For example, the concept of traditional Swedish cuisine settled quite late. But it has a quite characteristic personality. The place has been extensively built on since the google image, but you can still see the bend on the road in the fields at the end of the estate.On the whole, Swedish cuisine is just like any other: a result of both national tradition and local raw materials. As it was Sunday, we actually drove down it to the river (!!) where it joins another cycle path that runs along the river. Look for the cycle path on your left between two units (denoted by a blue circular sign with a cyclist and walker). Turn round here and go back the way you just came for about 50m. You will come to a bend in the road with fields around you. Take the first left, then keep going as far as you can, going right then left until you exit the estate. Go to the first mini roundabout (about 300m from the E55) onto the industrial estate. The bird is next to the frozen river Fyrisan, north of Uppsala, on the edge of the Libroback Industrial estate.Įxit the E55 and go north along the 272, “Borjegatan”. Disappointing, but at least the Hawk Owl was under the belt. I bumped into Swedish birder Mattias Larsson while I was there, and we searched the various clearings together, but only had a few Bullfinches and Greenfinches to show for it. Unfortunately, although the Owl was reported as recently as 12th January, it had become much less frequent once the snow arrived. This area is very popular with the locals for cross country skiing. I took Trudy back into Uppsala then went off to the forest south of the town where there had been a very showy Great Grey Owl for the last 4-5 weeks. I make no apologies for including quite a few photo’s of this stunning bird, a birding lifetime’s ambition fulfilled in real style by this showy superstar! Hope you enjoy too! Initially it looked like a Blackbird but on closer inspection it seems too big, so could well be a Jackdaw! Have a look at the photo’s and let me know what you think. At another point it clearly had a bird that it had caught. We watched the bird for the next hour or two as it went from tree to tree, at one point landing on a lamp post, another landing on the ground next to us and hopping about searching for ground-living prey. The Blue tit’s pursuer landed in the top of the tree in front of us. I assumed it to be a Sparrowhawk, which I’d seen briefly the day before in the same spot – after all, I assumed the Hawk Owl would be feeding on rodents, not chasing birds. The answer came very quickly when as we walked towards the frozen Fyrisan river, a Blue tit alarm-called as it flew from a pursuing predator. In fact the last report was Thursday, potentially two days ago. Since snow had arrived in this area in early January, the bird was being reported on artportalen much less frequently. The next morning after breakfast we were out, and I drove to the spot with quite a heavy heart. We checked in at the excellent Grand Hotell Hornan and ate at the Lingon Restaurant – a very high quality place. At least I knew where to park and walk for the morning’s retry. I found the right spot, but only a single Waxwing was compensation. On arrival at 15.20, I had about 40 minutes’ daylight to find the wooden bridge and the bird. Trudy and I stayed overnight at the Premier Inn, Stansted, on Thursday 14th January, ready for the 10.35 flight on the Friday morning.īy 14.30, we had picked up the VW Passat from a very cold Vasteras Airport (-14.5 according to the car) and were heading east to try to beat the sunset. To make this even more tempting, flights with Ryanair from Stansted were £49 return, and Hotels were available form £60 a night. Both locations were less than an hours’ drive from Vasteras Airport. What this told me was that there were two Hawk Owls showing daily in southern Sweden – one north of Vasteras, the other on an industrial estate in Uppsala. This is accompanied by gripping photos and pretty precise location information. I have missed this species in Poland, Finland and Netherlands in recent years.Īll this combined meant I started getting VERY twitchy when I discovered the excellent resource that is which gives up to date news for the whole of Sweden, not only for birds but other wildlife too. Not only is it a stunning looking daytime Owl, but it is the last European species I had yet to see. Hawk Owl is the bird I most wanted to see in Europe.
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