double shift (20150507)

I did a quick morning look-in at Klarningen and bagged a few year-ticks. I love this time of year. A scan though the waders produced two Temminck's stint, two wood sandpiper, a greenshank and a common sandpiper. In amongst the swirl of hirundines halted by the cool conditions were at least five sand martins. In the UK sand martin was always the first hirundine on my year-list each year but here it has been the last every year...

In the cool and blustery evening I returned to Klarningen chasing Martin E's great snipe from last night, whilst I waited for dusk I enjoyed a nice session. A crane greeted me on the access track. The female merlin was still buzzing about. A pair of gadwall and shoveler were on site and a few water rails were squealing in the Juncus. Two greenshank and a glorious summer-plumaged spotted redshank fed in front of the tower. Eventually and just as I was starting to feel despondent the great snipe broke into song. Nice.

Not said much about my mothing on the blog, just finished my first month of light-trapping and the learning curve has been very steep. I will start posting the best-looking species soon when it gets a little calmer. This scarce prominent (Odontosia carmelita) fell to my mobile UV trap at Bränneslätt after dark. A great looking species.

On the way home I snoozed in the car at Bränneslätt whilst my mobile UV moth trap did some work. An hour-and-a-half was enough to net me a new moth - two splendid scarce prominents (Odontosia carmelita).

spotlighting (20150417)

Number 2 and I went spotlighting and mothing during the middle of the evening. Lots of roe deer about, a few hares and a nice close encounter with a male woodcock (my first of the year) at Bränneslätt. Moth action was seriously affected by the rather cold temperature I suspect and nothing came to our illuminated sheet in the hour after dusk.

marsh warbler and some odo action

Got out really early this morning for a change. Checked Sinarpsdalen (male red-backed shrike) en route to Klarningen. The latter had a singing marsh warbler and a calling garganey but little else of note.

In the afternoon I grabbed an hour in the sun at Bränneslätt and chased a few Odos and butterflies. Coenagrion hastulatum, Leucorrhinia dubia and Pyrrhosoma nymphula were all new for the year. Three species of butterfly were identified, the best a mint male pearl-bordered fritillary, lot sof green hairstreaks and a few holly blues. Birds were represented by an unseen calling crane and a brief glimpse of an osprey overhead.

Coenagrion hastulatum

 Green hairstreak

Pearl-bordered fritillary

 Pyrrhosoma nymphula

Teneral and rather monochromatic Coenagrion hastulatum

swifts!

Managed a quick look at Klarningen before a trip to the dentists today. Things were much the same as yesterday, no sign of any white-winged black terns despite a huge influx into Skåne during the morning. The male shoveler was still loafing and had been joined by a male teal. Out on the water a red-necked grebe was new-in and a few swifts made an appearance. Always good to have them back.

In the afternoon the kids and I checked a number of wetlands searching for the black stork. No joy in BK, but Martin Åkesson just rang to say he has just seen it this evening back at Baramossa in Laholm kommun... Our searching produced no dragonflies (no sun) but we did bump into a pair of long-tailed tits, a long overdue year-tick.

New BK odonate! Number 42!

Aeshna grandis female ovipositing at Bränneslätt today

Mrs B dragged me out the door and into the sun this morning and we went up to check out Bränneslätt. This little mire is the best dragonfly location in BK and did not disappoint today. Despite going feet-first into a boggy hole and getting two welly-fulls of water things went well. Aeshna subarctica was on the wing, as well as Lestes sponsa, Somatochlora metallica and Aeshna juncea. I was just about to leave when to my astonishment I noticed a single male Erythromma viridulum perched on a floating weed mat. A BK first and in a slightly unusual location. Now I have to search more likely ponds in BK for this species...

Erythromma viridulum, rapidly colonising NW Skåne as the planet warms up and a predictable addition to the odofauna of BK.

A female Somatochlora metallica posed nicely for me at Bränneslätt

Number 2 found me this nice male Stictoleptura rubra at Bränneslätt, one of the commoner longhorns in BK.

Afterwards we had a picnic at Klarningen but nasty shower soon sent us homewards. Before we went though we managed a brief encounter with the osprey and noted a few waders; greenshank (1), spotted redshank (1) and ruff (1).

double dip disaster

BK ticks do not come along very often for me these days but yesterday two were on offer and I managed to connect with neither of them! Overnight Martin Ekenberg had found a singing corncrake at Bränneslätt so that was my first port of call in the morning. No sign.

