Daniel´s birdblog

Hawk Owl and other owls

2009-12-18T10:09:00.000-08:00

18:th of December 2009
Another cold, sunny and brilliant day with temperatures desending down to –17° Celsius. It´s getting cold! Nothing special from my horizon today except for a Rough-legged Buzzard, some Hawfinches and Waxwings, but good news is that a Hawk Owl is residing in Uppland not far away from us. The bird has been present for a few days now and it´s not the only report of winter Owls in the nearby, Short-eared Owl was reported from Lake Gnien in Västmanland today. A Snowy Owl was reported briefly in Dalarna the other day so look out! Glyn Sellors took the picture of last years Hawk Owl at Djuprudan, Uppland.

Snowy views

2009-12-18T02:59:00.000-08:00

17:th of December
After two days of snowfall we now have a layer of about 25 cm and a lot of snow on the trees and –10° C. Today the sun shines and even if it´s in a very low orbit, with sundown already at 2 o´clock in the afternoon, it´s a brilliant, and welcome light. We see some good birds on our feeding stations like Hawfinch, Nutcrackers, Crested tits, and yesterday there where Starlings and Chaffinches, which are not som common here in the north in wintertime. Just outside the window we can also enjoy a flock of beautiful Goldfinches.

Winter arrives

2009-12-18T02:45:00.000-08:00

15:th of December 2009
Snow falls, some Black Grouse sits in Birch trees on my way up to the valley and Whooper Swans are still hanging around in open streams but there is worry in the flocks, they can feel the cold and the northerly winds. Large flocks of Fieldfares are still roaming about but there are still plenty berries on the Ashes for the late arriving Waxwings and hopefully Pine Grosbeaks.

Waxwings and Isabelline Wheatear

2009-12-07T07:42:00.000-08:00

7:th of December 2009
Back to dreary, miserable weather. By the way an Isabelline Wheatear was found in Uppland, not so far away yesterday and is still there today. I enjoy the fact that several flocks of Waxwings have arrived to the city, 150 of them on my own backyard. Such nice birds!

Moon upon frost

2009-12-07T07:39:00.000-08:00

2:nd of December 2009
The day is absolutely brilliant and I spend it in a forest clearing doing a course in outdoor cooking together with some 25 other people. Crossbills and Crested– and Willow Tits make us company. On the way home the moon rises over the frosty landscape. It´s just so pretty.

Frosty morning

2009-12-07T07:09:00.000-08:00

2:nd of December 2009
Yesterday we had the first clear, sunny day for at least a week. Last night came the cold. It was – 10° C this morning and the landscape is covered with frost, and the lakes with ice. As I drive north through the valley the moon descends and as I reach lake Rörbo, frosty and white, the sun rises, beautifully!
A couple of Swans are lingering in a pool of open water, but during the day flock after flock of Whoopers and Geese fly south.

Finches frenzy

2009-11-29T07:18:00.000-08:00

26:th of November 2009
The feeding stations are starting to attract better numbers of birds. There´s been a few Siskins, Redpolls and plenty of Greenfinches lately, today about 100 and among them at least 7 Hawfinches! Not so bad since last winter they didn´t show much at all on this otherwise splendid site for them. They also got good company in the Common Crossbills that has been feeding in the nearby Spruce trees lately.

Looting Thrushes

2009-11-29T07:06:00.000-08:00

25:th of November 2009
Despite this dark, grey, dull period there are some birds around to see. Large flocks af 1000´s of Fieldfares and Redwings have been around in the Black River Valley for a while, plundering the Mountain Ashes on their berries. Whole forest glades have been totally red with berries, but now they turn brown as the berries are consumed. Only a few Waxwings have been seen so far and we can only hope that the Thrushes leave some winter food for them. The regional difference is quite big though, down around Västerås, the berries are practically untouched and not many Thrushes are around.
A couple of hundred Whooper Swans, 50 Bean Geese and a male Hen Harrier is among today´s better birds as well.

Late Autumn Snake

2009-11-25T00:19:00.000-08:00

22:th of November 2009
Finally a nice, sunny day after a long period of cloudy and rainy weather. On a walk on Björnön a little Grass Snake is crossing the path and I can´t resist holding him up for a little while. As you can see he gets defensive, but he was s very dozy and slow.

Autumn Swan migration

2009-11-18T02:29:00.000-08:00

17:th of September 2009
Plenty of Whooper Swans have arrived to the area. On a little roundtour I see three flocks, the biggest holding 320 swans. Not to bad for an autumn day. The autumn migration is more outstretched and usually don´t produce any bigger concentrations of birds. Not at all like in spring when we have thousands of them in the valley.

First flock of Waxwings

2009-11-18T01:44:00.000-08:00

17:th of November 2009
We´re in a dull, dark, wet period of the year and we can only wait for the real winter to come. Last week we had a little snowfall but it only stayed on the ground for a day. Some good winter birds are starting to appear though. My feeding station has got Hawfinches and Nutcrackers on a daily basis now. Today a saw the first flock of Waxwings, 30 of them flew over my garden in Fläckebo with their typical, ringing sound. A lovely taste of what´s to come, because this year there´s plenty of Rowan-berries, meaning there might be a lot of Waxwings this winter, hopefully also Pine Grosbeak. It´s now been 5 years since the last invasion.

