Bird watching in Skåne, Sweden bird watching trip report

Introduction

Attending a seminar in Copenhagen and I take the opportunity to look for birds in Sweden. Hasslarps Dammar is on the list to visit but it was raining non stop so I could never look for any birds at Hasslarps Dammar. But driving past the area and I spotted a Grey Heron sitting on the pipe at one of the ponds.

I discovered a new area, Väla Skog / Väla forest and I could make two visits to the area as the sun broke through the clouds for a bit. Otherwise it was raining non stop during my time in Helsingborg.

My Guide

No Guide required in Skåne

Land transportation

• Rented car
I have rented a Volvo from HERZ

Accommodations

Marina Plaza, Helsingborg: 22 May to 26 May 2019

My room at Marina Plaza

Weather / climate

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

Länsstyrelsen Skåne - Väla Skog - Swedish only

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 Naturum

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.

Visit Skåne - Bird watching

Kullabygdens Ornitologiska Förening A very good page with hot spots and information - Their hot spot map can be found HERE - IN SWEDSIH ONLY!

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.

Collins Bird Guide

The Collins Bird Guide is a field guide to the birds of the Western Palearctic.

Its authors are Lars Svensson, Killian Mullarney, Dan Zetterström and Peter J. Grant, and it is illustrated by Killian Mullarney and Dan Zetterström (with two plates of North American passerines contributed by Larry McQueen). It has been described as "undoubtedly the finest field guide that has ever been produced", and "the last great bird book of the 20th century".

It was originally published in Swedish and Danish in 1999, and in English in hardback in the same year, and later in paperback. A large-format English edition has also been produced, as has a German and Dutch edition. The first edition was translated to 14 European languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch and German.

A second edition, revised and enlarged, was published in January 2010. A series of updates and corrections were made in 2015, with no change to the edition number.

The cover of the first edition, in all formats, depicts a barn owl. On the second edition, this was replaced by an arctic tern.

Cover of the first edition

Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15538546

Eleven pages of introductory material are followed by the book's main content: 366 pages of text and colour paintings. The text for each species gives brief status notes, followed by a section detailing identification, and concludes with a section on voice. Accompanying most species accounts is a small colour map showing breeding, wintering and migrant range.

The guide is also available as a paid-for app, for iPhone and Android devices. The app includes all of the text and images from the print edition, as well as audio recordings. Additional data can be bought separately; the first such package being a set of distribution maps for 271 species, from the British Trust for Ornithology's Bird Atlas 2007–11.

All versions cover Europe, North Atlantic islands, much of North Africa and the Middle East.

Most of the species covered in the main part of the guide are regular breeding, wintering or migrant species in its area of coverage, although some vagrants are also included. There are additional sections giving brief accounts of (a) vagrants and (b) introduced breeding species and species recorded only as escapes.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Many bird watchers around the world know this book simply as “The Svensson”

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

The plan is to visit the below birding sites before leaving Skåne Well, I had planned to visit Hasslarps Dammar / Ponds in Hasslarp but as it was raining constantly I skipped this area. I drove by a few times to see if I was lucky with the weather.

But I discovered a new birding area, Väla Skog / Väla forest and I visited the area two times.

• Väla Skog / Väla foreste

• Hasslarps Dammar / Ponds in Hasslarp

Väla Skog / Väla forest

Väla Skog / Väla forest have been a protected area since 1984. Some of the trees are 300 years old with 2 - 3 meters in circumference. The forest cover 0.44m2 and there are plenty birds in the forest. You can also see rabbits, hares, badgers and ermines in the forest.

It is easy to walk in the forest as there are walking, biking and horse riding trails through the forest.

Coming from the south (Helsingborg City Centre): Drive along Ängelholmsleden, highway E4 towards Stockholm / Gothenburg. Leave the highway to get on road #111 to Höganäs. Take the first exit to the right and drive pass the fire station “BRANDORAMA” and you see the Väla Skog parking sign on your left hand side after 100 meter.

Drive pass BRANDORAMA fire station

Väla Skog parking sign on your left hand side

Coming from the north (Stockholm / Gothenburg): Drive along highway E4 and when you reach Väla shopping centre you leave the highway reaching Trafikplats Väla. Reaching the roundabout you continue straight towards Berga. Leave Väla behind and when you see the sign BERGA on the right hand side you continue 50 meter and turn right when you see the Väla Skog parking sign on your right hand side.