I drifted towards Torekov rev which had four grey plover (year-tick!) and then checked Flytermossen for dragonflies. No sign of any armatum this time, although the edge had dried up a lot, but quite a few Brachytron. Whilst here we heard that Ulf had seen a serin whilst playing golf at Sönnertorp near Västra Karup. Failed again with this much-wanted target species but at least surveyed the rather poor ponds on the course for dragonflies whilst we were there.

Later on I went for a night-drive but things were quiet. No sign yet again of the corncrake and just a marsh warbler at Klarningen, some young ringed plovers at Petersberg and a tawny owl family at Sinarpsdalen. Rather disappointing.

finally a full day in the field

Finally a day off and a chance to catch up with a few things that have been spotted over the last week. The day started well with an icterine warbler singing from the garden! Hit Tvehöga first and took about twenty minutes to track down the singing red-breasted flycatcher, difficult amongst the noise created by all the other songbirds in this nice patch of beech forest. A quick look at Klarningen revealed a singing marsh warbler near the tower and some fluffy moorhen chicks, but little else of note.

Driving through Hulrugered on my way to check some dragonfly sites I stopped for a roadside pair of cranes and again for a mistle thrush. Bränneslätt mire was very wet and full of Odonates, my first Leucorrhina dubia and Cordulia aenea of the year were long overdue and there were plenty of the former here as usual.

Leucorrhina dubia - my first of the year.

Next stop was the pools at Bösketorp, always good for Odonates, there was plenty to look at as usual. New for the year here were Leucorrhina rubicunda  and  Coenagrion lunulatum. Birds included my first little grebe for the year (!) and a single green sandpiper.

Leucorrhinia rubicunda - note the reddish pterostigma, completely yellow costa and the larger broader abdominal spots.

Coenagrion hastulatum

 

Coenagrion lunulatum

In the afternoon I searched Vysterborg again hoping for Sympecma fusca, I had one female here last year and have yet to repeat the feat in BK... Plenty of Odos though with Libellula depressa (male, first of year) and Brachytron pratense (ditto) taking the honours. Some bird breeding evidence here as well, with young coot and shelduck being my first of the year.

Brachytron pratense at Vysterborg

Last stop of the day was the pond at Lönhult, here there were two 2K whooper swans feeding on waste seed potatoes as well as more Coenagrion lunulatum and a single Brachytron pratense.

Whopper goose or whooper swan

patchy sun

 My first Sympetrum danae of the year appeared at Bränneslätt this afternoon.

Had half-an-hour at Ranarpsstrand in the morning and finally added avocet (1) to my BK year list, otherwise quiet with just 6 dunlin to write about.

The sun came out in the afternoon though (a very notable occurrence) so we all dashed out to pick blueberries at Bränneslätt. Managed to flush an aeshnid that would have been a year-tick but did add Sympetrum danae to the list. One side-effect of the appalling weather is a bumper blueberry harvest this year - sweet! Laden with berries we headed to our next site but the sun vanished by the time we got to Perstorp enefälad unfortunately and we searched for butterflies in vain, literally picking up an Idas blue for our troubles.

Last stop of the day was Klarningen for a quick look through the waders. Overnight rain has pushed up the water levels and there were fewer calidrids about as a result. The Temminck's stint and baout 20 dunlin remained but I could not find any curlew sandpipers. Also here a few ruff, ten greenshank and a single spotted redshank.

An Allantus sawfly spotted at Perstorp enefälad this afternoon, anyone know which one?

Curlew sandpipers going south

Had another go at cranberry blue (Vaciniina optilete) today at Bränneslätt. A better shot but still not perfect. All my stuff is handheld at the moment, I ordered a monopod from Cyberphoto last week but it transpires that they have forgotten to post it to me!!! How is that possible in this day and age?

Spent most of the day after dragonflies again, the sun this time putting on an impressive show during the swimming but clouds drifted in during the afternoon. In the morning we had a quick look at the shallow pond by the railway tracks at Ljungbyholm. The first Aeshna grandis of the year was spotted but otherwise it was quiet here.

