This month included a shorter trip to lake Yxningen for a crayfish party and two weeks in Österlen in the south of Sweden. I will have to apologize for the quality of some pictures as I had the camera on people identification after I photographed the soccer team of one of the grandkids. Changed it to bird id as soon as I noticed, but e.g. the Common shelduck, Wood sandpipers, Sparrow hawk and Western marsh harrier didn’t turn out as expected.
Tag: Skrattmås (Chroicocephalus ridibundus; Black-headed gull)
July, 2025
The main event this month was a two week trip to the island of Gotland. The weather was by far the warmest and sunniest this summer, make bird excursions a drag.
June, 2025
There is a new global standard (AviList) and I have tried to update the names of bird to adhere to it.
2025-05-01–04 Öland with Henrik
A four day birding excursion from Stockholm to the sothern part of island Öland. We were around 25 people in a comfortable bus and stayed at the Ottenby hostel. As usual, many early mornings.
This kind of trip often have birds far away from where we are and really requires a spotting scope, but I don’t own one and my longest camera lens is 840 mm (with the tele converter). (If I understand this corretly, that is about 30% reach as compared to a scope with 60 times magnification.) As a result I often have to crop the images significantly. Another problem is that a few photos were shot through the bus window, that does not help either. So you will have to excuse the quality of some pictures.
Outer Hebrides, September 21-28, 2024
Took a trip with my old friend, Johan, via Edinburgh to the Outer Hebrides. We traveled with a rental car via the ferry from Ullapool to the isle of Lewis. From there went to the northernmost tip, Butt of Lewis. Then we drove through the isles of Harris, North Uist, South Uist, Eriskay and Barra. Lastly we returned with a ferry to Oban and continued back to Edinburgh.
This was not the best time for bird watching, but I managed to capture four new species. It was also a bit late in the season as some tourist attractions were closed (e.g. the Arnol blackhouse). Most food shacks and lunch restaurants were also closed (and they are not plentyful to begin with). As we stayed in pre-booked hotels, we were at least treated to good dinners and breakfasts. Most of the hotels seemed to end their season in October.
2024-05 Österlen de luxe revisited
Favorit i repris, en fågelexkursion i Skåne i slutet av maj. Det blev en härlig tripp med många identifierade arter (drygt 130) och fem nya bildkryss till min samling. Som vanligt blev detingen bild på Sommargyllingen, men vi hörde den igen.
March, 2024
Spring is slowly advancing and the first batch of migratory birds have arrived.
October, 2023
Month cut short as my camera was recalled for repairs by Nikon for issues I never experienced. But better safe than sorry. Just got it back.
July, 2023
A month that started out windy with a trip to the island of Gotland. Continued relatively cool with a stay at Färingsö and ended with heavy rains.
June (the remainder), 2023
A busy month concludes with grand kid duties at lake Yxningen and trips around that area as well as some birding around home.