Western Palearctic Birding

Southern Sweden, November/December 2008

This 3-day trip over a long weekend was conceived after hearing news that an Oriental Turtle Dove had returned to the southern Swedish town of Falköping for its 4th winter. After doing a bit of homework we booked reasonably priced Ryanair flights from Stansted to Gothenburg, a Hertz hire car via the Ryanair website and our first nights accommodation at the youth hostel in Falköping town http://www.hihostels.com/dba/hostel054094.en.htm . In the end we stayed for both nights at the same place and had a huge hostel completely to ourselves at the bargain price of £8 pppn!

The trip participants this time round were me, Jus, Andy and Sonia which allowed us to get away with hiring an estate car and still having plenty of room for luggage. Flights in and out of Gothenburg were nicely timed to allow us 3 full days birding. To help cut costs we only checked in 2 bags between the 4 of us.

The planning of the trip involved frequent checks of the bird news on the excellent Artportalen website http://www.artportalen.se/birds/todays.asp and trawling through the birder profiles on Netfugl for email addresses of some Swedish birders. This put us in contact with Richard Ek who was enormously helpful in giving us site details, GPS coordinates and advice both before we travelled and also while we were in Sweden. Thanks Richard!

All in all we found the country itself a great place to visit, very relaxed, exceptionally safe and clean, and with very and helpful people. The whole trip and birding experience was one of the most chilled and easy ones we've done. Despite having reservations about the cost of living whilst there we were very pleasantly surprised. £4 for a 12" take away pizza + salad + drink, petrol cheaper than at home and the whole trip for about £170 each says it all.

Falköping Youth Hostel

29 November 2008

Our 1 hour 50 min flight landed on time mid morning and with only a slight delay waiting at the Hertz desk we were on our way south along the coast. A few days before we were due to travel a bonus bird had been found on the coast about an hour south of Gothenburg and it was here that we headed first. En-route we managed a single Raven, 2 Whooper Swans on a roadside flood and 2 Common Buzzards. In the village of Askloster just before we reached the main site 3 Waxwings and a single Fieldfare were in a garden right by the road. We didn't linger long there as we were keen for the main event. Our target bird was a Buff-bellied Pipit at the Årnäshalvön Naturreservat which is on a coastal headland about 5 miles north of the town of Varburg. We arrived at the site and the birds favoured place on a rocky, seaweed-strewn inlet on the north side of the headland only to find the bird had been missing for an hour. Despite a great deal of searching for the next hour and a half we couldn't relocate the bird and saw only a long-staying Stonechat (a local rarity!), 1 Goosander, 3 Red-breasted Mergansers, 1 Goldeneye and a couple of Rock Pipits. Frustratingly every pipit we saw was flying over and heading for the horizon! Eventually the bird flew in with a Rock Pipit and showed to me on a rock for a few seconds. I got Andy onto it but when Jus and Sonia came running it had gone to ground and they only got flight views before we decided to cut our losses and leave.

Buff-bellied Pipit site, Årnäshalvön Naturreservat

Our next port of call was the wetland nature reserve at Getterons on the outskirts of Varburg where we hoped to catch up with Gyr Falcon which had been reported regularly there for several days. Alas, our arrival coincided with the heavens opening and staying open all afternoon! It wasn't exactly Gyr falcon hunting weather but at least we could stay inside the excellent visitor centre and cafe with large viewing window over the coastal lagoon and keep dry. Several cups of coffee later and we'd managed c45 Tree Sparrows on the reserve feeders, 3 Goosander, single Little Grebes, Goldeneye, Tufted Duck, Pintail and Barnacle Goose amongst huge numbers of Mallard and a personal best count of 6,900 Canada Geese.

Inside the cosy and dry cafe at Getterons Naturreservat!

On our way north east from Varburg towards Falköping we counted c90 Whooper Swans on roadside lakes between Varburg and Boras.

Finding the youth hostel in Falköping with a little difficulty we found a key had been left for us to let ourselves in (imagine that happening in a town in the UK?!). After settling in we ventured out to find a cut-price take away pizza and spent a chilled evening in.