In the afternoon I risked a mutiny amongst the troops by going once again to Bränneslätt. My idea was that with some actual sun we might be able to ascertain for sure whether Somatochlora arctica was present at the site and not just the abundant ticks that festoon our bodies after three visits. It amazes me that arctica has never been recorded here in the past, the habitat is perfect, it amazes me even more now because three were flying about when we arrived! In contrast to our previous visits there were quiet a few Coenagrion hastulatum on the wing too - recently emerged? A reflection in the pool revealed the presence of an over-flying osprey and a cuckoo winged through the clearing at one point too. Oh and the troops mutinied.

Crossing the road we checked out the nearby ponds, dodging the huge numbers of juvenile frogs and toads as best we could. Here there was plenty on the wing with seven species of damselfly including my first Erythromma najas of the year. Big stuff was on the wing briefly too before the sun went in including a nice male Libellula depressa, two Somatochlora metallica and another Aeshna grandis.

Last stop of the day was Klarningen in search of southward-bound migrant waders. No disappointment here with the site's first adult curlew sandpipers - three  - gracing the shoreline of the big pool. Also here at least 13 greenshank, 20+ wood sandpipers, one green sandpiper and two ruff.

photo-bugging gets addictive

 A feeding Anax imperator at Lönhult allowed me to play with the higher shutter speeds available to me now and to fully appreciate the ridiculously fast motor drive on the 7D (8 frames/sec!!).

Headed out this morning with the kids to check the pond at Lönhult for dragonflies. We did well recording both Anax imperator and Cordulia aenea for the first time at the site, along with Orthetrum cancellatum. The Atlas work ticks along slowly despite the variable weather, in fact today demonstrated that it is worth getting out whatever the weather. We quickly checked the ditch at Ljungbyholm too this morning, no Odonata at all amazingly, but a few meadow browns and ringlets on the wing here.

After swim-school we headed out again under overcast conditions to check Bränneslätt again. Light rain fell scuppering once again our chances of a reasonable dragonfly survey, but we especially enjoyed the huge female raft spider found by Number 1. Last stop of the day was by the reedbed at Hulrugered which produced just one Calopteryx virgo (my first of the year in BK) and some other classy invertebrates including the splendid robberfly (Laphria flava) and a female scorpion-fly (Panorpa communis).

Number 1 earned a doughnuts for the team by finding this splendid raft spider (Dolomedes fimbriatus) at Bränneslätt today - a big female carrying a large egg bundle.

 An Aradus bug at Bränneslätt - not sure which one yet...

The splendid Laphria flava - a beast of a robber-fly found at Hulrugered reedbed.

A female scorpion-fly (Panorpa communis) also at Hulrugered today. [check out the beak on that! honorary bird I reckon]

the cranberries

Giggity. Lilioceris lilii in action in the garden. Worth planting some lilies for these guys if you haven't got any in your garden.

After a typically late Sunday start we all got out in the field for an afternoon session. Checked out a series of dragonfly sites but although the sun was shining, it was cool and the wind was strongish from the west. Not ideal. Had a quick look at Bränneslätt first, few Odonates on the wing here but double cranberry on the butterfly front, with both cranberry fritillary and my first BK cranberry blue flying.

Älemossen next, way too windy here and no sign of any Somatochlora arctica. Again few Odonates on the wing but did find more cranberry fritillaries and a single small pearl-bordered fritillary.Last stop of the day was at the small reserve at Ledtorpet. Just a lot of boggy grassland and one male Libellula depressa encountered.

 Leucorrhinia dubia

My first BK cranberry blue (Vacciniina optilete) appeared in front of the lens this afternoon at Bränneslätt.

Checked out the small nature reserve at Ledtorpet for the first time today. Very boggy and looks interesting, no sign of any of the good butterflies that are reported here, just a single male Libellula depressa.

post work session

 Rhagium inquisitor - a perky little longhorn beetle seen at Bränneslätt this afternoon.

Worked for five hours gardening today before the constant bending over gave me a big headache! Ears still at 50% and painful so decided to go and look at dragonflies at Bränneslätt as you do. Plenty of Leucorrhinia dubia on the wing here, plus Libellula quadrimaculata, Cordulia aenea and Coenagrion hastulatum. No surprises then on the Odo-front. I did enjoy an encounter with a small longhorn beetle, my first Rhagium inquisitor.

Afterwards I quickly checked Klarningen. Nothing too unusual here, although stuff kept popping out of the vegetation. An osprey sat on a snag by the river, the first resting bird I have ever seen here. Wildfowl included two male garganey, two gadwall, and single male shoveler and wigeon. Waders included a fluffy curlew (after last year's fox predation, it is nice to see these birds produce young), a greenshank, a green sandpiper and a few ruff.

