Elephant in the grass

30:th of May
16 persons from Naturetrek arrived yesterday and had a great start with the first 3 good species of Owl. As we do the Woodpeckers in Färna Ekopark this morning, we are lucky to encounter another of the charismatic Hawk Moths – the Elephant Hawk Moth. So close to have been run over by the van and trampled on by us, it just sat there in the grass by the roadside.

Yet another "Eye"

24:th of May

The two (male and female) Eyed Hawkmoths from yesterday remain on the same spot today, just sitting on the grass. The temperature is probably not high enough for them to fly. 

    We´ve had great weather lately, but cold nights and northerly winds don´t make the days really warm either.

    Today however, it´s warmer, and we get good Woodpeckers (Three-toed-, Black- and Grey-headed) and a bunch of nice butterflies on the same site. Among them northern Chequered Skipper and a beautiful, not to say immaculate Swallowtail. And we even find another Eyed Hawk Moth, perched on a single straw along the path. Incredibly beautiful creature. Once again Johan Ackermann from the excellent hotel Salbohedgården took the picture.

Eyed Hawkmoths on the hotel lawn

23:rd of May

The Wildwings-group are busy watching birds for the 2:nd day and are already done with stuff like Great Grey Owls, Pygmy Owl, Ural Owl, etc. when the landlord at the hotel Salbohedgården, Johan, happens to mention the "beautiful butterflies" he had seen on the day.

     His descprition of them puzzles me a bit, so he pulls out his camera and shows these pictures of 2 Eyed Hawkmoths!

Redbreasted fly find

20:th of May

We head out to search for Frejya´s Fritillary, but without success. On a spontaneous stop at another potential site, the song of Redbreasted Flycatcher immediately reach our ears as we step out of the cars. Soon the bird is found in the canopies above us. It´s not in full summer plumage (like the bird on the picture) but probably a young male. Very cute bird with a nice voice.

See more of Hans Falklind´s eminent pictures att www.falknatur.se

Redfooted falcon

15:th of May

The last 4 days a female Redfooted Falcon has been resident around the wetland at the Skultuna sawmill. A quite nice little place with breeding Cranes and Beavers and a set of boardwalks and watchtowers. 

    Today it provided some really good views as the sun broke out for a midday hour or two. It hunted dragonflies together with at least 3 Hobbies that stroke the side of the watchtower at incredibly close distance. 

Göran Ljunggren got lucky and got some great pictures. See more of his excellent work at www.trut.se

Great Snipe lek in the valley

9:th of May

Leking Great Snipes on Nötmyran in the Black River Valley appears only on spring migration and the last few years we haven´t had many reports, so it is quite satisfying to have 3 birds singing in front of us as we stand on the floodplains on a beautiful spring night.

   The picture was taken on last years mountain-trip where they start to display earlier in the evening and provide much better photo-opportunities on the alpine slopes.

Capers en masse

4:th of May

This morning we spend in the forest and as we drive on small gravel tracks, Capercaillies appear a bit here and there. We even see 2 different males displaying with fully spread tails near the road. 

     Even more obliging are the females. Nic get pictures on at least 3 of them. It is just around the end of the leking season and it´s typical to see females down on the gravel roads, eating grit to stimulate the produce of good eggs with a hard shell. At least that´s my theory, correct me if I´m wrong. See more of Nic´s pictures on: www.naturasson.be