Natty red

I was told about a singing black redstart in Sinarpsdalen last spring but never connected. I was not too surprised therefore, but still delighted, to find a pair of them on site today.

The Sinarpsdalen walk starts close to our house, so I left the car in the drive and walked down into the valley this morning. Over the house a low flock of 40 whooper swans split to avoid the TV aerial! Chiffchaffs have arrived in numbers this weekend, with 8 singing males recorded this morning on the walk. Hawfinches were in 'song' too, which looked and sounded painful. No sign of my target lesser spotted woodpecker but on the walk back up the road I bumped into singing male black redstart which lead me eventually to a female. Black redstarts used to breed in the factory in the village until they renewed the roof. It is tempting to think that the pair may have relocated here? Otherwise there may be more pairs lurking in the farmyards on the high ground? Yesterday I could not find a wheatear on the coast but today they were on territory, song-flighting. More evidence of the huge movement of birds that has taken place this weekend.

Number 2 had a doctor's appointment in the afternoon and the team gave me half an hour at nearby Klarningen before we went home. Plenty of new birds in here. Not only my much-wanted gadwall (2 at last!) but also shoveler (4), dunlin (1), ruff (4), green sandpiper (1), redshank (2), white wagtail (3) and chiffchaff (1).