Grasshopper!

Up again early and out the door to look at the Halland part of BK; the main aim being to check various sites for grasshopper warbler. Dawn at Eskilstorpstrand was clear and quiet, a few red-throated divers remained but they hardly bothered with attempting to migrate as the skies darkened and rain threatened soon after dawn. An osprey drifted north with an entourage of irate gulls.

Whooper swan at Petersberg, a pair seem to have taken up residence in the chain of wetlands in this bit of Halland. Sadly the Petersberg brown-field site is scheduled for housing so I will lose this excellent little wetland in due course. Shame!

Petersberg had a confiding whooper swan and the high pitched flight-call of a hawfinch alerted me to its progress overhead. Walked into Eskilstorps dammar next and right at the far end heard a faint and apparently distant snatch of grasshopper warbler song. Looking around I was surprised to find two birds just behind me in the short grass, they dived off into a clump showing streaky undertail coverts. Sub-song? Walking back two spotted flycatcher were out in a bare field, hawking from clumps of earth. As I left it started raining and it set in for the day. This did not stop me visiting Klarningen; not much there though unless you like copulating curlews.

Before I went home I tried for the penduline tit seen yesterday at Skottorp's wetland, typically I failed to appreciate where the bird was and left empty-handed.

Eskilstorpsdammar - water levels are dropping fast here too, but not as quickly as at Klarningen across the river. I think Klarningen is leaking, either through undisabled former drainage pipes or maybe they struck a lens of sand during the land-forming process. The good news is that the windpump is connected up, so it may be operational. The system at Eskilstorp is rainwater dependent (it takes drainage water from agricultural areas to the west), so in dry springs it can be very low.

A purple patch with blue bits!

My most-wanted BK bird falls at last. Finding bluethroats is always good, but this one was special.

Singing his little heart out. After six months without a patch tick, yesterday's collared flycatcher notched up the 230 and this little beauty was 231. What next?

Hard to believe that a week ago I was worried about losing my mojo. What a three day period I have had! The ninth saw me finding a marsh sandpiper off-patch, yesterday I found a great reed warbler on-patch and Mr Ekenberg found a collared flycatcher nearby and today it continued in a similar vein...

I have been boring Mrs B rigid with my master plan for this May - simply put to find a bluethroat on the patch. Ripagården-Hovs Hallar has a good track record in May for this species, so I headed there this morning pre-breakfast (ignoring the build-up of red-throated divers down the road in Laholmsbukten - they recorded 3200!). I had hardly got started when I flushed a small passerine from the vegetation along the shoreline. My brain screamed "bluethroat" and it was! A fantastic male, that started singing as I watched it. Superb. This is a tough bird in spring on the west coast of Sweden; amazingly it is about as hard as finding your own on the east coast of the UK these days. Sent an SMS to Martin and he rang for news and got to me very fast. The bird sat up on a clump of Rosa rugosa and sang lustily. Walked the rest of my route around the site, picking up 250 migrating barnacle geese, a single wood sandpiper, a hobby in-off and a fine male red-backed shrike. And so to breakfast.

With an appointment in Helsingborg, Mrs B and I headed south off-patch for the day. Before the meeting we squeezed in quiet flying visits to Sandön (90 more barnacle geese on the move and a nice hepatic morph female cuckoo) and Farhult (four spotted redshank and my first bar-tailed godwit of the year).

Gregory Peck! Hasslarp has an excellent record of turning up pectoral sandpipers in May. After three roller-coaster days the family are forcing me to change my lucky underpants, so things should quieten down tomorrow.

After the meeting we just had time for half an hour at Hasslarp. An inspired choice as within ten minutes I was looking at NW Skåne's 13th pectoral sandpiper! Superb! I spend a lot of time looking for waders and to finally find two scarce species in one week is rather excellent! The supporting cast looked good too, at least three Temminck's stints and a few wood sandpipers. What a day.

Ortolan bunting is on the top of the most-wanted list now, a few records today from around Halland and Skåne suggest this one could fall too with luck.

The fantastic Mr Ekenberg!

Yesterday at Flytermossen, amid the rain and cacophony of water rails and Acro warblers I thought I could hear the chatter-grunting of a great reed warbler right at the back of the pool. So this morning the pre-breakfast session took me back there in much better weather. Sure enough as I approached the reedbed the bird was singing close by - result! Great reed warbler is a good bird for BK and follows on from my first record in May last year. I wonder if they are regularly through in May these days? On the pool three pochards were nice, always scarce in BK, and a thrush nightingale was belting out its song.

