sweden in January (1 Viewer)

[scary-canary]

Has anyone got any good sites for owls, woodpeckers, hazel hen in Sweden in january please? I'm staying for a weekend, flying to Skavsta, south of Stockholm and prepared to drive to thebest sites.
Thanks

 

[Woodchatshrike]

I went over to Uppsalla in 2003. Very few birds numbers wise and very cold but it was great. We twictched rares and visited a few nature reserves. We went because it was a big Pine Grosbeak year and there were many in the the biult up areas and many thousands of waxwings. I'll have a look and see what gen I have in my notes.

 

[aegithalos]

Sweden in Jan from Skavsta

This one is tough, very tough (based on 8 years experience living in Uppland, N of Stockholm).

First, the bad news: January is possibly the worst month for a visit. It is dark (perhaps 6 hrs daylight, if the sun is out), it is cold (-20C not unusual), and it can snow, hard. There is likely to be snow on the ground, which slows driving, blocks unploughed forest roads (unless you have a 4x4), and makes walking in the forest difficult. Birds can be hard to find, except at feeding stations and any open water. Sometimes, invasion species arrive and add interest: pine grosbeaks, crossbills, hawk owls, Siberian tit, but not this winter (so far). Even the waxwings have gone. Owls and woodpeckers have not started calling in Jan.

Then, better news: Sweden has an excellent system for reporting birds, called 'Svalan' (the swallow), so you can see, day by day, whether anything of interest has turned up. There is even an abbreviated version for mobiles. Go to:

http://www.artportalen.se/birds/todays.asp

and navigate to days and regions of interest. Click on 'Today's bird for WAP' to get the URL for mobile use of any page of interest. There is also a search system (-> Start -> Search records), which works with English names.

As for particular sites ... Skavsta is a bit far south for most of the species requested. If you can get up to Uppsala, things are better. A few km W of Uppsala is Fiby urskog, which is a nature reserve with hazel hen, three-toed woodpecker, and more. It probably offers the best chance of seeing these quickly. Just walk around the paths ... hazel hen is really difficult to find: consider yourself very fortunate if you find it in one weekend! For the woodpecker, just listen for it gently hacking away. Black woodpecker is there (listen for the calls). Grey-headed is more difficult: best chance (in Jan) is if one is turning up at a feeding station regularly (use the website above to find out about that), and be prepared to wait, possibly hours, in cold weather.

Owls: tough in Jan. Best bet is to drive along roads in the forested areas around Uppsala, especially to the N, and check on the fences. This can give Ural owl, even in the day. No hawk owls at the moment, nor great grey. Tengmalm's is always exceptionally hard to see, except at the nest. Pygmy can be seen at dusk, often on treetops, or calling. Again, drive forest areas.

All in all, I would recommend Fiby as the best chance for something. It will take a whole day. Be prepared for a lot of driving.

All a bit negative, I am afraid ... but I hope it helps.

 

[scary-canary]

Thanks for the advice. I guess we'll take our chances as we've bought the plane tickets. Your idea of fiby seems like one we might use if nothing turns up on the rare birds side of things, but I'm hoping for cold weather over Christmas to bring stuff in. Do you have directions for Fiby and which is the best town to stay in for there please? also do lots of people have feeders in thre gardens and do the parks have feeders?

best wishes
Chris

 

[aegithalos]

Thanks for the advice. I guess we'll take our chances as we've bought the plane tickets. Your idea of fiby seems like one we might use if nothing turns up on the rare birds side of things, but I'm hoping for cold weather over Christmas to bring stuff in. Do you have directions for Fiby and which is the best town to stay in for there please? also do lots of people have feeders in thre gardens and do the parks have feeders?

best wishes
Chris

Fiby is about 15km W of Uppsala (which would be the best, possibly only, place to stay in the area). Head out of Uppsala on road 55 (goes SW to Enköping), after about 3 km turn right on to road 72 (goes W to Sala). After another 7km or so turn into the village of Vänge (road 72 bypasses it). In Vänge, turn left, and follow the road out of the village, and continue for about another 5km: this is now a single track unpaved road, but should be ploughed. There are signs, not very conspicuous, at one or two necessary turns. There is a small parking area and notice board that will tell you that you have arrived. Follow the walking trails around the wood. If there is snow (about 99% certain), the trails themselves may be invisible: they are marked by coloured paint on the trees. You can always retreat with your own footsteps ... Good 1:50,000 maps (Gröna kartor) can be bought in ICA supermarkets, and probably petrol stations. Very similar to Fiby are Florarna (N of Österbybruk, N of Uppsala) and Pansarudden (N of Knutby, E of Uppsala), both even further away from Skavsta: all three have all the woodland species. Any area of extensive forest (use maps) can be profitable from the minor roads.

Feeders: a lot of people have feeders, but very few have rarities. The Siberian tit of a few years ago came to a feeder in Stadsskogen (S Uppsala). However, I don't recommend 'feeder-hopping': if a rarity turns up, there will be localities and directions on Svalan. Concentrate on the hard-to-find residents. If you need help with any Swedish directions in Svalan, put a message here (Svalan itself has English as well as Swedish, but the comments written by reporters will be Swedish only).

We're also hoping that cold weather will come soon!

Have fun,

Aegithalos

 

[scary-canary]

fingers crossed!