Sea Duck

A day trip to the north Sjaelland coast for sea duck delivered mixed fortunes. When I arrived at dawn it was a beautifully clear dawn with a fantastic low sun behind me as I looked north. However, as soon as I reached the ideal viewing spot and began to scan the flocks of sea duck on the bay, the mist rolled in and visibility was reduced to around 100 metres, meaning I was left staring at what looked like a polar bear in a snowstorm. Added to this, the temperature plummeted from an already cold -3 to about -6! A walk around the woodland at Melby failed to produce any Parrot Crossbills (a party of around 20 have been seen regularly here) so I walked along the north coast path towards Kikhavn, a small harbour town. On the way, at around 1300 and after having seen nothing, the mist cleared and it turned into a beautiful afternoon. So I walked back to the bay and spent the last hour of light scanning the flocks of sea duck. There were 100s of Eider plus small flocks of GOLDENEYE, RED-BREASTED MERGANSER and about 50 Scoter. The most numerous scoter was VELVET SCOTER with smaller numbers of COMMON SCOTER. Unfortunately there was no sign of this. A flock of 14 WHOOPER SWANS flew west and then a single LONG-TAILED DUCK flew in and began feeding just offshore. Given the lack of sea duck present on my local patches, both Velvet Scoter and Long-tailed Duck were new species for me here, bringing the total number of species seen in Denmark to an almost respectable 211.

Christmas

A couple of hours walk around Vestamager on Christmas day with the in-laws was rewarded with a PEREGRINE FALCON, at least 4 SMEW, 6 WHOOPER SWANS and a good assortment of ducks including PINTAIL, WIGEON, TEAL, SHOVELER, POCHARD, TUFTED DUCK, SCAUP, MALLARD, GADWALL and SHELDUCK. This morning (26th) we have been shrouded in thick freezing fog. A short cycle ride to the industrial harbour (oh the glamour) produced several argentatus Herring Gulls, a few Cormorants and 3 Waxwings in a roadside rowan. My toes have just about thawed out.

Southern Sweden

Merry Christmas to all. I have just enjoyed a fantastic traditional Danish Christmas meal (roast pork, red cabbage, roast potatoes and veg) and a couple of glasses of vino tinto.. One of my presents (in Denmark we open them on Christmas Eve - top!) was a book I have wanted for a long time - the Dick Forsman Raptors guide to Europe and the Middle East. What a great book. And hopefully I will get to check out its quality quite soon.. because in southern Sweden there is a wintering 2cy+ GREATER SPOTTED EAGLE just east of Malmo. Also in southern Sweden, around Gothenburg, is a BUFF-BELLIED PIPIT, an ORIENTAL TURTLE DOVE, at least two HAWK OWLS and PYGMY OWL. So a trip across the border is definitely in order.

It is now cold here.. about freezing during the day and -4/-5 below at night, although this is average for the time of year (last year was incredibly mild). There is a distinct lack of WAXWINGS this winter, compared with last winter, mainly due to the very limited berry crop this year. I guess this is why so many have made it to the UK this winter. The female BLACK-THROATED THRUSH is back at Nivå, just north of Copenhagen, for its third winter - it is quite remarkable that this bird has wintered in the same small area (by a railway and next to a dog-training area) for the third winter in a row.

The TENGMALM'S OWL passage seems to have dried up and NUTCRACKERS seem to have settled down with a handful wintering in local woodlands. Here's hoping for a GYR as a Christmas present!

Let it snow...

It snowed today. Ok, so not much but, nevertheless, it snowed. After last year's pathetic excuse of a Scandinavian winter I am hoping for the real thing this year. The Christmas markets have started and the ice rink is now in full swing on Kongens Nytorv so it is beginning to feel quite festive... Photos soon.

Mexico

I have just returned from a ten day work trip to Mexico. What a place. 24 million people living in its capital city (that's almost 5 times the population of Denmark) and so much history that Britain looks like the new kid on the block. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to explore the country outside the capital but, with visits to some of Mexico's stunning museums and contact with the legislators in Congress, I was left with a very positive impression of the country, its people and its very promising future.

Some facts about Mexico:

- 12th largest economy in the world
- population 109 million (24 million of which live in the capital, Mexico City)
- Mexico City lies at an altitude of 2,250m above sea level
- human activity dates back to at least 21,000 BC
- the Aztec civilisations were invaded by Spain in 1591 and Mexico became the largest and most populous Spanish colony

So, far from being just the land of tequila, sombreros and ponchos, this is a land of culture, history and economic muscle.

My work took me to the Mexican Congress - the Chamber of Deputies - where we held a meeting on climate change for legislators from the Americas - North and South America plus the Caribbean. The result was a consensus declaration calling on industrialised countries to cut their emissions by 60-80 per cent from 1990 levels by 2050 and calling on the most advanced developing countries (Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa) to take on binding commitments by 2020. This is a significant advance ahead of the latest round of UN negotiations that take place in Poznan, Poland from 1-12 December 2008 and demonstrates that there is cross-party support in the parliaments of these countries for more ambitious action.