Cordulia aenea - one of my favourite dragonflies, this one is a female caught lurking in the woods away from the the pool at Bränneslätt.

early icky

Two male firecrests were singing at Dömestorp after lunch.

Got out a little earlier this morning and hit Eskistorpsstrand again hoping for a flyby white-billed diver or for one of the two Yank scoters to the north of BK to stray south. None of the above happened sadly! In fact the black scoter flew north back to Påarp. They are sure to transit BK I guess but the chances of me witnessing it are slight! I contented myself with going through the available scoters and enjoying a flyby female merlin.

Onshore winds made for difficult viewing conditions and eventually I decided to have a poke around in the coastal scrub. Really quiet with no migrants at all until I reached the carpark at Mellanvägen when a short burst of song lead me to a ridiculously early icterine warbler (not the first in BK this year though, Mats L had one yesterday).

Klarningen next predictably enough. Still rather quiet but a thorough examination revealed three garganey and a nice Temminck's stint. A pair of red-necked grebe were nest-building and at least six wood sandpipers remain on site but no other migrant waders today.

Dashed back to pick up the team and we headed out to Dömestorp for a picnic. En route we checked for dragonflies at Frestensfälla (nothing doing, temperature failing to hit double figures...). Dömestorp was great with nice views of two male firecrests and a frustrating time trying to get a photo of the frenetic little buggers.

On the way home we checked Bränneslätt, no Odos here either, but my first green hairstreak of the year. Finally a great roadside hawfinch fed on the ground for us to admire as we drove through Atteköp. A better session.

Two bar!

A really exciting day today with plenty of milestones achieved. BK delivers the goods in spades as usual. Kicked off in the rain at Stora Hult. This stretch of beach has plenty of rotting weed and will be worth keeping an eye on this autumn. Plenty of waders shared between here and neighbouring (off-patch) Vejbystrand; totals included ringed plover (90), golden plover (145), knot (7), little stint (4), Temminck's stint (4), curlew sandpiper (12), dunlin (90), ruff (2), greenshank (1) and spotted redshank (1). Curlew sandpiper was my 200th bird species in BK this year.

A wander between Grytskären and Ranarpsstrand produced a few oystercatchers, three more spotted redshank, four greenshank and plenty of common sandpipers but the site was disturbed by fishermen.

After a lengthy spell of housework I nipped out again in the afternoon, chasing Aeshna subarctica. Despite overcast conditions there were a few males patrolling at the site at Bränneslätt when I arrived and eventually one found it's way into the net. My 50th Swedish dragonfly of the year! As if this was not enough two two-barred crossbills flew over calling, they were chipping away but included at least two diagnostic nasal toots on their trumpets as they went over. BK tick!

Aeshna subarctica can be tricky to identify in flight, although with practise they can be picked out. It is much easier to identify in the hand of course and the key features are illustrated in these photos. The underneath of the thorax has two yellow stripes.

No yellow spots behind the eyes, cf juncea.

The facial suture line (between the frons and the postclypeus) widens at the base (near the eye).

Elephant hawk

Sympetrum danae are on the wing in BK.

Nipped out for two hours today and spent time at both Bränneslätt and Sinarpsdalen looking for dragonflies. The mire pool at Bränneslätt produced ten species with recently emerged Sympetrum danae being a BK year-tick.

Emerging Aeshna juncea were also evident today. Still no definite subarctica but they are always commoner in August, so maybe I will just have to be patient.

Another stomp about in the Sinarpsdalen eutrophic mire before lunch produced a single male Ischnura pumilio, Somatochlora metallica and Libellula depressa but no Odonates on the stream.

This male pumilio was a surprise in Sinarpsdalen today.

This huge elephant hawk-moth caterpillar was a nice find too at Sinarpsdalen.

Chasing dragons

Yesterday I was at a tree nursery and literally bumped into my first Orthetrum coerulescens in Sweden. It was perched on a plant nicely but I had no camera... I think I will find this species in BK in time and now is the time to look.

Today me and the kids spent the afternoon in the field. We checked Bränneslätt out first. Lovely sunny day so stuff was on the wing. Two Anax imperator dominated the pond. At the back one or two Aeshna juncea/subarctica kept a low profile - a year-tick either way... Nice start, but no sign of any Somatochlora arctica (which has yet to be recorded at this site).

