- TRIP REPORT - SWEDEN -
MIGRATION AT ÖLAND AND FALSTERBO - Trip 2

We arrived in Copenhagen mid morning and having previously heard there was a Pallid Harrier nearby, we decided to try and find it before the short journey to Falsterbo so we went to the Klydesen Nature Reserve on the island of Amager. This proved to be an extensive area and in the limited time available to us, we did not find the Pallid but the area was bird productive and 37 species were seen including a variety of raptors - Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard, Rough legged Buzzard, Kestrel, Goshawk, Marsh Harrier and Red Kite.

When we got to The Heath, near Falsterbo it was obvious why this had such a good reputation among European birders as there was a line of around 300 scanning the sky for the approach of the birds. We met our guide, Greg, who quickly got into the swing of things pointing out and identifying the birds and explaining the plumage variations. Here we added Honey Buzzard, Black Kite, Osprey and Merlin to the growing list of raptors. But it was the regular stream of the birds which was exciting and the large numbers of Sparrowhawks and Red Kites were particularly noteworthy - an early introduction to the spectacle of migration in this part of Sweden and by the end of the day we had seen some 55 species including 11 types of raptor. After the early start to the day, we had an early night ready for our first visit to Falsterbo itself.

One of the first things to make a big impression was the number of Cormorants which flew past from their roosting area to their fishing grounds - it was common for 3000-4000 of them to fly past and it was quite a sight.

There was a continuous movement of birds over our heads when we got to the point where there were many birders from Belgium, Switzerland, Holland, Germany as well as Sweden and Denmark. There were flocks of Siskins, Stock Doves, Greenfinches, Chaffinches and Bramblings and Greg was kept busy advising everyone of the flight calls as the birds passed us. There were also considerable bird movements along the coast with Brent Geese, Wigeon, Black Throated Divers, Red Throated Divers, Sandwich Terns being attacked by Arctic Skuas, Goldeneye and Mergansers. It was difficult to know where to look first! It was a great surprise to everyone in the group to see bird migration at its best with the numbers being startling. For example, that day at Falsterbo saw almost 600 Sparrowhawks, 56 Red Kites, 2100 Siskins, over 3500 Chaffinches/Bramblings pass through - the figures provided by the official counters from the Falsterbo Observatory.

On the Monday, another early morning trip to the point at Nabben to witness the vast numbers of birds migrating and it was interesting to note that different species seemed to move at different times - it was clear Grey Herons, Blue Tits and Meadow Pipits were to the fore. We saw the Blue Tits at waist height and within arm's reach as they struggled in their journey to Falsterbo, the last bit of land before they faced the sea crossing and many turned back before doing so, preferring to rest a little and feed more. However, for the migrating raptors this was like a waiting feast before they too migrated and we saw a Sparrowhawk take a Blue Tit right in front of us and we also watched as a Merlin tucked into his lunch of a Meadow Pipit. So for many birds, the struggle of the flight was not the only danger as the numerous raptors patrolled the area picking off the tired birds. This was the survival of the fittest really brought home. After the peak movement of birds eased, we moved to Lilla Hammar, a little up the coast where we saw Red necked Grebe and Velvet Scoter and several species of wader such as Knot, Dunlin, Redshank, Bar tailed Godwit and Grey Plover As the north-westerly winds were considered favourable for sea-watching, we went to 2 harbours further up the north west coast, at Kattvik and Bystad. At Kattvik we had Kittiwake, Little Gulls flying close in, Guillemot and Razorbill while at Bystad we saw Great Skuas, Arctic Tern and Black Guillemot. However, what we really wanted was a Sabines Gull which had been reported from this area in the recent past. It looked, though, that we would be disappointed and we started to pack up for the day when we were fortunate to be standing next to Hans Larsen, the illustrator of the forthcoming Helms book on Northern Hemisphere Gulls, and he suddenly picked up an incoming Sabines. Scopes were rapidly put up and shortly an immature Sabines came quite close, enough to fully appreciate its wing markings and tail shape. A lovely bird to finish the day, and a lifer for several of the group.