Angle Shades and Seals howling

2009-10-10T10:05:00.000-07:00

9:th of October 2009
The night is clear, rather calm and not to bad for Owls, Bats and Moths. Subsequently we hail the mistnets, light the mercury lamp and goes freqent rounds in the garden. A Tawny Owl is spotted and a couple of Moths, including a quite good one - an Angle Shades Moth (Phlogophora meticulosa) - Tandfly in swedish. The night air sounds of a thrilling call – the song of Seals! I´ve never heard Seals have a song, but apparently they do and it´s a bit like Wolves howling(!)

Carma chameleont

2009-10-10T10:02:00.000-07:00

9:th of October 2009
At closer look, it rather resembles a chameleont, doesnt´t it?

Barnacle migration

2009-10-10T09:21:00.000-07:00

9:th of October 2009
A lovely, sunny day with descending westerlies, brought a wave of Barnacle Goose migration across southern Öland. Some 70.000 Geese were counted from the souther tip of the island and more passed north of us too. The miraion even kept on after dusk and the cackling sound of Arctic Geese was heard through the bedroom windows in late night too.

Rough-legged catch

2009-10-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

9:th of October 2009
Two Rough-legged Buzzards get caught in the raptor trap and are´t they impressive birds. Martin Blomberg holds the bird.

Watching Steppe Eagle

2009-10-09T11:04:00.001-07:00

9:th of October 2009
On our way to the raptor trap a Steppe Eagle appears above Ottenby Lund. It´s a bit high up for pictures but at least here is the moment! It was seen over and over again through the day, even making a migration attempt over the straight.

Sabine´s Gull

2009-10-09T10:57:00.000-07:00

9:th of October 2009
After a 6 hour drive we arrive Ottenby, Öland last night and this morning´s first good bird is a juvenile Sabine´s Gull at Ventlinge. A very obliging bird appearing close and feeding actively.

Finding Pectoral sand

2009-10-09T10:51:00.000-07:00

8:th of October 2009
A hasty visit to look at a Black-tailed Godwit of the race islandicus, results in me finding a Pectoral Sandpiper on the same spot - a flooded cropfield at Hällby, Västerfärnebo in the Black River Valley. An American/ Siberian vagrant not often seen inland in Sweden. To far away for pictures with my little camera but just to show you the site and the habitat I give you a view.

Rolling visit

2009-10-06T09:41:00.000-07:00

5:th of October 2009
A Roller has been resident the last few days in the west of Västmanland. Interesting since one was seen in the north (Ångermanland) on the 9:th of September and another one on the south-tip of Norway on the 20:th. Together with a Pied Wheatear in Finland and a Woodchat Shrike in Närke, central Sweden last week, the birds indicate a bit of a southeasterly influx.

Rolling encounter

2009-10-06T09:29:00.001-07:00

5:th of October 2009
Today my friend and photographer Göran Ljunggren got a close encounter with the Roller when it sat less than 10 meters from him. See more of his excellent work on his own website.

Crane migration

2009-10-06T09:24:00.000-07:00

5:th of October 2009
Northwesterly winds and apparently good enough to make some of our last remaining Cranes migrate. I count about 180 Cranes in 5 flocks passing towards southwest above Lake Rörbo. I also start up the bird feeding season by putting out sunflower-seeds to the Hawfinches and in the forest plus finally in my garden. I don´t have to wait many minutes before Marsh tit and Nuthatch is busy collecting the seeds.

Autumnal Moth

2009-10-03T09:54:00.000-07:00

2:nd of October 2009
Today´s mission is cleaning the Tengmalm´s Owl nestboxes and lower some of them to a bit more comfortable working height. These Owls aren´t fuzzy about the height of the hole. Though this years breeding season didn´t produce any breeding in our 25 boxes, we find pellets from Mr Tengmalm in one of the boxes at least. A nice Carpet is spotted, could it be an Autumnal Moth (Epirrita autumnata)?

Ruddy basking

2009-10-03T09:46:00.000-07:00

28:th of September 2009
A great fine day with clear blue skies and sunshine. It looks good for Crane and raptor migration so I head out to Asköviken, but only one flock of like 60 Common Cranes migrate south. Plenty of Black– and Ruddy Darters (Sympetrum sanguineum) though. A basking male of the latter species got caught by the camera.

The Guys

2009-10-03T09:43:00.000-07:00

27:th of September 2009
Today´s forest walkers is a bunch of happy guys; Max, Simon and Jan-Olov. Eager to probe into the wild where Bears have been recently seen. We find a lot of Blueberries, see plenty of Crossbills, some Black Grouse and a male Capercaillie on our walk, but no Bears today.

The tomten

2009-10-03T09:34:00.000-07:00

27:th of September 2009
It´s rare to meet an actual Tomte even in Swedish forests, but today we got lucky.