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 Introduction
One week of bird watching on Öland and I will spend a few days of bird watching in Skåne before going for my Course on Öckerö 27th of May. So I have booked three different hotels in Skåne and I will start at Österlen then move to Skanör/ Falsterbo before moving the the NW part of Skåne. My Guide
No Guide required in Skåne Land transportation
• Rented car I have rented a Volvo from HERZ Accommodations
Brösarps Gästgifveri, Österlen, Skåne: 17 May to 19 May  Weather / climate
Sweden in April and May, could be summer and it can be winter, or anything in between. In the South I hope to have sunshine and the summer in good progress. And I might be lucky Skåne and Öland and I can walk around in shorts and shirt. But it can as well be winter and I need to pack a lot of clothes this time. And coming to Skåne and Öland I might be lucky and I can walk around in shorts and shirt. But it can as well be winter and I need to pack a lot of clothes this time.
 South of Sweden - Climate & Temperature
Pictures from www.climatemps.com
 South of Sweden - Climate & Temperature - Click picture for full size picture
Pictures from www.climatemps.com
Equipment
Canon 5D Mk. III and Canon 5D Mk. IV Canon EF 28-300/3,5-5,6 L IS USM Canon EF 70-200/2,8L IS II USM Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens Canon Speedlite 600EXII-RT flash Canon PowerShot G7X Mark II Panasonic HC-W585 video camera Sound recorder ZOOM H5 Handy Recorder References/Resources
www.natursidan.se Excellent page, but in Swedish only Visit the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and choose between Swedish and English Naturum - visitor centres in nature - A naturum is a visitor centre with activities and exhibitions, located at several of  Sweden’s national parks and nature reserves. Here, you will be welcomed by friendly, knowledgeable staff who will answer your questions and guide you through the area’s sights of interest.
List of Swedish National Parks (With information about every park in English) from the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, click HERE. Vattenriket ebird - Find birding hotspots with bird checklists from all over the world Avibase - is an extensive database information system about all birds of the world, containing over 25 million records about 10,000 species and 22,000 subspecies of birds, including distribution information for 12,000 regions, taxonomy, synonyms in several languages Cloudbirders - Read birding trip reports from all over the world Fatbirder - Linking birders worldwide... Wildlife Travellers see their sister site: WAND  Fatbirder is a fantastic web page with information from, I think every country in the world. My first stop when I plan for my bird watching trips. There is information about locations and guides, well, pretty much everything you need to know. Sometimes this is the only place I need to visit to plan my trip. BirdingPal - find a birding Guide around the world   And the web page you cannot live without. I have been around the world looking for birds. I usually have a Guide, but sometimes it is not possible to find a Guide. So, well, I have lost count onhow many times I have had help to ID birds at BirdForum. Joining this forum have been very very good for my bird watching experience. www.birdforum.net ClimaTemps.com is the place to learn about the worlds climates with more than 4000 locations documented. Each aspect of the climate is represented using colour enhanced tables and professional graphs so that data can easily be compared by switching between locations in different tabs in your browser.
Naturum - visitor centres in nature
 Map over Sweden with all the naturum marked. Illustrator: Hans Sjögren.
Click HERE for bigger map A naturum is a visitor centre with activities and exhibitions, located at several of Sweden’s national parks and nature reserves. Here, you will be welcomed by friendly, knowledgeable staff who will answer your questions and guide you through the area’s sights of interest. All naturum visitor centres offer guided walks and demonstrations, slide-shows and theme nights. You will also find literature and multimedia here to immerse yourself in. In addition, there are brochures and information boards offering tips on beautiful nature trails and footpaths. The nature experience starts at naturum At naturum, you can learn almost everything there is to know about the region’s plants, birds, insects and animals. You can also learn about the cultural history and geology of the area as well as people’s relationship with nature and their impact on it. Information about the area’s national parks and nature reserves and why we need to protect and take care of our nature can also be found here. Join us on an activity in nature! Opening hours and programmes All naturum are open during the summer and many are open most of the year. Special demonstrations for school classes and other groups can be booked throughout the year. Discover Sweden’s national parks
 The map shows the locations of Sweden´s 30 national parks
Click HERE for bigger map There are 29 national parks in Sweden. Find more information about each national park in the alphabetical list on Swedish Environmental Protection Agency´s web page, click HERE. Places to visit
 Kristianstads Vattenrike covers an area some 35 x 35 km in size that includes a variety of natural environments. The River Helge å flows through the landscape into the Baltic Sea, though wetlands and seasonally flooded grasslands, past leafy forests and sandy arable land. These diverse natural habitats are home to a wide range of animals and plants. The naturum Vattenriket visitor centre has informative displays and nature interpreters to tell you about the birds, fishes and insects that are characteristic of the area. You can also take part in a variety of fascinating activities here, or simply relax with coffee and cakes and enjoy the view. From the visitor centre it’s easy to get to the 21 designated visitor sites in Kristianstads Vattenrike. The sites’ information boards, boardwalks and birdwatching towers enable you to enjoy what nature has to offer in all sorts of ways all year round. There are also opportunities for swimming, hiking, birdwatching and barbecuing in the open air. In 2005 Kristianstads Vattenrike was awarded biosphere reserve status. Since then it has served as a model for sustainable development under the motto “Benefiting nature and people”. There are some 600 biosphere reserves worldwide. Kristianstads Vattenrike is the oldest of the five biosphere reserves in Sweden.