Tuesday and our last day at Falsterbo and, as before, we started down at Nabben point. The numbers going through were again staggering and the spectacle of bird migration was really being shown and everyone was enthralled with the experience. The off-shore flypast of the cormorants was equally dramatic but this time, half the group containing over 1000 birds split off and flew over us to provide a real treat. By now the group was completely blasè over the numbers of Sparrowhawks flying past - when you have seen hundreds…. Oh, and theres another Red Kite! We then moved up to Nasbyholm hoping for Golden Eagle. This is a good area for raptors but on this occasion, the Golden remained elusive but we did come across the first of our White tailed Eagles - distant but still impressive. We also saw Raven, Common Buzzard, Peregrine plus some late migration of House and Sand Martins. Then to Vombs Furer where we searched for Black Woodpecker. After a good walk through the forest, we briefly heard the birds call and then suddenly 2 birds flew right towards us, one peeling away to the left in front of us and one past us. One of them landed on a dead tree stump not far away and it remained there doing its woodpecker thing while we enjoyed excellent views of it. The best views anyone had had of the bird. We were also surprised to see a Hobby over us, a very late migrating bird in this part of Sweden. 3 Crossbills flew over the trees with their distinctive flight calls and while we heard the calls of Crested Tits, unfortunately they didn't put in an appearance.

So that was the groups introduction to migration at Falsterbo - the life and death struggle of the birds on their movement south was very apparent but the overwhelming memory was the sheer numbers of the birds involved. Some statistics provided by the Observatory illustrate this - in the 4 days we were at Falsterbo they recorded some 137,000 birds passing through, and that was only at one small specific crossing point - the actual amount of birds would have been many times this figure. Some specific specie totals included: Eider (10,500), Sparrowhawks (3,100), Common Buzzard (300), Swallows (1,800), Blue Tits (3,000), Chaffinch/Brambling flocks (95,800) and Siskins (9,500).

The Wednesday morning saw us depart on the journey to Öland and on the way to our first stop we had our first view of Cranes, to be the first of many. The birds are loved by the locals and it is really understandable when you see these gorgeous birds. We stopped at Tor Hamns Udde, a very good reserve area on the mainland east coast where on arrival, we had a flypast of 40 Cranes to welcome us. Here we saw Long-tailed Tit, the lovely caudatus sub-specie with the all white head, but on this occasion the views were poor - much better was to come later. Curlew Sandpiper and Red-backed Shrike were enjoyed and there were Slavonian Grebe on the water. Then Greg spotted a couple of birds landing in the grass and they turned out to be Lapland Buntings, the best views of this bird anyone in the group had seen. We also had a brief view of a Hawfinch and more Velvet Scoter.

The next day we had our first visit to Ottenby, the southern tip of Öland where the Observatory was situated and it was already busy with birders from various parts of Europe. Similar to Falsterbo, bird flocks were passing over us but Öland also benefited from incoming birds from the Baltic States and the area is considered by many Swedish birders to have superior potential to Falsterbo. White Wagtails were everywhere and we had Fieldfare, Lesser Redpolls and Twite flying by. Woodlarks, too, flew close over our heads and then we saw a huge White-tailed Eagle just off-shore and it was hovering. The bird was hunting and it had its eyes on a Cormorant, the eagle hovering over where the cormorant was swimming underwater and as soon as it surfaced, the eagle would drop to try and pick it up while the cormorant tried to fend it off with its open bill. This went on for a while and eventually the eagle flew off - this Cormorant was

lucky.A regular feature of Ottenby is the movement of Goldcrests and here it was in full flow, there were hundreds and hundreds of them - flitting jerkily in between the birders and sometimes landing on the actual tripods and on one occasion on the head of Brian, one of our group - and on his new hat, too!! The Observatory staff had caught a Long-eared Owl in the mist-nets and after ringing it, they brought it to show the birders - a lovely bird. A Short-eared Owl was also seen later as it flew in from the sea and many Treecreepers were noted in the garden near the lighthouse. A Ring Ouzel flew over us and someone shouted a Firecrest had been seen among the Goldcrests and this was quickly spotted and enjoyed by the group. Also in the garden were Redstart, Blackcap, and Brambling. Then Tom noticed a skulking warbler at the foot of a tree and Greg said from the description it was either a Dusky or Raddes Warbler, so there was much searching. After a while more glimpses were obtained until Ray and Tom saw the bird come briefly into the open which allowed the identification to confirmed as a Dusky Warbler, a rarity even by Swedish standards. A Caspian Gull was also regularly seen among the flock of gulls at the tip and Long-tailed Ducks flew off-shore.

We then moved up to the woodland car-park where we had Spotted Flycatcher, Garden Warbler and Whitethroat was also seen further up the coast.

