Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Sweden
Our trip was no happy holiday as its purpose was to see Greger's seriously ill sister, fighting with characteristic determination. Inevitably though, between visits, life goes almost callously on.
The crane family could be seen from the house. Now and then the birds would fly off to a different field in single file, their calls ringing across the quiet farms and forests.
Also close to the house was a family of whooper swans.
It's mushroom time, so Lars led us out on a hunt for chanterelles. (This is the only time you're likely to see Greger wandering around carrying a basket.) Because of the hot dry summer Sweden's had, the harvest was unusually meagre. 
But the few we found were as delicious as ever.....
At the edge of a clearing a raptor flew up from the ground. Greger thought it was a buzzard but his brother said "Duvhök". (Goshawk!) I had only a brief view but noticed light brown barred upperparts. Later we drove round to the peat pools; the banks are now lush and vegetated - very different to the bleak, brown aspect they wore a couple of years ago. This nice picture was taken by Greger.
As we pulled up, there was a flurry of ducks (probably teal) rising from the water and a bird of prey was among them. It looked like the morning bird, and I'm not sure sparrowhawks go after ducks. Subsequent research: "Sparrowhawks are barred below in all plumages, thus excluding juvenile Goshawk" (Dick Forsman). This and other photos cropped and lightened show streaking, not barring, on the breast. So I'm pretty sure this is a juvenile goshawk. 
Greger wanted to spend one day exploring northwards, so we drove up to Siljan. Johan told us this was a meteorite lake, and googling it I learnt that the lake curves round the south-west "corner" of a huge crater - the largest impact crater found in Europe, although Russia has bigger ones.
Siljan also has the longest lake pier in the world. As we walked out along it, a small wader came flying past - possibly a dunlin.
The drive there and back took us for part of the way along the top of an extensive esker - a ridge of gravel and sand deposited in the ice age and characterised nowadays by soaring pine trees which create a more open, airy woodland than the denser spruce.
Back at the farm and shopping in the nearby town of Sala, we paid a visit to Måns Ols. There is a park-like feel to this dammed-up lake, with boats and swimming in the summer and a water-side restaurant with loads of scrounging mallard ducks. So a distant black-throated diver was a nice surprise....
I suppose this is a white wagtail, being in Sweden. But the lower rump is blackish. I'm not convinced.
In the forest I heard but couldn't see crested tit; and then I became aware of a nasal call high up in a spruce and just got the bins onto what must have been my first willow tit: I had a distinct impression of a greyish appearance to the plumage, and this is correct for northern willows. The sighting was brief and unsatisfactory so I won't tick it yet - but at least I know for sure now what they sound like. A marsh tit was also present and I saw my first flock of northern race long-tailed tits, cute as pie with their snowy heads.
A wheatear was in stubble, and in a bushy area behind old barns I saw willow warbler (in fact one was singing), chiffchaff, blackcap and garden warbler. There were still swallows about, and a few bramblings were with a huge flock of chaffinches. The call of an unseen raven rang through the woods.
Best of all - out of the corner of my eye, I saw a large black bird swooping past low, with flight reminiscent of a green woodpecker but slower and with less extreme undulations. It disappeared behind a barn, but creeping round the edge of the building I saw a long black shape sitting vertically in a bare tree some distance away, being mobbed by a jay. What with that and my clumsy attempts to get closer it flew off - a splendid black woodpecker.
Rest in peace Gerd
// posted by Christine @ 2:48 AM 
