The only one in southern Sweden

30:th of December 2010
Furthermore, this seems to be the only pinpointed Hawk owl in southern Sweden right now. We can just hope it remains. (they usually do)

More Hawk Owl

30:th of December 2010
I usually prefer them from the side, showing some nice backpattern.

First Hawk Owl for the season

30:th of December 2010
After 2 months of rumours and the odd confirmed, but no documented sightings, a Hawk Owl finally materialised in the valley today. In a garden! When I got there it was only some 50 m away from that garden, in a treetop by another garden. Funnily, I got 3 phonecalls this morning, the other was about a Pygmy Owl in yet another garden in the valley and the 3:rd about a Rough-legged Buzzard hit by a train nearby. (Surviving though)

Wolftracking with Grosbeaks

28:th of December 2010
A great day in the forest, tracking wolves on skies. We followed 2 wolftracks for several kilometres. In the process we saw some Black Grouse, 2 male Capercaillies and found a little party of three Pine Grosbeaks. I know it´s blurry but what a lovely colour on a lovely bird!

Pine Marten revisiting

A quick little tour to refill bird feeders in the relativally mild weather (just –5°) but the norherly wind is chilling. 9 gorgeous Bullfinches, (photo: Max Green) and 1 Hawfinch on the first sight. Plenty of Yellowhammers in the garden and fresh footprints of the Pine Marten in the appletree, so he gets some new sandwiches and a good piece of fat. No live sightings of him yet.

26 below zero

22:nd of December 2010
26° c below zero is what we have today. Incredibly cold, but beautiful light.

Grey-head at dusk

21:st of December 2010
Mrs female Grey-headed Woodpecker shows up at the "Inn" just before dusk. A Rouh-legged Buzzard along the road as well.

New Grey-head

20:th of December 2010
Another Grey-headed Woodpecker -this time a male - was found on another feeding station in the Black River area today. Check out this video taken last week!

Pine Grosbeaks again

15:th of December 2010
Another brilliant day with –19° C and encounters with 5 Pine Grosbeaks in the forest of Rönnbacken. 2 gorgeous adult males in the flock. No time for pictures though. Another group of 20 where seen nearby by other observers.

Pine Marten visit

12:th of December 2010
A Pine Marten´s been climbing my appletree and stealing the fat I put up for the Woodpeckers. Hmm... Interesting visit.

Stalking a Black Wood

12:th of December 2010
A female Black Woodpecker is found fouraging just outside Fläckebo and for a while I stalk it and manage to get almost close enough, but with this expert in hide and seak, it´s not easy.

Fieldfare and Waxwings

9:th of December 2010
A flock of 20 or so Waxwings are showing interest for some berrybushes outside a mall. But cars keep scaring them off and a Fieldfare is the only one willing to pose for the camera. Also a great bird though!

Capercaille on the road

4:th of December 2010
It´s always nice to spot these massive birds on the road. An unmistakable silhuette! Caperaillie male.

Caper´s closer

4:th of December 2010
Closing in a bit and he´s still standing.

Caper´s flying

4:th of December 2010
Eventually he goes...

Grosbeaks on the feeding station

7:th of December 2010
Another cold, brilliant day, with –10° C and sunshine on frost and snow. On the feeding station for Nutcrackers there is full show, but all of a sudden I react on a call I haven´t heard for long now. A fluting, melodic, almost joddeling call. My instinct leads my thoughts straight towards... can it be? Yes it is! Pine Grosbeaks! A bunch of around 10 birds appear and perch in the treetops around the clearing. Wow! What a great feeling. These really northern birds don´t come down every year and this is possibly looking to be the best year since 2004. Another flock was seen two days ago in the area. There where males, females and youngs in this flock but only the young ones got caught on picture.

Two Grosbeaks

7:th of December 2010
Two of the birds, both looking juvenile.

Juv Grosbeaks

7:th of December 2010
And a little better perhaps. What a great little bird they are!

