Saturday 11 th
of May 2018
and I asked reception to call me a taxi and I was at Herz office in Gothenburg just after 9 o´clock. I got my car and I drove back to Radisson Blu Riverside Hotel to pick up my luggage. My luggage was ready in my room and I was out of there in a few minutes.
Seeing Gothenburg disappear in the rear view mirror and I was hauling behind and I hope to check in at Hotel Skansen, Färjestaden giving me a good time for some afternoon bird watching on Öland.
In the taxi to pick up my car
I was hungry, the breakfast at Radisson Blu Riverside Hotel. No tea pots, well, the tea pots are the same size as the cups. I had two pots and a full cup at the table and I went to get salmon. I came back and they had removed all my tea. So no breakfast this morning.
I stopped to fill up gas in the car and I went to see if they had ready-made sandwiches. I discovered that they had soft ice cream.
I stop in a small forest to enjoy my picnic lunch from the gas stop. Not first time I buy ready-made sandwiches at OKQ8 and it is good. I felt very good when I had finished my lunch.
I made one d-tour to check for birds in the forest, but I decided to skip the birding and try to get as early as possible to Öland to do bird watching on Öland instead and after that it was NON STOP to Öland. It was nice to reach the bridge as I knew that my hotel was close to the bridge on the Öland side of the bridge.
Approaching the Bridge to Öland
Approaching the Bridge to Öland
Approaching the Bridge to Öland
Crossing the bridge to Öland
Crossing the bridge to Öland
Crossing the bridge to Öland
Crossing the bridge to Öland
Crossing the bridge to Öland
Reaching Öland
Leaving road #136 after having crossed the bridge and I was soon in Färjestaden and I checked in to Hotel Skansen around 3 o´clock. I was pleasantly surprised coming in to my room. A very nice room, well, the whole hotel was very nice. There was everything I needed, refrigerator for my breakfast and a kettle for my tea.
They start serve breakfast at 6 thirty or something like that, but by then I`m long gone looking for birds. Maybe I can be back before they stop the breakfast service.
I still have a bag of pumpernickel that I bought back in Skara and I eat one pack for picnic lunch and I have oatmeal and honey for breakfast. Well, anyway, I left my room to go for a few hours of bird watching before it is getting dark.
My room at Hotel Skansen, Färjestaden
My room at Hotel Skansen, Färjestaden
My room at Hotel Skansen, Färjestaden
Back in the car and I checked Visit Öland´s
web page- The top 20 birding sites on Öland to see if there was any birding sites in the area. I decided to go check out two sites:
• 10. Södra Utmossen at Lenstad village
• 12. Möckelmossen
And I will start with # 10 on the list: Södra Utmossen at Lenstad village. I left Hotel Skansen and Färjestaden behind following the map to Södra Utmossen.
Driving to Lenstad village
10. Södra Utmossen at Lenstad village
Södra Utmossen is a wetland / swamp 15 minutes walk from Lenstad village. It is no problem to find Lenstad village using the map on Visit Öland´s
web page. Park the car and then? To find Södra Utmossen was not so easy. I walked around and I found a sign saying “Walk Trail”
I followed the sign and then there was no directions. I asked two girls with horses and they showed me the way. You need to pass through two gates that you need to close. There are horses and if you don´t close the gate the horses will run away.
Easy to find
Parking at Lenstad village
Sign saying “Walk Trail”
Follow the gravel road
Last gate to be closed
Bird watching platform
Södra Utmossen
It is a beautiful area but the birds was too far away to get any good pictures. And I actually spotted more interesting birds going to and from Södra Utmossen.
Takes about 10 minutes to walk from the parking to the bird watching platform and then about 3 minutes more of walking to reach Södra Utmossen. The platform is good for bird watching, spot the bird in the tube and thick the list. But for photographers it is another story, you will have to sneak down to the swamp in order to have a chance to come close to the birds.
I never came close enough for any pictures, well, there was not many birds anyway. I spotted a few Northern Wheatears that I tried to get on picture, but I failed. I walked back to the car and I tried to make a sound recording of the Northern Lapwing.
Northern Wheatear
Listen to the Northern Lapwing
Remarks from the Recordist
Recorded with my ZOOM H5 Handy Recorder. High Pass Filter applied with Audacity
Walking to the swamp and the birds started to fly around. So this is the reason for me to put it as an ALARM CALL.
But this is the sound I heard the Northern Lapwing did all over Öland and they are also one of the reason that it is so hard to get close to other birds for pictures as the lapwing alarm all the birds
Leaving the swamp walking back to the first “horse” gate
It is a very beautiful area
Northern Wheatear on the way back to the car
Northern Wheatear on the way back to the car
Really joyful to walk around in the beautiful area
My eBird checklist from Södra Utmossen at Lenstad village, click HERE
Back at the car and I discover a group of the very beautiful Common Linnet. A very shy bird and it was next to impossible to get any pictures. Back in the car and I opened the Visit Öland´s
web page with the 20 bird watching spots. I decided to go to site #12. Möckelmossen.
Opened the map and I had Möckelmossen on the GPS and I took off leaving Lenstad village. Driving through a beautiful landscape and I enjoyed my drive and it was not hard to find Möckelmossen.
On the way to Möckelmossen
The sun was still high in the sky and I hope to get plenty time for bird watching before it is getting too dark. Back on the “bigger” road, road #136 and I turned to drive towards the south and Möckelmossen some 10 minutes away.
12. Möckelmossen
Möckelmossen is not hard to find. Driving on road #136 and you only need to turn once. There are signs when to leave the road. Leaving road #136 and you drive for a few minutes and you reach a parking area with a toilet. This is it and you cannot miss it.
Park the car and before walking to Möckelmossen you can cross the road. There is a small pond and I spotted the Common Ringed Plover and the Common Linnet.
Finding Möckelmossen
Follow the sign to Möckelmossen
Parking and toilet
Information and benches
Walking towards Möckelmossen
Approaching Möckelmossen
Approaching Möckelmossen
It is about 1 km to walk from the parking to Möckelmossen and, at least when I was walking there, there wasn´t any birds to see. Möckelmossen, I spotted a Whooper Swan and a few Greylag Gooses. I heard that there had been a huge group of Black-headed Gulls last year and they had scared away the birds.
I think that it was a Eurasian bittern I could hear and the sound, well, I don´t call it a sound. It is more like a vibration and I walked towards the sound. Then it came from the other direction and then it came from all around me. The sound stopped and I walked back to the car where I had my picnic dinner on one of the benches at the wall with information about Möckelmossen.
Time to go back to the car
Dinner is ready
Leaving Möckelmossen and it had been a very nice evening in the “wilderness” but I was a wee bit disappointed with the birds. The only pictures I managed to get was of the Common Ringed Plover
Common Ringed Plover / Större Strandpipare
Common Linnet / Hämpling
My eBird checklist from Möckelmossen, click HERE
20 minutes to drive back to Hotel Skansen in Färjestaden and straight to bed with my alarm set to go off at 3 thirty so I can start bird watching early in the morning. Click HERE
to see if I see any birds tomorrow.
Why Do They Always Look Like This?