Checked out the rev, which true to current form was rather quiet. Two Sandwich terns were good to see, my first this month. Offshore things were moving on a small-scale; barnacle goose (37), common scoter (16), velvet scoter (16) and red-throated diver (12). And so to home. I put the news out about the great reed warbler and went to muck out the car - a much over-due and rather unpleasant job. Martin Ekenberg rang me for directions to the warbler and as I chipped congealed sweets and soggy biscuits from the livestock area of the car I idly wondered if he would find something I had missed. Martin lives in the village and is an active local lister in the NW Skåne region (currently topping the Microbirding NW Skåne league for the year), he has been known to find a good bird or two...

The phone rang!

Look what Martin found!

Collared flycatcher is a very scarce spring over-shoot in our neck of the woods, last seen in BK in 1977 (I was 12 and lived in another country then).

These poor shots show most of the important bits; nice large white patch above the bill, full white collar, large white patch at base of primaries. No worries about this one being a hybrid! Excellent find Mr Ekenberg.

Yes, the phone rang and it was Martin, he was watching a spanking adult male collared flycatcher at Flytermossen. Throwing the hoover and the shovel out of the car I zoomed off and arrived to find the bird (and Martin) waiting patiently. Luckily it was not where I had been birding in the morning, otherwise I would have been a bit miffed! We watched the bird for ten minutes and then it flew to the island in the lake and showed rather poorly for the slowly increasing crowd before coming back to the roadside for the photos above. Great twitch, superb bird.

Back at home I finished off the car and then we all headed out to walk the coast between Vejbystrand and Ranarpsstrand. Counted breeding birds mostly, but also recorded 1-2 turnstone, an avocet and there were unusual numbers of sand martins about.

Cute

A small spring fall, a pine marten and a self-found birthday treat

Marsh sandpiper was the first rare bird I ever saw - 18th August 1979, a first for Norfolk (back when they were rare in the UK). Great to find one today.

It has long been my custom to spend my birthday birding and today was a great day in the field (good to be born in May, thanks Mum!), although the weather left a little to be desired it did result in a few birds dropping out of migration.

Started off with a morning on my own in BK, first stop was Torekov rev. Large numbers of blackcap and willow warbler in every tree and bush. Searching the woods and coast here produced the first wood warblers of the year, plus two more spotted flycatchers. As I walked to the car, I spotted another year-tick streaking past, a splendid hobby (better late than never). Checked Flytermossen next, the harsh conditions of the last few days have made things hard for migrant insectivores and many are feeding in unusual locations, basically anywhere with concentrations of invertebrates. At least five whinchats were feeding in the reedbed here. Four water rails squealed away and both reed and sedge warbler were singing.

Surprisingly things were a lot quieter at nearby Ripagården, although some blackcap, a pied flycatcher and about seven yellow wagtail were evident. A single green sandpiper was either a late migrant or possibly a failed breeder (autumn already?). A large gathering of 150 barn swallows hawking over the sea here was yet another sign of the appalling weather we are having at the moment. Best 'bird' here though was a superb pine marten seen briefly but well on the edge of the wood - only my third sighting in Sweden. Walking on up to Hovs Hallar was mostly just good exercise, although another large flock of 100 barn swallows contained house martin (20) and sand martin (1).

After lunch took the team off-patch for a look at what was about at Sandön and Rönnen. Sandön was superb, the first birds to be spotted were the four, epic black-tailed godwits that arrived yesterday. Out on the exposed flats with them there were at least five spotted redshank and a single dunlin. Working through the numerous redshanks and greenshanks I was surprised to find a mint-condition adult marsh sandpiper in my 'scope. Bonus! Put the news out (thanks Mikael) and then enjoyed close-range views of this slender little gem. I see plenty of marsh sandpipers most years, but always in winter, so getting good views of this summer-plumage bird was fantastic. Overhead an osprey fished and my first swifts (2) of the year whizzed north. Sublime.

Last stop was Rönnen where the pool held a superb, rather gingery summer-plumaged Temminck's stint, one ruff and six wood sandpiper. A nice end to a day which actually produced some sunny weather towards the end.

I just popped my head out the Velux window whilst on the phone and had a roding woodcock fly by and could also hear a thrush nightingale singing up the hill. Sweet!