Reaching BERGA

Väla Skog parking sign on your right hand side

So when you have left the road at the Väla Skog parking sign you turn right to get on the gravel road towards the parking 100 meters up the gravel road. Park the car and get in to the forest. There are a meadow and bush land on the west side of the parking with a lot of birds.

In the forest at the parking you will find a lot of rowanberry trees and there is a lot of birds in the area. I was here in the autumn so I can imagine how many birds here will be in the spring time.

Turn in on the gravel road

The parking

Walk in to the nature reserve

Horse riding track, easy to get around in the forest

BBQ area

There is trails in the forest so it is very easy to get around. I could hear a lot of birds in the forest and there were many birds flying around and Greenfinches eating on the trails. But it was hard to get pictures so many birds was unidentified.

Even though you have a busy road on the east side of the forest and a railway on the west side it was quiet and peaceful walk through the forest listening to the birds.

Hasslarps Dammar / Ponds in Hasslarp

Hasslarps Dammar (ponds) south of the factory area were used by the sugar mill to wash the sugar beets. Today Hasslarp’s dammar have developed into a unique area for wetland birds and are frequently visited by ornithologists. In 1997, the municipality of Helsingborg bought some of the area for nature conservation.

Today there is a parking lot, information boards and two observation spots for bird watching and recreation. The pond area is possible to reach in some parts, while other parts are very overgrown. The quality of the water also varies wildly.

Coming from Hyllinge on Hyllingevägen (Hyllinge Road) and you see the old disuded sugar mill on your right hand side. Slow down and when you reach the sugar mill, just after having crossed the bridge over the stream. You have two places to park on the left hand side. The first place have room for two cars.

Park the car and you have trails between the ponds. First thing you pass is a big concrete area and you can find a lot of birds in the bushes. Pass the concrete and then you take right following the trail and you will soon hear a lot of Common grasshopper warblers.

Approaching the sugar mill on Hyllinge vägen, we can see the bridge

Parking after the bridge

Walk in to the area

The concrete area

There are plenty trails in the area

Walking between the ponds

We can see the sugar mill from the pond area

There are sea birds on the ponds and small birds in the bushes and reeds. The area have now become a ringing area as well, as here are many birds during the migration.

This was one of my favourite places to visit during my bird watching in Skåne. There are one bigger parking area 50 meters from the first parking if you are coming on Hyllingevägen.

50 meter to the next parking

Second parking area on Hyllingevägen

You have another option as well, to enter the area from the west and you have parking and two bird watching platforms and 2 hides. But I could not find the access road to this area. I spotted a dust track covered with grass. I never tried to drive in to the area from this side.

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

Väla Skog / Väla forest, Helsingborg

Today´s track in Väla Skog / Väla forest

Friday 27^th of September 2019 and it was raining all day long. I could not walk in my new shoes so I drove to Väla Shopping Centre to look for sandals. I discovered that the weather was Ok when I came out from the shop and I drove to Väla Skogen to check it out.

I was lucky, the sun was breaking through the clouds and I got out of my car already wearing my sandals as I changed in the shop. I started my eBird app and I went in to the forest. I could hear plenty birds, and I spotted a lot of birds but I could not get any pictures to identify them.

I only have a very short time that I can spend here before I have to go pick up nephews at their school.

Bird watching in Väla Skog / Väla forest

Eurasian Treecreeper

eBird Report

Väla Skog, Skåne län [SE-12], SE
Sep 27, 2019 15:07 - 15:37
Protocol: Traveling
1.12 kilometer(s)
Comments: Many birds in the forest. Close to the parking there is a lot of rowanberry trees and there was full of birds. But I could not identify the birds
5 species

Common Woodpigeon 4
Great Tit 2
Eurasian Treecreeper 1
Eurasian Blackbird 1
European Greenfinch 1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S60147827

I spotted a Greenfinch and a Great Tit. Quite a few Common Woodpigeon and a Treecreeper and the Treecreeper was the only bird I got on picture, but very poor pictures. I went back to the car and I left Väla Skog / Väla forest. I will be back tomorrow morning if the weather is good.

I picked up my nephews and we drove to Röstånga Gästgivaregård where we will eat “Tunna Fläskpannkakor” and vanilla sauce with some apple pie. And we were hungry as we had not had anything to eat for a very long time.