First Grey-head on feeder

5:th of December 2010
Today the first Grey-headed Woodpecker for the season was seen and even filmed (by Lars Karlsson) on the feeding station by Lake Fläcksjön. This is very good news because last year was the first year of 5 without any Greyhead present. This female bird seemed a bit shy, but they often get very used to people and quite tame. We have identified at least 4 different Grey-headed Woodpeckers on the feeding site through our 6 years running it. One was ringed in Medelpad in the middle north of Sweden. If the film below doesn´t upload try this link!

Brighter times for Nutties

30:th of November 2010
Today we cut down to furry Sprucetrees on the Nutcacker feeding station in the forest. For the benefit of Nutcracker photography. This heavy-billed specimen overviewed the action with 3 of his best friends. The picture was taken before the trees where down.

First Greyhead for the season

29:th of November 2010
The first Grey-headed Woodpecker for the winter season is seen today. It caught my suspicion as it just flew over the road as I came driving along the lake. I followed it with my bins and it soon landed in a treetop. A bit distant but I got a record shot at least, proving it was a male with his red cap.

Brilliant Woodpecker

29:th of November 2010
A briliant, but cold day. – 10° C. Plenty of birds in my garden with Bullfinches, Redpolls and Goldfinch on top of the common Great-, Blue– and Marsh tits. A Great-spotted Woodpecker male is a stunner in my appletree, attracted to the suet I put up.

Waxwings

26:th of November 2010
It´s cold (-10°) today, but a bit brighter, though not sunny. 2 Rough-legged Buzzards along the way and then a garden full of Waxwings is always a delight. Bull- and Goldfinches in the garden too and even a raiding Great Grey Shrike! Didn´t see it really well, but shurely a garden tick(!).

A cluster of Wax

26:th of November 2010
Waxwings clustring up in my appletrees.

A bunch of three

26:th of November 2010
Three of the perpetrators.

Punkrocker

26:th of November 2010
Against the wind (and against the light).

Full winter

25:th of November 2010
Winter struck us for real last night. Now it´s not only snowy, but also cold. Nothing much, just a few degrees below zero, but still. Around 10 cm of snow on the ground looks quite nice.

First Hawk Owl reported

10:th of November 2010
Yesterday the first Hawk Owl for the season was reported near Västerfärnebo. Hope to track it down during the weekend.

First snow and lots of Moose

10:th of November 2010
The last 24 hours we got some 20 cm of snow. The first for the season. On my way up to the valley, 4 Moose bulls appeared on a field by the road. This is one of them. On my way home I saw another 2.

Rough-legged Buzzard

10:th of November 2010
Two Rough-legged Buzzards on the same spot just outside Salbohed today. This one is an older individual with a lot of dark feathers on the underwing.

Pine Grosbeaks on the move

6:th of November 2010
Today Pine Grosbeaks were reported from 8 countys in northern and central Sweden. Only low numbers but still a noticable influx. 3 observations were made in Svartådalen and 2 birds even on my feeding station at Skillberg. We haven´t had a real Pine Grosbeak invasion since 2004 in central Sweden. The lack of berries this year might force them southwards but will they appear in numbers? and what will they eat? Picture by Stefan Oscarsson. See more of his excellent pictures on his own website!

Waxwings in my garden

5:th of November 2010
Nice to see some Waxwings in my garden today.

Waxwings on apples

5:th of November 2010
At least 15 Waxwings fed on my appletrees most of the day. Some Bullfinches with trumpeting calls as well. Caucasian?

Lesser Black-back?

Is this a Lesser Black-backed Gull? (the slightly hunch-backed, dark mantled individual in the centre of the picture)

Gulls in Västerås harbour

Enjoyed a sunny afternoon session with the Gulls down the harbour. It´s a great place for Gull watching, with the peer and the lighthouse. Possibly a Lesser Black backed Gull today among Great Black backs and plenty of Herring Gulls.

Great House Sparrow

Aren´t House Sparrows just great?

Brilliant and cold day

25:th of October 2010
A thin crust of ice covers the lakes in the Black River Valley today. Sun shines from a blue sky and the Nutcracker feeding station is teeming with life. Crested–, Coal–, Willow– and the other tits and plenty of Nuthatches are all over.