Four degrees and wet...what happened to May?

Horrible weather this morning, but rolled out for a pre-breakfast session that was pure torture. The vicious NE wind made for an unpleasant session at Ripagården and an hour here produced just fluffy eider ducklings and signs of foraging wild boar (unusual at sea-level here). Another hour at Torekov was slightly more clement but equally unproductive.

Took the team for a walk around the boundary of Klarningen in the afternoon and this was a bit better. Migrants were more obvious and included my first spotted flycatcher of the year. The trees along the river acting as a corridor for small flocks of passerines again. A ruff was the only wader of note, aside from the usual residents. Water levels continue to fall on site. Looking across to Eskilstorpsdammar produced the usual greenshank (1) and a pair of comfortable looking whooper swans. The best bird came as we drove down the track on the way home and a superb 2K peregrine whacked into the gull flock for the hell of it and flew off on its way.

Windy weather

Spent the morning doing stuff around the house, I was too horrified at dawn by the strong NW wind to go out. Tomorrow might be different though, rain overnight might drop some migrants on us. It stayed windy all day...

Did get out in the late afternoon for a brief look at Slottet (marsh tit and pied flycatcher but again no lesser spotted woodpecker) and checked out the pools at Bösketorp. Plenty going on here with little grebe (pair nest-building), moorhen (1) and a brooding common crane.

It's back!

Spent a decidedly chilly pre-breakfast period in the field, first walking Grytskären-Ranarpsstrand and then quickly visiting Stora Hultstrand. Both were worth doing. The first walk produced barnacle goose (17 north), shoveler (4) and my first patch avocet of the year. Stora Hultstrand was worth checking, it looks good for waders at the moment, and produced avocet (1 - possibly the same bird), purple sandpiper (6 flying by - a little strange), greenshank (1) and my first turnstone this year. A big flock of Numenius flying past proved to be mixed - perhaps ten curlew and 18-20 whimbrel.

My first patch grizzled skipper.

After breakfast I took the kids out for the day. We did a big walk around Önnarp firing range, which was rather quiet (until we got there...). Saw some birds though, plenty of tree pipits and pied flycatchers around and had a nice hawfinch perched up briefly. Number 1 found me my first patch grizzled skipper. A dead common shrew went down well and was adopted (which reminds me to check, they may still have it!).

Common shrew.

On the way home we checked out a few wetlands (seeing Ginger Rogers for the first time) and hit the beach at Segelstorp to reward the kids for a hard day in the field. It was almost warm by now and they waded about happily in the water and I got told off by a (no doubt) well-meaning onlooker for abusing my children. I tried to explain that their mother was a sea-otter but it got lost in translation...

Still lost it!

Nipped out before breakfast for a walk between Ripagården and Hovs Hallar. Best bird shot past the car park just after I arrived - a speeding female merlin. Otherwise a quiet session, three singing thrush nightingales at Hovs Hallar were nice though.

In the afternoon took the team for a short walk at Skottorps våtmark, quiet here too with just gadwall (pair), wood sandpiper (1), grey-headed wagtail (1) and three singing sedge warblers. Checked Klarningen and Eskilstorpsstrand on the way home with nothing of note at either.

Lost my mojo!

Mrs B and I wandered aimlessly around off-patch hoping for a few of the birds that have been seen recently without success. The marsh sandpiper was gone from Hasslarp, but we managed to scare up three wood sandpipers, three common sandpipers, a ruff and a little ringed plover. The bitter SW wind soon saw us off the place though. Sandön was very quiet too, with just three greenshank and a gadwall representing the migrants.

At Rönnen we were unsurprised to discover that the black-tailed godwit had moved on and little had replaced it. Decided to check Sibirien on the way home, the same (?) flock of common scoter was there togther with a small group of scaup (8). No sign again of the black scoter, but I bet he is still out there somewhere.

Birding - 03/05/10

Tried Eskilstorpsstrand again for an hour this morning, got there nice and early but nothing moving on the diver front, did they all leave yesterday? Made do with a whimbrel and five long-tailed ducks and then got too cold and moved on to Klarningen. Klarningen is drying out at a rapid rate but produced a few wetland birds including whooper swan (1), little ringed plover (1), another whimbrel (heard only) and the almost resident lone greenshank.

Took the team out for a walk across Älemossen before lunch. Highlights were singing cuckoo and a female red-backed shrike (easily my earliest bird here). Frustratingly played hide-and-seek with a possible wryneck. Birds really buzzing up here now with lots of blackcap, pied flycatcher (first females of the year) and tree pipits.

