Birdwatching in Scandinavia

By Terry Bond, Tuesday 9^th November 2010

Terry, who introduced himself as an amateur birdwatcher, talked about trips he had made to Scandinavia over a number of years and showed us a good mixture of birds and the surrounding scenery. His slides were about the southern part of Scandinavia where a large number of the birds seen were familiar to us although with slight variations. Many of the breeding birds seen there are winter visitors for us.

He started off on the coast near Gothenborg. This is one of the first places where the birds arrive on migration. We saw coastal birds and also buzzards. He had seen hundreds of honey buzzards flying over.

We then moved inland and some of the more cultivated areas. (Do the ducks really only cross the road at the marked crossing point and keep to the marked duck prints?) There were many birds very familiar to us but some were slightly different; long tailed tits with a white head, the northern form of the green woodpecker and a pale breasted robin. In the central part of Sweden the farmers leave the fields to lie fallow and when the cranes arrive in the Spring they have something to feed on.

Further into Sweden is the massive Lake Vanern with a variety of habitats. It is particularly good for breeding waders because of all the insects. There are also divers and it acts as a staging post for Whooper swans on their way north. The farmers put nest boxes in the trees for the goldeneye.

From Sweden across to Norway. We travelled up and around the coast from Bergen. Purple sandpipers, long tailed ducks and various skuas were some of the birds we saw. Occasionally there are some rarer birds that are normally only found further north such as the white billed diver and Steller’s eider. Inland up the Hardanger fiord, there are sheer cliffs and the water is still very deep close to the shore. It is amazing that the goats and sheep can keep their footing on the steep slopes. Spring is late to this part and by June the rivers are still in spate from the snow melt. You need to visit the side streams and backwaters to see birds such as the black bellied dipper.

Further inland still, the lakes have no birds because the conifer woods leach soil with heavy organic content and the water is too acidic for anything to survive. Redwing and Fieldfare breed here. Moving further up into the hills, the trees thin out and the ground is very boggy underneath. We saw a very smart blue throat and there are more breeding waders such as redshank, greenshank and jack snipe. Up on top of the plateau it is very like the Cairngorms. There we saw Lapland bunting, dotterel and ptarmigan, as well as golden and white tailed sea eagles. As you go higher, even in June you are likely to be beaten by the bad weather. Back on the coast we finished with some wonderful sunsets.

Terry was a very amusing speaker and we were left with a whetted appetite for a visit to Scandinavia.

Melanie Parker