The people we worked with were some of the warmest I have met and I came away with a genuine warmth for the country and a reassurance that the region sees climate change as the most serious issue facing humanity in the 21st century and, beyond that, is already doing a significant amount to mitigate its effects and adapt to the impacts. From Brazilian ethanol to Argentinian water management expertise and Costa Rican work on rewarding forest conservation through payment for "ecosystem services", there is much that we can all learn from this diverse region.

Bats

Photos: first two - Brown Bats at Vestamager, including an acrobatic individual doing an impressive 180 degree head twist to catch a mosquito; and a late afternoon scene at Vestamager Nature Reserve

Saturday was a glorious day - still, with a clear blue sky and a late autumnal chill in the air. I decided to look for Tengmalm's Owl in Kongelunden forest, figuring that with the recent irruption of this species in Sweden, there was a chance that one would have made it to this forest close to Copenhagen airport. The species has been seen there before in irruption years and is still recorded most springs. Despite checking almost every pine, spruce and fir tree in the forest, I had no luck. So I wandered towards Vestamager, the nature reserve made up of wetlands and wet birch forest. On my way, a fantastic Rough-legged Buzzard was hunting from a treetop in an open field. Living here has enabled me to get to grips with this species and learn the id characteristics that separate it from Common Buzzard (which can be incredibly variable). The longer wings (to me they almost have a kite-like appearance), pale/white upper tail, dark belly and large dark carpal patches on the underwing separate this species from its much commoner cousin and I was able to study this individual for around 20 minutes before it was flushed by a dog-walker.

Further along the path I was surprised to come across a group of 8 large bats hunting insects over one of the flashes in broad daylight. I was told by a local that these are BROWN BATS and are Scandinavia's largest species of bat. They are day-flying and migratory and are apparently seen in this area most autumns. If anyone out there knows anything about bats and can confirm the species, I would be interested to hear from you.

On Sunday, Libby and I went for a walk around the coastal wood at Sydvestpynten where we vistited the resident Tawny Owl that has returned to roost in the same tree for at least its third winter.

The hunt for Tengmalm's Owl continues..... maybe I should ask the Wise Woman for advice...!

How many rare birds do we miss?

I came across this blog entry from David Sibley and thought I'd share it with you. Food for thought as we are wandering the migration hot spots. I am sure observer coverage in Europe is higher than in the US but, even so, I am sure the same principle applies.

Mandehoved

Another morning at Mandehoved for raptor migration produced 33 Red Kites, 1 adult White-tailed Eagle, 1 Goshawk, 15 Sparrowhawks, 6 Rough-legged Buzzards, 7 Hen Harriers and 15 Common Buzzards. However, overshadowing the raptors were the skeins of geese that seemed to be constantly passing south. Over 2,000 Barnacle Geese and 1500 Brent Geese were counted in four hours with 5 White-fronted Geese, 4 Bean Geese and small numbers of Canada Geese mixed in. The supporting cast was made up of finches - good numbers (in the 100s) of Chaffinches, Bramblings, Redpolls (numbers seem to be well up this autumn) and Siskin. A flock of 60+ Waxwings were my first of the autumn and over the weekend good numbers of these cracking berry-eating birds were seen all across Denmark.

At lunchtime, after the migration was beginning to tail off, we visited the lighthouse at Stevns Fyr to look for Tengmalm's Owl (one was heard there the night before). The first tree we looked in produced a roosting Long-eared Owl but unfortunately, despite looking in every tree in the lighthouse garden, there was no sign of any Tengmalm's. We wondered whether the presence of a Long-eared would have made it move on (I think I have read somewhere that Long-eared Owls eat Tengmalm's Owls which would be good enough reason to find somewhere else to roost!). There have now been an incredible 252 Tengmalm's Owls ringed this autumn at Falsterbo in Sweden (just across the water from Stevns in Denmark) - the highest total ever. So it is only a matter of time before one of these fantastic owls gets pinned down in Denmark. You can see a photo of one at Falsterbo last week here. They are usually very confiding during the day (once the roost site has been found - which is by no means easy), so I am hopeful of seeing one or two this winter. Remarkably, a Great Grey Owl was also seen at Falsterbo this week - only the second ever in southern Sweden. This could mean that these huge owls are also on the move. Having never been recorded in Denmark, Great Grey Owl would cause much excitement if one was to make the crossing from Falsterbo....

With Nutcrackers, Tengmalm's Owls and possibly Great Grey Owls on the move this winter, hopes are high for some of the other scarcer visitors including Pygmy Owl, Hawk Owl and Pine Grosbeak - I will be checking my local woods very carefully!