Hedmark 2016 installment I

The end of May/beginning of June usually sees me in Hedmark and 2016 is no exception. I have some bird survey routes that I carry out and these are between 4-9am giving me the rest of the day to explore.

After only 13 hours (including 5 hours fitfull sleep I have seen Norways two rarest (and soon to be extinct?) regularly breeding passerines namely Ortolan and Rustic Bunting which are truly special birds especially the latter due to its choice of habitat.

I've also had Waxwings (very rare breeders in Southern Norway), Great Grey Shrike and Siberian Jay. Testament to the poor rodent year - I haven't seen a single raptor or owl yet.

Looking at the map I realised (having not done so before) that I was only about 90 minutes drive from the breeding area for the Scottish Bean Goose in Sweden. Due to the wonders of technology I had a good idea of an area to search for one of the tagged birds which was very close to a road. I parked up, walked 3 minutes through some pine forest with a heavy carpet of lichen, saw some water and heard geese! There was a pair including a collared bird and a group of three. They flew up as the group of three and then the pair and joined up in the air. They didn't fly very far and a bit over an hour later I heard geese and saw the same group of five in flight low over the trees. These were clearly non breeding birds making use of a rich food source and the area was rich in birds with Whooper Swans, Wigeon, Teal, Bt Diver, Whimbrel, Greenshank, A Tern and Kestrel.

Once home I will post pictures and more details.