27 year old birder from Gothenburg, Sweden. Last year we twitched for year ticks. I ended up with 250 which is more than I had lifers when the year started. This year I'll go fairly easy on the year ticks (Though anything under 200 is shameful) but will instead aim for 300 life ticks in Sweden. A task and a half probably... http://surfbirds.com/blog/oskila/ en-us Webligo BlogHoster Went south for the first time in ages to check out a good spot for migration watching. The amount of passerines was absurd. When we arrived, the finches and pipits went by in a steady flow of probably thousands per minute. Also a couple of late Sanderlings and some Merlins. Couldn't resist a bit of mushroom hunting among the low dense pines along the beach, but came up only with Jersey cow mushrooms (Suillus bovinus), a mushroom of very uninspiring texture. A more interesting find was the occasional Rosy spike-cap (Gomphidius roseus), a smallish pink gilled mushroom that is exclusively found with, and assumed to be parasitic on, S. bovinus. At the next spot we got to watch several Hen Harriers, some Buzzards and a couple of Kestrels. Also found a nice Suillus luteus (apparrently known as sticky bun or slippery jack) and some decent Birch boletes. Next we went to good old Munkagårdsfloen, where we saw a couple of Grey Partridges for a moment before they hid in the long grass. Two red kites, a young Peregrin Falcon trying to catch a small wading bird of some sort and a very nice male Hen harrier. Last stop was Getterön as usual, for a brief rest and blueberry muffin. We got to witness a rather remarkable incident there; a White-tailed Eagle attacked and killed a Barnacle Goose, apparently by drowning it. Afterwards it tried for some time to fly away with its catch, but the Goose was to heavy and probably soaked which didn't exactly help... No life ticks this time, but that's not the only purpose of bird watching. Added nicely to year and september lists though :) http://surfbirds.com/blog/oskila/12167/ Took a friend mushroom hunting in Änggårdsbergen nature reserve on saturday. We found quite a lot of Golden Chanterelle, Yellowfoot and Terracotta Hedgehog. 'But this is a bird blog?' the orderly thinks. Yes, well, Änggårdsbergen is a classical spot for migrating Two-barred Crossbills since the area also holds the botanical gardens' arboretum with several species of Larch. After a brief stop for coffee and biscuits we headed downhill again and heard a large flock of crossbills more or less circling the area. Most of them sounded like Common Crossbill, but there was also the occasional tweeting sound, typical for Two-barred Crossbill, and like I've said before; by Swedish rules, identification by sound is as good as visual contact and in this case means life tick 280 :) Yellowfoot (Cantharellus tubaeformis) laid out to dry. http://surfbirds.com/blog/oskila/12082/ Spent the sunday at Kråkudden with J and D. Strong winds from SW for almost a week meant hopes were up, but since the winds weren't very strong when we got there, the amounts of observed birds was in no way astonishing. The highlight of the day was one of the first birds we spotted and one of the more embarrassing blanks in my lifers list, the Atlantic Puffin. Extinct in Sweden since some time in the 80's it's now only rarely seen and almost only during migration and such. I left the camera at home to spare it from the salt and moisture and as a result we had both Gannet and Kittiwake well within photo range and almost perfect light conditons :) Another nice episode happened on the way to the shelter, when a male Pheasant sauntered along the path some thirty meters ahead of us and then went to stand and mope in the higher grass as we wandered past. Nuthatch (Sitta europaea). This nuthatch sat very still on my balcony bird feeder, looking a bit dazed so I guess it had crashed into a window or something. It didn't react much even when I dug out the camera, changed lens, went and found a working battery and opened the balcony door. I then shot about 100 frames of it at close to minimum range before it managed to regroup and fly away. http://surfbirds.com/blog/oskila/12022/ I've been doing other stuff than birding a lot this year. Unemployment is full time activity, really :) As you can derive from the tick list in the right column, reaching 300 lifers this year will probably be impossible unless 22 rare and semi rare birds decide to visit the Gothenburg area this autumn. Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) House Martins (Delichon urbicum) Hopefully, autumn will bring a bit more birding and also more blog entries. Until then, get out there and watch! :) http://surfbirds.com/blog/oskila/11900/ Due to my managing to keep the same substitute job for three straight months there hasn't been much room for birdwatching and even less for blogging this year. Only three lifers so far, but that's only what to expect considering the torrent of ticks over the past two or so years. The year tick count on the other hand is at 102 which is rather high seeing as I'm only half trying. Hopefully, my recent return to unemployment means a little more time for birds, but pressing matters such as upcoming ornithological society AGM:s and whatnot will put a lid on excessive field hours :) Eurasian Pygmy-owl (Glaucidum passerinum) http://surfbirds.com/blog/oskila/10190/ Another period of silence, but this time with somewhat good reason. There simply hasn't been a lot of birding going on. One could argue, however, that since I've gotten two lifers since last time, I should have reason enough. Possibly so, yes... Anyway, the main event of my birding November so far is of course the Isabelline Shrike. It's very strange when such a rare bird is totally fearless. Takes away the sport a bit, I think. I was never closer than 8-10 meters on purpose, but people were litteraly sticking their lenses up its beak. Lovely bird, lovely day and also a nice bonus in the shape of a recuperating Sabine's Gull at really decent distance. The storm-petrel is hardly worth mentioning in the same blog. Strong winds, rain and an awful lot of distance. Nice observations of Great Skua, White-billed Diver and Gyr Falcon made the day. Isabelline Shrike (Lanius isabellinus) adult male http://surfbirds.com/blog/oskila/8995/ Apart from the volunteering in Padjelanta and a few days teacher subbing, I have been unemployed since early June which is taking its toll on for example enthusiasm for blogging and editing pictures. Here are a selection of pictures, spanning in time from september 23 or something, to october 19. Eagle-Owl (Bubo bubo) An Eagle-Owl had taken refuge in a tree near Smithska Udden and patiently waited out Crows, Magpies, Jays and birders. Jay (Garrulus glandiarus) Willow Tit (Poecile montanus ) Willow Tits are quite rare at Smithska udden and not too easily seen in southern Sweden in general. Great Tit (Parus major) October 4th was World Birdwatch Day. In Sweden, october 4 is also the Cinnamon Swirl Day. Gothenburg Ornithological Society, where I am board secretary, held an event combining these both days, so I took a picture of two birds and a cinnamon swirl for the promotion material. Nuthatch (Sitta europaea) Also, since last entry I've gotten three lifers; Snow Bunting and Little Auk at Kråkudden and Sooty Shearwater (four individuals during the day) at Morup, Halland. http://surfbirds.com/blog/oskila/8745/ A nice duo of lifers collected on Rörö yesterday. Also had four species of falcon, Short-eared Owl, at Hönö Collared Dove, and at Torslandaviken Little Stint, 19 Grey Herons flying simultaneously and nice weather :) More and pics later today. http://surfbirds.com/blog/oskila/8417/ Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus) This Phalarope and its mate were found in a small pool near Staloluokta June 14. The evening before we saw at least 40 at long distance congregating in the middle of lake Virihaure. A week later we found the male in the same pool and after  a bit of searching also a nest with four eggs. A couple of days later the nest was empty but for some shell fragments. Probably Red Fox, Hooded Crow or Long-tailed Skua had found the nest. Since the population of Norway Lemming crashed earlier in the spring these species relied heavily on egg stealing for survival. C ringing a Crow (Corvus corone cornix), Staloluokta 2008-06-15 http://surfbirds.com/blog/oskila/8330/ Perhaps posting the stuff from my summer trip as soon as I get it ready is the way to go. Here's a couple of new items. A singing Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla) outside Jokkmokk. Filmed with digital compact camera through handheld binocular. Singing Ring Ouzel (Turdus torquatus) near Staloluokta, Padjelanta Staloluokta is the name of the Sami village where we had our base camp. The Ring Ouzels could be heard singing high up on the mountainside from there. The clip shown here was shot during our first day of surveying the birch forest. Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica) http://surfbirds.com/blog/oskila/8323/