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.