Birdwatching at Pulken / Vattenriket / Åhus / Kristianstad / Skåne / Sverige, Easter 2018



On our arrival saturday morning only 6 Common cranes (Grus grus) were present (4 in this picture) - with a few geese, gulls and ducks.
Prolonged cold had delayed the migration from the south
. We expected to see thousands - like we've experienced several times before!


Instead 2 White stork (Ciconia ciconia) came in quite close. They are part of a re-settlement project going on.


Greylag goose (Anser anser) are - like many other migratory geese species - very common in this area this time of the year.


Bäckaskog Castle, where we stayed for the 3 nights during Easter - fine rooms - delicious meals - magic athmosphere!


I've never seen this before - sunday and swans in the morning dense snow!


Who have had the power to split the giant Kjugakull rock into two - could it be trolls - or Jötunn
(Jætter) - Frost Giants?


The very big Ivösjön lies right opposite Bäckaskog Castle - and was still frozen over.


- more cranes in the sky - but far from the thousands, that we've seen several times before!


This time the great surprise were the Whooper swans - I've never seen so many in one place before!
Courtship is going on here - note, that the birds have not moved their feet after the snow stopped falling!

 


A Black Woodpecker (Dryocopus martius) came across in the woods - I heard it before I saw it - as usual.
It flies very fast - hard to get a clear shot in flight in the woods!


One of the few cranes taking off - in the far distance - over the woods on the far side of Pulken Wettlands.


Many ducks were present despite the cold - including Common shellduck (Tadorna tadorna).

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More geese resting in a waterlogged field in the low temperatures - and snow.

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Adult and young Whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus) resting in the snow - by the hundreds!


Right outside the windows on sunday!


Swans, geese and ducks of many different species at Pulken after the snow stopped falling on monday.


The first 2 cranes to arrive on monday morning - 2. Easter Day 2018.


We got to see the cranes, that we came for - but in very small numbers. We had a good time anyway!
We saw many more on the way back - and in the sky over Copenhagen the following days
- but no camera at hand on these occasions !

 

Copyright Kenth Esbensen 2018.