30 November 2008

On the other side of town in a suburb called Tåstorp a certain dove had been seen almost daily in a residential area centered on the address Betesvagen 11. This is the home of local birder Ulrich Tourbier and was our destination for the morning. Rather annoyingly, after weeks of daily reports we'd not had a positive report for 2 days and for an hour and a half we wandered the area searching to no avail. The supporting cast was good with 4 Waxwings, 1 Nuthatch (of the pale race 'europaea'), 2 Fieldfares, 2 Hawfinches, 2+ Bramblings, loads of Tree Sparrows and 3 fly-over Ravens. Walking around with a visiting Swedish birder we thought we heard a Turtle Dove like call but another 10 minutes passed without any sign. Then suddenly we got a shout from Ulrich and after a fast run we quickly got onto the Oriental Turtle Dove perched in a large tree next to his house. We watched and photographed it at length as it moved about a small area before settling almost out of view in a large fir tree on the edge of some allotments. The views were excellent allowing us to confidently identify it as an adult of the race 'orientalis'. A nice close Red Squirrel in a garden was also very enjoyable. After signing Ulrich's visitors book we left the site very happy and headed south towards the town of Ulricehamn.

Oriental Turtle Dove, Tåstorp, Falköping

With Ulrich and his guest book, Betesvagen 11, Tåstorp, Falköping

Betesvagen 11, Tåstorp, Falköping

Our target here was a seemingly settled Hawk Owl but despite spending all afternoon around the areas of Vist, Kroken and Timmele to the north of the main town we failed to find it. There were several other birders all looking too and even with a report of it just to the north and a quick dash up the road we still missed it. The afternoon wasn't without its highlights though - 3 or 4 Great Grey Shrikes, 3 'europaea' Nuthatches, 2 Willow Tits and c30 Yellowhammers preceded an superb piece of luck. We were driving slowly around the industrial area in Vist when Sonia calls 'what's that in the tree?', I turned quickly and immediately shouted Pygmy Owl! For about 10 minutes we were treated to some fantastic views, saw it catch a Short-tailed Field Vole and then get chased by a Great Grey Shrike. It doesn't get much better than that! And an unexpected tick for Andy into the bargain.

Pygmy Owl, Vist, Ulricehamn

Great Grey Shrike, Vist, Ulricehamn

That night we continued the fast food theme of the trip with a meal at the 'Golden Arches'!

1 December 2008

After checking out of the youth hostel on our own (we never did meet the warden!) we headed south and back to the Ulricehamn area for 2nd dabs at the Hawk Owl. Again we drew a blank and after an hour and only 1 Great Grey Shrike and a Raven we decided to quit the site and head back to the coast around Varburg.

On the way, close to the village of Horred (between Boras and Varburg) we stopped to watch 2 close Whooper Swans and a flock of c790 Tundra Bean Geese whilst there were plenty of other Whooper Swans along the same stretch.

Whooper Swans, Horred

Tundra Bean Geese, Horred

Our aim was to get some better and more prolonged views of the Buff-bellied Pipit so we trundled along the entrance track to Årnäshalvön and almost immediately got onto a perched adult Goshawk to the right of the track. It didn't hang around long though so we made our way to the pipit spot and this time were filling our boots with mega views within 10 minutes of arrival. The bird showed down to just 4 yards! In addition the Stonechat was still present, c30 Common (Mealy) Redpolls flew over and we also had fly-bys from 10 Whooper Swans and a Goldeneye.

Buff-bellied Pipit, Årnäshalvön Naturreservat

Årnäshalvön Naturreservat (and the only glimpse of sun on the whole trip!)

Our plan for the afternoon was to head back to Getterons Naturreservat and sit it out hoping for a showing from a Gyr. Along the road we saw 3 Roe Deer and as we pulled into the visitor centre carpark we almost immediately fluked 6 Parrot Crossbills feeding in low pines and giving some crippling views! Inside the centre we settled in and with input from the ever helpful warden had soon clocked Peregrine, a superb adult White-tailed Eagle, Common Buzzard, Marsh Harrier and a female Smew at long range. I then went outside to photograph some Tree Sparrows and about 10 minutes later Sonia came running out with news that a Gyr Falcon has just been picked up. A Dash back indoors and I was soon scoping this fantastic bulky falcon as it sat on a post. It then flew across the lagoon being mobbed by a Peregrine and landed much closer to one of the hides. Cue a quick run to the hide which alas wasn't quite quick enough but we still enjoyed great views and I even managed a couple of record shots.

Parrot Crossbill, Getterons Naturreservat

Tree Sparrow, Getterons Naturreservat

Gyr Falcon, Getterons Naturreservat

Getterons Naturreservat Visitor Centre

As dusk drew in we headed back to the car, arranged baggage and headed north back to Gothenburg and the airport. Another highly successful and enjoyable trip, some top quality birding and 2 new birds for me.

Chris Lansdell