little stint

With the kids back at school I took the opportunity to visit Klarningen this morning. Leif K and his wife were already on site and reported a hunting white-tailed eagle which sadly failed to reappear during my 80 minute watch. Plenty going on though with water-levels up nicely, teal (300) have responded nicely, but the only other notable ducks I could find were single garganey and shoveler. Waders are also present in good numbers but accurate counts are difficult as usual but included at least eight ruff, eight wood sandpipers, six greenshank and one dunlin. A calling black woodpecker was notable, individuals of this species often disperse in August and wander widely. Eventually Mats turned up and told me he had just found a little stint at Torekov and so off I went.

Arriving at Torekov rev I was soon looking through a nice selection of autumn waders and eventually found a very elusive little stint. Also present were grey plover (2), redshank (9), bar-tailed godwit (4), dunlin (8), curlew sandpiper (1), knot (4), ruff (1) and turnstone (4). Nice.

18082013

A very early start saw me getting back from the UK Bird Fair in time for lunch and an afternoon out with the team. We headed for Ripagården for some bird, swimming and crabbing. But the weather had other ideas and it pi**ed down with rain. We managed two crabs, a quick swim and a few waders (two bar-tailed godwit, one knot and one wood sandpiper) before we headed home drenched.

calidrids at last!

Dodged rain showers most of the day but wound up with five BK year-ticks for my troubles. The weather of the last few days suggested that waders might be on the ground in BK and the obvious place to look after my quick recce last week was Stora Hultstrand. Sure enough the rotting weed here had a nice gathering of waders including; bar-tailed godwit (1), curlew sandpiper (2), sanderling (2) and turnstone (4). All BK year-ticks. Also here grey plover (1), knot (13), redshank (9) and wood sandpiper (1).

After lunch I managed an hour at Klarningen. The harvested pea-field here was partially flooded and rammed with birds. Best of the lot were my first BK pintail of the year but also in attendance were ruff (11), snipe (12+), curlew (7), wood sandpiper (2), spotted redshank (4) and greenshank (10+).

cherry-picking - 13082013

Took the kids for a walk this afternoon whilst the car was being serviced. We looked for dragonflies on the ponds at Lindab and Vysterborg but the weather remained wet and windy and we spent more time picking and eating fruit and sheltering from the regular showers. We recorded four species of odonates and Vysterborg had four tufted duck ducklings and that was as exciting as it got!

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).

what no calidrids!

Had a good look around a few likely wader haunts in BK today and drew a blank for any calidrids. I checked out the coast between Torekov and Ripagården and Vejbystrand to Ranarpsstrand without any really notable birds coming my way.  A few species are obviously building in number though as we slide into autumn, including golden plover (80+ during the day) and Sandwich tern (15+). The only indication of any passerine migration was 8 crossbills south at Ripagården.

back home at last

Spent yesterday recovering from an epic family road tour, a three week camping trip that took in dragonfly sites in Denmark, Germany, Austria, France, Belgium and Holland! More about that later...

Today though I dragged myself off the sofa in the late afternoon for a look at Klarningen. Things were happening here and luckily there is still a little bit of water left. Pleasingly the first bird here was an osprey that spooked everything when it flew in to feed on a freshly caught silvery sea trout. A BK year-tick rather embarrassingly, especially as this bird has over-summered in all likelihood.

Waders were tricky to spot but an hour here produced a few; green sandpiper (1), wood sandpiper (2), greenshank (2), spotted redshank (1) and ruff (1) on the pools. Just before I left a near-adult white-tailed eagle made a brief appearance.

postcard from the Pyrenees

 Spanish gatekeeper

Orthetrum brunneum

Tawny pipit

Honey buzzard

Lizard orchid

Lady's slipper orchid

Pyrenean brook newt

Bird's-nest orchid

New Odonata

A week spent driving down through Germany and chasing Odonata resulted in three lifers for me, the best easily being the incredibly range-restricted montane European race of Coenagrion hylas.

Another lifer for me this time in Germany (and rather embarrassing as it occurs in northern Sweden) was the splendid Ophiogomphus cecilae.

Butterflies - Pyrenees

Lesser spotted fritillary (Melitaea trivia)

Chestnut heath (Coenonympha glycerion)

Marbled white (Melanargia galathea)

False heath fritillary (Melitaea diamina), vernetensis the Pyrenean subspecies

Scarce swallowtail (Iphiclides podalirius)

Adonis blue (Lysandra bellargus)

Marbled fritillary (Brenthis daphne)

Duke-of-Burgundy (Hamearis lucina)

Lovely longhorns (Cerambycidae) - Spanish Pyrenees

Dorcadion fuliginator

Monochamus sutor

Cerambyx scopolii

Odonata - Pyrenees

With just three species of Odonate recorded during working hours on a recent trip to the Spanish Pyrenees, I eventually cracked and went out one evening exploring and found a small reservoir (Balsa la Estanca) above Bailo that satisfied my Odo-needs. This Sympetrum fusca male was my first in Spain. [A full list of the Odonata recorded on the tour follows these photos]

My only odo-lifer of the tour came in the form of this splendid Coenagrion scitulum, a long overdue addition to my list.

Another Spanish first for me was Erythromma lindeni

A few Sympetrum fonscolombii were also my first in Spain

An encounter with Gomphus pulchellus at Balsa la Enstanca was my first in many years and most welcome.

Odonata recorded in the Spanish Pyrenees between 25^th June and 2^nd July 2013

Common winter demoiselle	Sympecma fusca	Two males at Balsa la Enstanca.
Blue-eye	Erythromma lindeni	A few at Balsa la Enstanca.
	Ischnura spp.	A few at Balsa la Enstanca.
Dainty damselfly	Coenagrion scitulum	Two males at Balsa la Enstanca.
Common bluet	Enallagma cyathigerum	Small numbers at Balsa la Enstanca.
Yellow clubtail	Gomphus simillimus	One at the Atares junction stream for Bruce and Mary only...
Western clubtail	Gomphus pulchellus	A few males at Balsa la Enstanca.
Emperor	Anax imperator	Small numbers at Balsa la Enstanca, including an egg-laying female.
Broad-bodied chaser	Libellula depressa	Pair on roadside runnel high up the Hecho Valley.
Black-tailed skimmer	Orthetrum cancellatum	One male at Balsa la Enstanca.
Southern skimmer	Orthetrum brunneum	Single male along the Aragon River on the afternoon of the first day.
Red-veined darter	Sympetrum fonscolombii	Small numbers at Balsa la Enstanca. One at Casa Sarasa on the last day.