Öland, an island east of Sweden, is a place I often long to and love to return to. Week 22 on Öland is almost a sacred week amongst birders in Sweden, when loads of migrants gather on the island (or fly past) and usually quite a few rarities are found.
Me, I couldn't go there at that time, but instead went a week later. Now, Öland is always good and a lovely place even when you're not watching birds, so I wasn't that bothered. Also, there were less people around, no elbowing for position!
Anyway. The plan was to take the car down, getting there in the middle of the day or so, but the plan was quickly changed as a Melodious Warbler was reported from Borlänge...
May 31
Got up really early in the morning, preparing for the long journey in the car, first about 200 kilometers northwest to Borlänge, and then the 500 kilometer trip south from Borlänge to Öland. It was a beautiful morning, sunny, and the weather reports had promised warm weather. The trip up to Borlänge was uneventful to say the least, a Common Buzzard was all that was seen from the car. Got up there, parked the car by an old school as we had been directed, and walked through the small residental area to the garden where the bird had been seen. A garden belonging to an avid birder, one might wonder if the bird had been found if perched in any other garden!
Anyway, there were maybe ten other people there, saying that it was showing and singing beautifully. And yes, after only a short wait a bird showed itself in a large birch and started singing. Melodious Warbler! During the hour we spent there it gave splendid views, offering great opportunities to study it and see the differences from Icterine Warbler (as if it they weren't already apparent by the song!). The song was very reminiscent of a Marsh Warbler, not anything like Icterine Warbler. Nice! This was the third time this bird has been seen in Sweden, last time it visited us was back in 1984...
Couldn't stay there forever though, so had to get in the car and go on to Öland. Nine hours later we got to the place where we would stay for the coming days, Svalgården. A wonderful place! Got to stay in one of their two apartments, sharing the place with another guy, also an avid birder. We had chosen the place because of the location and the fact that the owner is also a birde, so he had lots of tips on where to go and so on. If anyone is going to Öland I can really recommend this place!
Didn't stay there for long though, a Blyth's Reed Warbler had been heard not far away, so off we went. The location turned out to be a camping site close by the sea, reached by going down about a kilometer or so from the main road, passing the typical barren landscape of Öland, with very little soil on a limestone foundation. A Short-eared Owl was hunting over the fields mobbed by Lapwings, Skylarks sang everywhere and a Curlew added it's bubbling song to the choir. Found the small bush where the warbler was supposed to be sitting, but no. Not a sound. Two other birders who stood there said that they hadn't heard anything either, and where starting to believe that the bird had moved on.
A falcon flying by caused a bit of excitement as it looked a little like a Red-footed Falcon, but the light made it almost impossible to see any colours. Finally it got a bit closer and we could all agree that is was just a Common Kestrel. As the darkness crept up a Common Quail started to call close by. Very nice, Quails are rather rare birds in Sweden.
The wind was starting to get to us though, it was getting cold despite my warm jacket and mittens, and finally we decided to give up. After all, we had several more days on Öland! Went back to Svalgården, made some sandwiches and went to bed, where we fell asleep at once, dreaming about what the next few days would bring...
Hi Enji,
I'm looking forward to the rest of this. I very much enjoyed an autumn visit to Öland a few years ago. It's an island with a unique atmosphere as well as some excellent birding.
Stuart
Hi there
Had a trip planned for last year to visit the wife's friends but got postponed until next year. Keep it coming...