Hawk Owl hunting

One of the local Hawk Owls was hunting with an audience the other day. Göran Ljunggren was in the middle of the action for a moment. See more of his excellent work on hus own website!

A nice winter´s day

A lovely, cold but sunny midwinter´s day produced good views of Nutcrackers, Hawk Owl, Dipper and a massive flock of  700-800 (!) Goldfinch with some Bramblings and Chaffinches too. Pictures by Niclas Lignell.

Waxwings too

There where also more than a hundred Waxwings in the same trees. Fieldfares and blackbirds too of course.

Pine Grosbeaks downtown

A good gathering of birds in a town area the other day, included 2-3 very tame Pine Grosbeaks, just female-coloured birds. They fed mainly on Rowan berries but also on grit that they picked up from the ground. There they where so tame that we got them within 30 cm and we had to act traffic police in order to not get them run over by cars. A local lady went home and made warning signs that she put up. Great initiative! Lovely birds!

Hawk Owl in sunshine

One of the now at least 10(!) Hawk Owls in Västmanland showed off pretty well today. Hovering like a Kestrel and perching in various trees and bushes.

Waxwings coming too

Waxwings have turned up in rather good numbers the last week. Flocks of 60-100 are seen all over town right now. Not too many rowan berries around though.

Pine Grosbeak invasion

Lots of Pine Grosbeaks are on the move and reports from eastern and central Sweden reach out every day. A flock of 60 was seen yesterday and this little flock of 5-7 has been present the last days now. I saw just female-coloured birds today but a male has also been present. This is already the biggest invasion of Grozzies since 2004 and it´s only just started. They are drawn to Rowan berries in suburb areas and towns as well as major pine forests.

More Hawk Owls

The last couple of weeks a Hoopoe has been present in the village Ramsberg. Today there´s a Hawk Owl on the same site. Have a look at a picture here!

Three Hawk Owls in Västmanland today

No less than 3 different Hawk Owls where reported in Västmanland today. It looks like we´re in for a really good Hawkie season. This one was portrayed on the 27:th of April this spring but might be one of the birds still around the area.

Northern Carmine Bee-eater on tour

Northern Carmine Bee-eaters have been touring central Sweden for a while now. 3 where found on the 4.th of October, disappeared after a couple of days and on the 11.th 2 turned up on the coast outside Stockholm in a garden/ villa area. Apparently they found a wasp´s nest or beehive and have been busy catching and feeding on these little creatures despite cold and damp weather. Regardless of their origin (escapees or not) the colour they present is a little marvel in this drab, dull, grey, rainy part of the year. My friend Erik Hansson got the better picture. Enjoy!

Hawk Owls in Västmanland

The last 2 days Hawk Owls have been found on at least two different spots in Västmanland. This might be a really good season coming up for these lovely birds. Enjoy a few pictures here!

Tengmalm´s on the move

Tengmalm´s Owls seem to be on the move along the southern costs of Sweden this autumn. Ottenby and other bird observatories are ringing quite a few. Check out some of Max Green´s great pictures from last week.

Hawk Owls around

Hawk owls keep popping up in Västmanland these last few weeks, yesterday and today as well. We might look forward to a very interesting autumn/ winter. This one was photographed this spring outside Västerås though. 

Camberwells still out

The warm days keep the butterflies out flying. Camberwell Beauties are doing just fine.

Crane evening

Friday was a good Crane-evening at Hjälstaviken.

Autumn with Naturetrek

The Sweden in autumn trip (with Naturetrek) resulted in encounters with Nutcrackers, Pygmy Owl, Short-eared Owl and Woodpeckers of 6 species including Three-toed,Black and Grey-headed Woodpecker. No less than 14.000 Common Cranes offered
spectacular evening events when they flew into roost at night. Lesser
White-fronted Geese where seen among many thousands of Bean, Greylag and
Barnacles. At the bird observatory in Kvismaren we got served with
Bluethroats and a late Great Reed Warbler. Among interesting insects
several Migrant Hawkers, Clifden Nonpareil moths and Camberwell Beauties
where the highlights. A bonus was the Pectoral Sandpiper on the last day -
a rare bird in Sweden too.