Tunna Fläskpannkakor at Röstånga Gästgivaregård

Waiting for the food

Äggakagga for my youngest nephew

Tunna Fläskpannkakor at Röstånga Gästgivaregård

Vanilla Sauce and apple pie at Röstånga Gästgivaregård

+++++++++++++++

Saturday 28^th of September 2019 and it was glom and grey for long as I could see, and of course, raining. But the weather forecast in the elevator promised that the sun would break through the clouds at 10 o´clock. The sun broke through the clouds before 9 o´clock and I drove to Väla Skog / Väla forest.

Today´s track in Väla Skog / Väla forest

Parking the car and I started to walk towards north on the east side of the forest. After 200 meter I turned in to the forest and I walked across the forest to the north side of the forest. There were a lot of birds among the rowanberry trees. The Blue Tit seems to like the rowanberries.

I also saw two Common Chaffinch as well, a very common bird in the summer but they leave Sweden in September to November so these two birds are most likely late movers.

There was many Greenfinches looking for food on the tracks but they were very hard to discover with the brown background.

Eurasian Blue Tit

Reaching the north side of the forest

Greenfinches

I was back at the car after one and a half hour and I was happy with the walk through the forest. If I ever come back to Sweden in the spring time I will come back here again. Gloom and grey and it is really not any good light for bird pictures, so in the spring time it will

hopefully be able to get pictures.

eBird Report

Väla Skog, Skåne län [SE-12], SE
Sep 28, 2019 09:05 - 10:36
Protocol: Traveling
2,76 kilometer(s)
5 species

Common Woodpigeon 11
Eurasian Blue Tit 4
Great Tit 5
Common Chaffinch 2
European Greenfinch 7

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S60168369

Driving to see my nephews and I stop to have a look at the Common starlings sitting on the power wire. They are in progress to fly south for the winter. I used to hate the sight of the birds sitting on the wires. Then you know the summer had come to an end looking forward to a long and cold winter.

But then, it was very nice to see them coming back in the spring time. I got a few pictures before I continued and this was the last bird pictures from Sweden, at least for this time.

Common Starling, Sturnus vulgaris, Stare

Common Starling / Stare

Common Starling / Stare ready to fly south

Returning my rented car and I will leave for Copenhagen tomorrow and I will check in to the hotel Crown Plaza Copenhagen Towers at 2 o´clock tomorrow. I really hope that the weather will be nice so I can do some birding tomorrow afternoon.

You just need to click HERE to find out if I can get out to look for birds in the hotel area.

OK, it has come to my knowledge that we have senior citizens visiting my web page. How hard can it be? So it's not very easy for them to see the blue coloured links to the next page.

Jiffy (also jiff)

noun [in SING.] informal a moment: we'll be back in a jiffy.

ORIGIN late 18th cent.: of unknown origin.

So as you understand, in a jiff pretty much depends on your internet.

So I put a “Next” button here and I hope that there isn't any problem to understand how to use that one. So just CLICK the “Next” button on your left hand side and you will be on the next page in a jiff!

Marunong ka mag-tagalog? Walang problema! Magpunta sa kabilang pahina pindutin ang “NEXT” button sa itaas

Faites vous parlez le français? Pas de problème! Pour arriver à la page suivante faites s'il vous plaît un déclic le bouton “Next” ci-dessus!

Haga usted dice el español? No hay problema! Ver la siguiente página sólo hacer clic el botón “Next” encima!

Farla parla l'italiano? Non problemi! Per vedere la prossima pagina lo scatto per favore giusto Il bottone “Next” sopra

Sprechen sie Deutsch! Kein problem! Wenn Sie die folgende Seite sehen wollen gerade klicken der Knopf “Next” oben!

คุณพูดภาษาไทยได้ไหม ไม่มีปัญหา ถ้าคุณต้องการไปหน้าถัดไป ให้กดปุ่ม “Next” ข้างบนนี้

Вы говорите по-русски? Просто нажмите синюю кнопку "Next" с левой стороны и Вы моментально переместитесь на следующую страницу!

E ni Svenskar och inte förstår Engelska så ska ni skämmas. J och Björn, med det menar jag inte att alla mina stavfel ska ältas varje gång vi träffas.

Well, the flag of Skåne, just a BONUS flag.

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