Birdwatching report
Sep. 24th, 2023 07:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
luzulaThis weekend I went birdwatching with my dad and two of his cousins; we were at Falsterbo in the southernmost part of Sweden, where the migrating birds are funneled out to the tip of a cape. Much of the waders are long gone, and so are the warblers, who fly invisibly at night. The huge flocks of pigeons and jackdaws have not begun yet. But we saw plenty of starlings, flying in purposeful and tightly coordinated flocks, their wings beating regularly. Just as purposeful, but less coordinated, are the flocks of finches, who fly in bursts: a moment of effort, a moment of rest.
But my favorites are the tits, who are not purposeful at all: they come in loose, chaotic flocks and, when they reach the shore, go: 'oh noooo, it's the sea, how scary it is! are we really sure we want to do this?!?' And then they dive down and take shelter in the bushes, which were seething with them. After a minute, they rise again, take aim at the sea...and then often chicken out again at the last moment, even though you can see the white cliffs ofDover Stevns Klint on the horizon on the Danish side. Until they successfully set off. I do feel for them! Many of the blue tits stay year-round in Sweden, but the population is so high that many of them also leave, and this is the largest sea crossing they have. Tits are not made for the sea. Meanwhile, the gulls glide casually by in ones and twos, in their element.
There were also plenty of birds of prey, mostly sparrowhawks, coming in low to the ground against the headwind--I could see their banded wings and bellies. In the afternoon, they rise in the thermals above the large heath inland from the cape, then leisurely glide south and out to sea: common buzzards, sparrowhawks, red kites, common kestrels, western marsh harriers. We also saw a white-tailed eagle, but I don't think it was on the move.
I only saw one bird new to me: the egret (I'd seen it in England but not in Sweden). But also a few I'd only seen once or twice before: a flock of common pochards (ha, not so common), a few ruffs (currently without their ruffs), a Sandwich tern, and some brent geese.
Other birds seen (an incomplete list): Teal, wigeon, northern pintail, gadwall, shelduck. Common ringed plover, grey plover, dunlin, common greenshank, common redshank, pied avocet, curlew, bar-tailed godwit. And a number of herons, of course. : D
But my favorites are the tits, who are not purposeful at all: they come in loose, chaotic flocks and, when they reach the shore, go: 'oh noooo, it's the sea, how scary it is! are we really sure we want to do this?!?' And then they dive down and take shelter in the bushes, which were seething with them. After a minute, they rise again, take aim at the sea...and then often chicken out again at the last moment, even though you can see the white cliffs of
There were also plenty of birds of prey, mostly sparrowhawks, coming in low to the ground against the headwind--I could see their banded wings and bellies. In the afternoon, they rise in the thermals above the large heath inland from the cape, then leisurely glide south and out to sea: common buzzards, sparrowhawks, red kites, common kestrels, western marsh harriers. We also saw a white-tailed eagle, but I don't think it was on the move.
I only saw one bird new to me: the egret (I'd seen it in England but not in Sweden). But also a few I'd only seen once or twice before: a flock of common pochards (ha, not so common), a few ruffs (currently without their ruffs), a Sandwich tern, and some brent geese.
Other birds seen (an incomplete list): Teal, wigeon, northern pintail, gadwall, shelduck. Common ringed plover, grey plover, dunlin, common greenshank, common redshank, pied avocet, curlew, bar-tailed godwit. And a number of herons, of course. : D
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Date: 2023-09-24 05:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-09-24 05:54 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-09-24 05:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-09-24 06:35 pm (UTC)I like your descriptions of the different ways different types of birds fly in flocks. It's funny to think of tits migrating in flocks—none of the populations here are strongly migratory, so I've never seen that, but of course that's what they'd be like trying to make this big journey across the sea. Aww, poor little things.
I saw a new-to-me species of egret too last week! (it was the cattle egret, Bubulcus ibis—a very stylish bird). I think I've only ever seen ruffs without their ruffs, which feels unfair. :P
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Date: 2023-09-25 03:25 pm (UTC)Oh, and by the way, 'tit' is 'mes' in Swedish, which also means 'coward'...it seems both words come from a root word meaning 'small'.
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Date: 2023-09-26 04:09 pm (UTC)Yes, absolutely! I think watching the behaviour of common species is a very rewarding and important part of birdwatching, albeit it's less glamorous than the cool rarities. :)
That's an interesting bit of etymology, even if it's a bit unfair on the tits!
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Date: 2023-09-24 06:55 pm (UTC)This sounds like an amazing thing to witness. Your description of the poor songbirds quailing (so to speak) at the prospect of crossing open water is touching. Meanwhile, I love the idea of a Sandwich tern!
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Date: 2023-09-25 04:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-09-24 07:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-09-25 04:46 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-09-24 08:28 pm (UTC)We've given birds such funny names.
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Date: 2023-09-25 04:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-09-26 11:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-09-27 05:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2023-09-24 10:25 pm (UTC)Are the beleaguered tits snack-sized for the raptors?
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Date: 2023-09-25 04:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-09-25 07:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2023-09-25 07:29 pm (UTC)