Spring and more butterflies

30:th of March 2008

Yesterday was the first day this year with temperatures rising above +10° celsius. For people living in a warmer climate, I know this must be hard to believe, but for us northern people it is hard reality. 

    It´s like my whole body can sense a final relief when the air surrounding me is above 10 degrees warm. 

    It´s like I can breath out and relax for the first time since ever. That is one of the most certain signs that winter is over.

    Another is the butterflies. Yesterday I saw the first Brimstone for the year, today I see several, and a couple of Orange Underwing Moths (Archiearis parthenias). One of which allow some close views and shots.

    The observation was made on Björnön - the Bear Island - during a sunny walk that also produced some Lesser spotted Woodpecker, Long-tailed Tits, singing Wren, Goldcrest, Treecreepers and Chaffinches. 

    4 Cranes soaring above, heading north, added to the visit as well.

Wagtail arrival

28:th of March

A little more spring in the air and an afternoon  walk along the Black River, downtown, offers this years first Grey Wagtail. 

    A misleading name on this beautiful, little bird with a striking, brilliant yellow underside.

   I´ve been looking out for it for a while and now I finally get my reward, a nice, very yellow bird is appearing on the riverbank not far from me. It walks out into bellydeep water and looks almost as it´s floating on the surface, as it takes a bath.

Then it gets up on the shore,  shakes it´s feathers dry and preens thoroughly. The picture ws taken on another occasion by Stefan Oscarsson. See more of his excellent work at www.osqar.se

    A male Bullfinch follows the wags example and takes a bath as well. A Dipper is perched on a rock just a bit upstream and as I walk back home a male Goshawk is soaring above me. 

    Even if the local city administration is doing nothing to enhance biodiversity, it still exists.

Mighty Owl calls

26:th of March 2008

The night is cold, still and a totally overwhelming, starry sky is enough as attraction.  I find myself  just gazing up into that inmense oblivion. On my first stop, there´s not a sound, on my second stop the mighty call of a male Ural Owl reaches my ears. 

     On the third stop I hear the pumping call of a Great Grey Owl, a bit distant, but still. I move down the road another km and there it is again, much closer.

     It is repeating the dark, dull, hoot 7-8 times in a descending, slowing down mode. It´s very characteristic and atmospheric. If the Ural Owl call is the most powerful, "evil" sound of the northern Owl calls, the Great Grey call is majestic, pompous and just as dignified as the bird looks. Standing in the dark, looking up at the sky, breathing the cold air and listening to this mysterious sound, is such a quality experience. I feel grateful for this moment, yet I´ve experienced it so many times in my life. 

     The picture was taken on the 27:th of February, but illustrates this moment well, with the darkness surrounding the Owl, just as I could imagine it calling in the night.

Whetchok and Jayfeathers

22:nd of March 2008

Cold, northerly winds and snowfall can´t keep us inside. Some sunshine between the showers makes me and 2 of my 3 sons, Max and Simon, tempted to head out for a walk around Svanå. 

   From a river bridge at Skultuna we see 5 Dippers together in the stream. An unusual concentration I find, but maybe it´s no big wonder. 

    The North American Indian tribe Lillooet used to call Dippers Whetchok - the slave of the northern wind. 

Maybe because cold autumn winds brought migrating Dippers down to Indian territories. Could this be a fall of migrants heading north? 

    We find another Dipper as we walk upstreams along the Black River at Svanå. Some Long-tailed Tits, a close encounter with a Goldcrest and a concentration of 17 Blackbirds in a garden with a feeder, are some of the small birding highlights on this really cold day.

   Yes, and Simon found a whole bunch of Jay feathers on a stone, probably plucked by a Hawk.

Winter strikes back

19:th of March 2008

After a mild period, winter strikes back with some snow and cold, starry nights. A tour around the valley starts with Hawfinches and Bullfinches on my feeding station in the south. 

    Here at Färdskär, Haraker, I find a flock of Jackdaws feeding on a ploughed field, several of which have pretty striking white collars. 

    Could be eastern birds from Russia.

The following 4 pictures are from the same day, showing how different it may look in this relatively small area. Yes, by the way, the first Smew of the year appears by a couple of Goosanders in Lake Hällsjön.

Up on the forest, snow covers the ground. I flush an adult male Goshawk from the roadside and it keeps flying in front of me for quite some time before it actually perches in a treetop when we come to a clearing. 

    Not far from that I stop to investigate a track of footprints crossing the road. 

    I am just realising that they come from a small Grouse, when I hear a Hazelgrouse cock whistling some 20 meters away in the dense forest. I use my whistle to imitate it and it answers me back for around 15 minutes or so, without moving out into the open to give me a clear view. 

Funny, because at this very spot  I had a male who behaved just like this a couple of years ago. The same?

Some 350 Whooper Swans are still feeding on what now seems to be a lake, but is flooded grassland. A cuple of hundred Bean Geese and this years first Teals are also noted, from this excellent viewpoint at Ösby, Västerfärnebo.