Places to visit in Vattenriket 1. Naturum Vattenriket 2. Aosehus 3. Balsberget 4. Degeberga backar 5. Ekenabben 6. Fjällmossen 7. Forsakar 8. Gropah&arin;let 9. Hercules 10. Håslövs ängar 11. Karpalundsdammarna 12. Kanalhuset 13. Lillöomr&arin;det med Lillöborgen 14. Lägsta Punkten 15. Mosslunda 16. Näsby fält 17. Pulken 18. Storkcenter 19. S&arin;gnnarna 20. Vramsån 21. Äsums ängar 22. Äspet Äspet
Place #22 to visit in Vattenriket: Äspet is beside the sea at Åhus. In addition to the fantastic sandy beach there is also a shallow lagoon that attracts endless numbers of birds. Two birdwatching towers overlook the lagoon. Further inland is the Kronoskogen recreation area, criss-crossed by numerous forest paths. There are parking and toilet facilities by the beach. Paths lead north from the car park to the birdwatching towers, while 150 metres to the south there is a barbecue site close to the road among the sand dunes. Directions: Äspet is on the south bank of the river opposite the docks in Åhus. Follow the road called Åvägen and then Snickarehaksvägen to the beach. Bus 551 connects Åvägen with the centre of Åhus.  Äspet
 Map over Äspet - Click HERE for full size map
There are forest and beach and a few parking areas. Two birding towers overlooking the Lagoon Korran. Well marked walking trails takes you around the nature reserve. The “ORANGE” trail goes out to the bird watching tower. The tower is to far away for taking pictures, bird watching only. There are waders and sea birds along the trail to the bird watching tower. And on the other side of the trail you have the beach and there are some birds to be seen as well.  Follow the signs
 Drive along the small forest road
 It is a beautiful forest
 Reaching the first parking
 Parking area
 Passing the WC for the walk trail to the bird watching tower
 Following the ORANGE walk trail
 Following the ORANGE walk trail
 Following the ORANGE walk trail
 Walking along the beach
 Walking along the beach
There are several trails in the area and from the parking you have 2 colour coded trails. The orange and the red and white. The red and white leads you to a bird watching platform. Again, pretty useless for a bird photographer. I continued past the bird watching platform, the red and white trail ends at the platform. I continue and I´m soon on a dust road and I turn right and walk out towards the sea side. Reeds on one side and Lagoon Korran and there were many birds.
 Walking along red and white coloured trail
 Walking along red and white coloured trail
 Bird watching platform at the end of the red and white coloured trail
 Walking towards the sea side
There were a lot of birds on the dust road going east just north of Lagoon Korran. There were many birds coming as soon as I had stopped the car on the turning space. Using the car as a hide is perfect, stop for just a few minutes and the birds are soon back. Second parking area is in the forest and from there you have walk trails in to the forest. The area is well known for its Goldcrest and Firecrests. All the parking are almost empty, but be careful during the summer. They will be full when the beaches are full.  Entrance to the forest
 Trails through the forest
 Trails through the forest
My eBird checklist from Äspet, click HERE Bird checklist
I never use any bird lists, but since I try to make it in to Cloudbirders. A very helpful site when planning your birding trips. But they ask for a bird checklist, and if I use their service, of course I want to contribute as well. My two first bird watching trip reports was rejected by Cloudbirders. So I started to take ideas from the reports I found on Cloudbirders. So I have started to use bird lists, eBird generate one for me and I can post it on Cloudbirders. I will post my birds on eBird and on my different “BIRDS THAT I HAVE OBSERVED” pages. Check lists can come in handy to find out the local name of the bird etc. And Avibase have a list with pictures and sounds, excellent! So I will post bird checklists here and if my Guides provide me with checklists I will also post them here.   Skåne bird checklist from Avibase, click HERE Avibase is providing you with bird checklists from all over the world. And I´m impressed by their web page. Select country and area and you get the bird checklist. Like the PDF files I got from Avibase on the links above. You also get the checklist with pictures and sounds. The best part is that you get the local names of the birds and the online checklist gives the names in English plus the language you have selected. But it seems like the PDF cannot handle some alphabet. For example the Japanese language so it is blank in the PDF checklist. But it worked excellent with Swedish. But you get them in the local language on the online version. Bird list
I only listed birds I have got on picture before I started with eBird in November 2019. Now I record all the birds that I can identify. Before that see the DAY TO DAY reports and my lists of observed birds in different countries. And you can visit my list of “Birds I have seen in Sweden” My eBird checklists can be found HERE Trip Report
 Today´s track
Waking up in my room at Brösarps Gästgifveri at 3 thirty. I looked out the window first thing and it was fog with almost zero visibility. I had my tea and oatmeal and I left Brösarps Gästgifveri around 5 thirty. Driving through a foggy but beautiful landscape and even though I enjoyed the morning I was a little worried about the bird watching with the fog. Driving through Äspet Nature Reserve and I spot a deer next to the road. I took a chance and I stopped the car and I pleasantly surprised when the deer remained munching on fresh leafs. So I would take a few pictures before I continued.  Deer next to the road at Äspet Nature Reserve