On Friday, we crossed the island to Sjomark on the east coast for some early morning sea-watching. We saw large numbers of sea birds flying south including regular flocks of Eider and Wigeon but among them were Long-tailed Duck, Mergansers, Goldeneye, Common Scoter and Black throated Divers. A White tailed Eagle was also perched on a rock a little further down from where we were standing. Red throated Diver, Slavonian Grebe and a Great Northern Diver were also spotted by Greg and pointed out to us. The geese were also starting their movements and large flocks of Barnacle and Brent flew past. We then moved down to Ottenby to see what had flown in and among the newcomers was a lovely Great Grey Shrike and a juvenile Red backed Shrike but the drama was about to unfurl. Off-shore another White tailed Eagle was hunting, again for Cormorant. The behaviour was as before, hovering and lowering as the Cormorant had to surface but this time the Eagle actually dropped onto the Cormorant and momentarily its wings seemed under the water. Then it lifted from the water carrying the Cormorant in one talon and took it to a small island off-shore where it promptly started its meal! The power of the Eagle was astonishing and the whole episode was incredibly dramatic. While we were watching at the point, a Long eared Owl was spotted out at sea heading for the land and it flew straight toward us. It came on and continued toward us at little more than head height, over us and into the garden trees and as it did so, it was amusing to see it go just over the heads of two birders who were facing the other way.

Saturday and back to Ottenby point but not before stopping at the roadside to look at a small flock of Cranes in the field. When we arrived the group split up to check different parts of the area and a lucky few who made their way to the very tip caught a glimpse of a single Red breasted Goose in a flock of Barnacle.

Word then went out that a King Eider was approaching from the north in a flock of Common Eider and there was a rush to form a long line of birders ready to scan all passing Eider flocks. It was quite a sight to see such a barrage of scopes but with so many Eider (many thousands) passing, picking out the King Eider was much worse than finding a needle in a haystack - you had to find the right haystack first! Unfortunately, the King Eider on this occasion failed to put in an appearance. We did however pick up our first Scaup of the trip and a second Great Grey Shrike flew past the group. The flocks of Barnacle Geese were now becoming larger and more frequent and they were joined by Brent, Greylag and White fronted. A Lesser Whitethroat perched on the wall just outside the Cafe to give a very clear view. A couple of the Group were assisted by some Swedes to see a Red throated Pipit, one of only a small number to be recorded here this year. Then word spread quickly of a Pallas's Warbler in the garden trees and along with dozens of other birders we searched the trees getting a brief glimpse as it hopped quickly among the upper branches. But it flew to another tree where it was much more clearly seen. Later, it was trapped and ringed and as with the Long eared Owl, the observers produced it for a close look of this stunning little bird from Siberia.

Before moving north, we tried the woods again for Long tailed Tits as we wanted a good view of the white headed species found here in Sweden. We were unsuccessful and we stopped for our lunch at the picnic tables only for a flock of six Long tailed Tits to drop into a nearby tree and then fly over us. These birds are really very beautiful with their all-white heads - a real treat for the group. We then moved north to a site at Kapelludden on the north east coast of the island and here were lucky to see a few Bean Geese within the Brent and Barnacle. There was also a good view of a Red necked Grebe.

The final day and we moved back towards Copenhagen but on the way called back at Tor Hamns Udde. While the early rain had stopped , disappointingly it was now very misty and we had to move on but not before seeing another Red backed Shrike. This was all the more galling to learn later that when the mist had cleared there had been a Buff breasted Sandpiper present! Our final stop was at Klagshamn where it was reported that there was a Yellow browed Warbler. After a short walk in the reported area, a couple of Swedish birders found the Yellow browed and we all got a view of this Siberian wanderer. However, then Ray in our group found a second one - one up for the Brits. Then off to the nearby reedbeds and we had excellent views of a couple of Woodlark on the ground. Almost immediately the ping of a Bearded Tit was heard and it flew low over the reeds after a Reed Bunting. An excellent and fitting climax to a great weeks birding.

The Group had been particularly lucky with the good weather and the favourable winds at the right time. Everyone came with different ideas of mass bird migration but in the event everyone had been almost overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of birds - we had experienced the passage of passerines and raptors, done some sea-watching and harbour watching and marvelled at the range of birds and numbers as they moved to different climes. We had seen how they suffered just getting as far as Öland and Falsterbo, then only for some to succumb to attacks by Merlin, Sparrowhawks and White tailed Eagles! Our enjoyment, too, had been magnified by having a great guide in Greg who never failed to amaze us with his knowledge and birding skills and willingness to help us all see the birds.

Migration watching is a totally different type of birdwatching and one that you need to see and experience to fully understand what is involved - our Group had done that and thoroughly enjoyed the whole trip. Once again the migration hotspots in Southern Sweden of Falsterbo and Öland had done themselves proud.