Nutcracker eating

25:th of October 2010
Good light and good appearance of at least 5 Nutcrackers. This picture was taken by my son Leon Green, 24.

Red-breasted Goose

24:th of October 2010
After scanning some flocks of Barnacles I manage to refind the Red-breasted Goose that´s been moving around in the area the last few days. Great bird! Excellent scope views but a bit distant for the 400 mm. Can you see it standing in the centre of the crowd?

Irresistible Barnacles

24:th of October 2010
Finally a bit brighter skies after a dull, rainy morning with southwesterly wind. Some Little Gulls, Auks, Divers, Ducks and a Caspian Gull at the strip. The thousands of Barnacles moving around in the area are hard to resist.

Grey Phalarope

23:rd of October 2010
A Grey Phalarope is the highlight of the day. Despite close range, no fully sharp pictures unfortunately. On the same site – Gräsgårds hamn – plenty of Twite and among them an Arctic Redpoll. Waxwings are flying around all over the island.

Barnacle evening

22:nd of October 2010
The first snow has fallen. Yesterday started with icy roads on snow on the roofs. Today it´s a bit milder. Lot´s of Barnacle Geese by the Ottenby lighthouse road in the evening.

The Accentor remains

The Black-throated Accentor on Ottenby, Öland is still present for the 6:th day in consecutive. Lot´s of twitching down there, being only the 3:rd record for Sweden ever with the last 2 ones 1-day records. Photo by Mr Max Green. See a load of his excellent pictures from our wonderful last weekend at Ottenby on his flickr page!

Thick-billed Nutcracker

12:th October 2010
A really thick-billed one.

Nutcracker in tree

12:th October 2010
Nutcracker in tree.

Obliging Nutcrackers

12:th October 2010
4 Nutcrackers are really obliging at my feeding station today. Good light conditions as well.

The Jump

12:th October 2010
and off he jumps.

Mr Red Squirrel

12:th of October 2010
A Red Squirrel joins in for the feast.

Steppe Eagle

10:th October 2010
On the way up north on the island, we stop for a juv Golden Eagle. Soon enough 5 White-tailed Eagles and a (2:nd calender year) Steppe Eagle join in soaring together above us in clear blue skies and sunshine. What a final to the weekend. Photo by Max Green.

Accentor showup

10:th October 2010
The Black-throated Accentor at Ottenby bird observatory on showup for the crowd by the fence.

Black-throated Accentor

10:th of October 2010
A juvenile Black-throated Accentor gets caught and ringed. Initially misidentified as Siberian Accentor. Releasd 10.36 in "Bertils trädgård". Hold by Simon S. Christansen.

Red-flanked Bluetail

9:th of October 2010
A Red-flanked Bluetail (Tarsiger cyaneus) in a small copse at Sandvik (Hålsnäs) is the final treat of the day. In a beautiful setting with a beautiful sunset (eventually).

Radde´s Warbler

9:th of October 2010
After lunch a Radde´s Warbler (Phylloscopus schwarzi) is found at the southern tip of the Ottenby lund (forest). It attracts a big crowd but after an hour of waiting it finally appears for some brief views in splendid light.

A bunch of 3

9:th of October 2010
Two Pallas´Leaf Warblers and a Dusky Warbler (Phylloscopus fuscatus) is also ringed during the morning.

Firecrest

9:th of October 2010
It´s a good morning at Ottenby with just a little breeze from the east and clear skies. A lot of birds in the lighthouse garden and a Firecrest is the first good catch.

Long and short ears

8:th of October 2010
The night is somewhat windy but an after dinner walk up the lighthouse road gets rewarding. Gabriel and Stina´s fine teamwork with torchlight and net gives 2 succesful swings. A short-eared– and a Long-eared Owl. What a nice couple!

Pallas´s Leaf Warbler

8:th of October 2010
Among plenty of birds in the lighthouse garden the Pallas´s Leaf Warbler (Phylloscopus proregulus) is today´s clue. Photo by Max Green.