 Deer next to the road at Äspet Nature Reserve
 Deer next to the road at Äspet Nature Reserve
I left the deer behind and I continued towards the parking area. I was alone so there was plenty room at the parking area. I start my eBird app at 06:20 and I start to walk out towards the bird watching tower. There are many birds in the wetlands on the way to the bird watching tower, but the fog. It was impossible to see the birds and to take any pictures. I reach the bird watching tower and there was not many birds to see.  I can see a Jackdaw and a Pied Avocet in the fog
 Two Pied Avocets in the fog
   Common Greenshank
I walk back to the car and there were a few cars and a group of people that turned out to be Nordöstra Skånes Fågelklubb out on an excursion. We talked a little and I told then what I had seen. I continued on the white and red coloured trail towards north to check out the second bird watching tower. Walking along the trail next to the lagoon until I reach a dirt road and I turn right continue walking along the northern border of the lagoon. Walking along the dust road and I have a huge reed area on my left hand side and I have the lagoon on my right hand side. It is still very foggy so I need to get very close to the birds to get any pictures. I see 2 Common Reed Buntings in the reeds and I give it a try to take some pictures.   Common Reed Bunting / Sävsparv
Tui on New Zealand
Tui on New Zealand
I reach the end of the dust road and I hear a bird in the bushes. I was instantly reminded about the Tui bird on New Zealand. It sounded almost as stepping in to a Mini Mart with the doorbell. I had no clue what it was, had never heard the bird before. I made a recording and it turned out to be two birds, one Thrush Nightingale that kept hidden in the bushes. And one Common Whitethroat that was jumping around in the bushes and I was lucky to get some pictures of the bird. Listen to the Thrush Nightingale / Näktergal
Sound from www.xeno-canto.org
Listen to the Common Whitethroat / Törnsångare
Sound from www.xeno-canto.org
   Common Whitethroat / Törnsångare
 Common Whitethroat / Törnsångare
 Common Whitethroat / Törnsångare
 Common Whitethroat / Törnsångare
I walk back to the car and now there was quite a few people and it turned out that it was Nordöstra Skånes Fågelklubb that had come back from the bird watching tower that I had visited earlier this morning. I asked about the bird sound recording that I had made. He said it was a Common Whitethroat, the bird on the pictures above. I knew it was a Common Whitethroat but the recording was different. I told him to hang on for a few seconds and he would hear a strange sound, the “Tui” sound. - That is a Thrush Nightingale. AH!!! I could only see the Common Whitethroat and now I understood. I spotted a Common Whitethroat but heard a totally different sound and now I understood that it was two birds in the bush but I could only see one. So my recoding was actually two birds. I said thank you and I took the car to drive to the next parking. The parking was full and I can imagine the parking here in the summer when the beaches are full of people. I turned around and I parked at a parking lot at the forest. From the parking lot you have a few trails through the forest. I leave the car and parking behind walking in to the big “unknown” following one of the trails. There were many different Warblers but no pictures. I walk around the forest looking for birds and by the time I was back at the car I had managed to get zero pictures. I leave the parking driving along the road out from Äspet Nature reserve and my plan is to drive back along the sea front to reach the area where I had made the sound recording this very morning.  Deer next to the road at Äspet Nature Reserve
I pass another deer and I stop to try to get a picture before I continue. I see a small road down to the waterfront and I was disappointed. A small marina with some workshops and not possible to see any beach. I continued on the road and I ended up on the road I had walked this morning. Driving along the road and I see a European Goldfinch sitting next to the road and there were several Barn Swallows and none of the birds bothered with me sitting in the car taking pictures. Coming to the end of the road and I parked the car in a position so I had overview over the road and the bushes where I had heard the Thrush Nightingale in the morning. I have never seen a Thrush Nightingale before and I really hope to get a picture of the bird. With a song like I recorded this morning I just must see the bird before leaving Sweden.    Barn Swallow / Ladusvala
 Barn Swallow / Ladusvala
 Barn Swallow / Ladusvala
   Greylag Goose with babies
 Common Greenshank
 Common Greenshank
I was happy when I left Äspet Nature Reserve driving south. Thick fog and the bird pictures was not as good as I had been hoping for. Well, who knows? I might be back here again next time in Sweden. Now I will drive south and I will start to explore the bird life in Österlen. But I am afraid that it will not be a very good afternoon with the fog. But I  hope for the best and you will find my Bird Watching Trip Report from Österlen HERE when the report is ready.
 You are visitor no.
To www.aladdin.st since December 2005
Visitors from different countries since 26th of September 2011
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