After lunch I took Numbers 1 & 2 to the beach and we had a nice hen harrier (female) in-off, which was pursued by various birds until out of sight. At the end of the day we had a quick walk at Ripagården, no sign of the wryneck reported yesterday and just one grey-headed wagtail of note.

Throughout the day though it was evident that a huge volume of birds had arrived overnight or are transitting through BK. Blackcaps and lesser whitethroats were everywhere, the latter often giving away their presence with that crazy little sub-song they do.

Nearly!

A bad shot taken in haste to try and record part of a high-flying flock of migrating red-throated divers. This is perhaps one of the more exciting aspects of migration in this neck of the woods. Observers further north recorded 1300 birds this morning.

A day of not connecting with stuff! Hit the beach at Eskistorpsstrand early this morning but just five minutes too late for a chance of a yellow-billed diver reported a little further north. One of the features of birding Laholmsbukten is the incredible passage of red-throated divers in early May. Birds collect rapidly offshore over a few days and then fly high in huge flocks before heading overland. This morning saw at least 360 down my end of the bay, but I must admit that counting this phenomenon is difficult to do accurately. Many divers go over and then chicken out and head back to sea, so there is a constant to-and-fro that is hard to keep track of.

Walked in to Eskilstorpsdammar next, picking up a great female merlin en route...

"You looking at me?"

The pools were quiet with snipe (3), curlew (1), greenshank (1), cuckoo (male), tree pipit and a few other migrants including redstart, whinchat, lesser whitethroat and chiffchaff. From the pools you can just see water at Klarningen and this produced ruff (2), greenshank (1) and wood sandpiper (1).

After breakfast took the gang out for a walk between Lervik and Ranarpsstrand. Highlights were few and far between; purple sandpiper (1 Grytskären), greenshank (1), common sandpiper (3), little tern (6 at Ranarpsstrand), sparrowhawk (1 north) and yellow wagtail (1 north). The bad news was a couple of little egret probably travelled through BK whilst we were walking along, did we miss them too?

Finally nipped out for a quick look at Torekov in the evening. The rev was quiet, although I managed to leave my 'scope at home which did not help. Highlights included; shoveler (male), little tern (1), more redstarts (a big influx today?) and a displaying redpoll. Flytermossen had a marsh harrier (male) and a singing reed warbler.

Mayday! Mayhem!

Did some office work in the early morning, eventually picking up an email from Ed Parnell in the UK asking if I had been to see the black scoter yet - doh! It was the first I had heard about it, so I put it on the 'To do list' for the day. Whilst working I had a garden tick from the window (a pair of collared doves) and updated the garden list. Still a woeful total at just 92 species, but some quality birds in there if you are a Norfolk boy.

The gallery for the black scoter twitch today. The cultural differences between the Swedes and the English are never more obvious than in a gallery such as this. In the UK the first question on arriving at a site would be "Is it still showing?" and then, if an affirmative answer is received, "Where is it?". Things are a lot quieter in a Swedish gallery (which I often enjoy) and you often get to find the bird yourself (ditto) or not... [BTW it's OK to shout and jump about when you do see the bird, in this case the scoter was at least 200m offshore and beyond scaring].

Working speedily through the essential tasks, we all piled in the car and headed for Sibirien. No sign of the black scoter sadly and eventually rain put paid to our efforts at birding or playing on the beach and we left. The gallery apparently divided into two factions, some saw the bird and others did not. Was it there? Who knows? I did see a nice flock of about 85 common scoter, 15 scaup, a scattering of great crested and red-necked grebes and five little terns. Stopped off at Grytskären on the way home briefly, but the rain caught up with us again. Some hirundines in though, with barn swallow (35), house martin (10) and sand martin (10) hawking in the lee of the nearest island.

After lunch, I took Number 1 birding and we headed first to Petersberg. The reedbeds here had singing sedge (1) and reed warbler (1) and a male marsh harrier was getting busy. Next stop was Klarningen which was quiet, although ruff (2), whinchat (male) and wheatear (male) suggested a bit of movement. The greenshank (1) was still over at Eskiltorpsdammar.

Just looked through my day's images and found this, I was searching so hard for blackie it seems that I failed to spot the stellar supporting cast, and I missed the black scoter too (can you spot him hiding at the back? shout if you can).