rock pipit and the first meadow pipits (2) of the year. It was magic and emotional. On the way home we stopped to enjoy a flock of 47 waxwing that were taking a break in a roadside tree near Ranarp. A great day.

A flock of 47 fly-catching waxwing at Ranarp was a great way to end an exciting day in the field.