Our next stop was Älemossen where arctica does occur and we did see at least one. It would have been nice to catch it for confirmation but we had to settle for flight views. Not much else here although Pyrrhosoma were still flying here, they seem to have become scarce lately.

New dragonfly in BK

Instead of risking weather and heavy traffic and going for Nehalennia today I elected to stay at home with Team B. The weather was variable with plenty of cloud but we had a good day looking at invertebrates at a variety of sites up on the hill.

First up was a quick look at the Sphagnum bog at Bränneslätt. I was hoping for an early Somatochlora arctica but the weather was not really warm enough to be sure that they are not flying. We did not see one! Plenty of Leucorrhinia dubia on the wing and some females egg-laying. Also more cranberry fritillaries here, which were so cold you could pick them up, which enchanted Numbers 1 and 2.

More secondary genitalia! This is the hamule of a Leucorrhinia dubia, much straighter than that on rubicunda which I pictured earlier.

Crossing the road we strolled down to the man-made pools and adjacent peat bogs. This area is rather good for Odonata and we had two year-ticks here in the form of both Somatochlora metallica and flavomaculata. Also here an Aeshna grandis.

One of two patrolling male Somatochlora metallica at Bjäred today. New for the year, but regular at this site. flavomaculata was flying here too today.

After lunch we checked out the small stream and large reedbed at Hulrugered. A neglected bit of the patch me thinks, and just as I was thinking it, Mrs B earned the team an ice-cream by spotting my first Swedish Cordulegaster boltonii. It perched nicely for photos.

A long-anticipated addition to my BK list and a Swedish tick to boot. Cordulegaster really is a monster Odo. Kudos to Mrs B.

Last stop of the day was a recce into the mire at the eastern end of Älemossen, difficult to get into but full of potential. Just one Libellula quadrimaculata flying when we were there but some good butterflies including purple-edged copper and idas blue.

Idas blue - another first for me in BK.

A rather tatty female purple-edged copper spotted at Älemossen this afternoon.

A quick look

Nipped out with the kids this afternoon to check the sphagnum pool at Bränneslätt. An Aeshna grandis was my first of the year, otherwise just Leucorrhinia dubia and rubicunda, Libellula quadrimaculata and Coenagrion hastulatum.

Afterwards we checked Klarningen, the two spotted redshanks remain, also two ruff today, a wood sandpiper and five green sandpipers. Missed a red-necked phalarope here two days ago. My mobile phone was broken and the text message never got to me...

Subarctica in Skåne!

One of at least three red kites flying through Klarningen this morning. Clean look, shallow tail fork and pale-tipped greater and primary coverts make this a 1K bird.

My first male hen harrier of the autumn, a fly-through at Klarningen. One day my pallid will come.

Number 2 and I headed for Klarningen tis morning for a two and half hour session in a brisk easterly. A few raptors on the move with red kite (3-5), marsh harrier (3), hen harrier (male), sparrowhawk (1) and kestrel (1). A flock of five barnacle geese dropped in briefly before heading off again - my first at the site. Otherwise wildfowl numbers have dropped away with just one greylag, seven wigeon and 47 teal. Likewise waders are getting scarce with just ruff (3), snipe (2) and greenshank (2) and no lapwing! A little passerine vismig noticeable this morning with small numbers of tree pipits, yellow wagtail, chaffinch and siskin evident. A short walk secured a fine male Sympetrum flaveolum but no sign of the recent red-throated pipits. The numbers of wheatear (9) and whinchat (5) along the access track continue to build.

After lunch we all headed out to check a likely wetland near Bränneslätt, it proved to be a little gem of a bog pool, complete with a pack of male Aeshna subarctica. Also here Aeshna cyanea, Sympetrum danae and Lestes sponsa.

My recent prediction that I would sadly be unable to find Aeshna subarctica in the Skåne part of BK has been shown to be so much b**locks, and all in just five days! I am often wrong but rarely demonstrate it so quickly... A great find though.

Across the road at Bjäred våtmark we found a good number of Aeshna juncea and small numbers of Enallagma cyathigerum and Sympetrum sanguineum and vulgatum flying and brought the Odonata daylist to 9 species.

Across the road in Bjäred våtmark Aeshna juncea was flying - allowing a timely comparison.

An egg-laying female Aeshna juncea was hard to resist - I am not that familiar with this plumage.