[Macswede]

Last year we spent a couple of days in the southern Swedish mountains at Grövelsjön. We were surprised to see Siberian Jays on our first walk as it’s a bird I had always associated with parts of Sweden much farther to the north. This year we thought we’d return to the same region, a little further to the south, to visit the national park at Fulufjället. My hope was that the location in the mountains and its proximity with Norway might result in some unexpected species.

Day 1
We arrived in pouring rain at about 5 pm a bit dispirited. Our chalet at the hostel was beautiful though and we were alone there, apart from a nice lady from the Netherlands who left the following day. I think it was just a little too quiet for her. No birding that day but the weather looked a little brighter before we went to bed.

[Macswede]

Day 2
We got at useful tip at reception about a local bird expert who runs a café with his wife. It was closed on Mondays so we decided to pay a visit the following day. We headed off to the national park but my wife spotted a nice male Redstart outside the chalet opposite before we left. After leaving the car park we saw a very tame male Chaffinch that was allowing the children to follow it around. It was very fat so its strategy of friendliness to humans was clearly paying off. There were lots of Willow Warblers and I took some pictures but the light was poor and they moved very quickly. We decided to begin with the relatively short walk to Njupkär, the highest waterfall in Sweden. We weren’t alone; there were lots of noisy visitors on the trail with us. We tried letting them past but more came along all the time and we were moving fairly slowly as we were looking for birds. We stopped at a small marshy lake and heard a wader calling loudly. It emerged from the grass and we saw it was a Greenshank. It got closer and closer still calling loudly so I got lots of great pictures. I tried to get low angle shots by crouching down but I wasn’t prepared to actually lie down on the sodden ground. As we approached the fall there was a bird calling loudly in a tree. Some of the tourists were trying to imitate it but it didn’t seem to be disturbed. I looked through my bins and saw a male Ring Ouzel. I failed to get a picture but took some ID shots a little later close to the waterfall. At the fall we looked for Dippers but didn’t see any. We saw a girl and her father looking up at the cliffs though through binoculars though and, following their lead, we saw a large fledgling raptor. Then we saw three more. The last sign we passed had a picture of a Rough-legged Buzzard but these didn’t look much like the Rough-legged Buzzards that spend the winter in the Stockholm area. A suspicion and a hope were awakened. When we started to climb down from the fall we saw a young Dipper and got some great pictures. On the way back my wife spotted a pair of Willow Tits and we saw a nice female Brambling. At the nature centre a notice said that the best place to see Siberian Jays was near the car park where they beg for food from visitors but we didn’t see any there either. I asked about the fledgling raptors and was told they were Gyre Falcons, a life bird for us. We didn’t see any adults though.
I persuaded my wife to make a short trip to a nearby lake before making supper. It just seemed too good a day to end it too soon. When we parked the car at the lake we disturbed a Common Sandpiper that flew off calling noisily. My wife, who was having a very good day indeed, spotted a bird to our left before we had time to leave the car. She thought it was a woodpecker of some sort but when we looked through the bins we were astonished to see a Waxwing and got some fairly good pictures through the car window. All in all a very promising start in spite of poor weather.

[Macswede]

Day 3
The weather was much better so we decided on a walk to twin lakes, Rörsjöarna, on the other side of the mountain ridge. This time we were lucky enough to spot a Siberian Jay just after leaving the car park. It sat huddled at the top of a pine presenting no clear view but then it flew off and we followed it. It put on a very good show for ourselves and a couple who were just returning from a walk but unfortunately we had no food to offer it. It hopped from ground to tree and back again. At one point it perched on a national park sign, very appropriately as the Siberian Jay is the symbol of Fulufjället National Park. Then another bird arrived and they chased each other around for a bit before disappearing. At which point we saw a third bird which hung around briefly before flying off. It was good start to the day but the rest of the long climb up to the lake, apart from providing some spectacular views, was largely uneventful. There were Willow Warblers everywhere though, charming us with their song and lively antics. I no longer have any difficulty accepting that they are Sweden’s most common bird. We saw no Gyre Falcons on the way up but one Kestrel hovering in the distance.
When we got close to the lakes we saw Arctic Terns fishing. Arctic Terns that breed at inland mountain lakes are a special feature of the national park. There were also House Martins which I found a bit puzzling until we got to the second lake and saw there were several wooden buildings by the lakeside. I saw a few Bluethroats but only managed some poor shots of a male. They are much shyer birds here than the ones I see at my local patch in September, skulking and diving for cover at the first approach. The same cannot be said of the numerous Yellow Wagtails that seemed to follow me around wherever I went. They sang and posed beautifully and I got a lot of good pictures. While looking for Bluethroats I flushed a Willow Grouse and saw a Reed Bunting. Before heading back I grabbed a couple of quick shots of some female ducks that stuck their heads up over an embankment. When I looked in the guide I was puzzled at first but then realized that they were Common Scoters another odd feature of the national park. I was later to see at least one pair at almost every lake we visited. I was a little disappointed not to have seen any Red-necked Phalaropes but there was still plenty of time.
On a shopping trip that evening I spotted another duck in a small lake we passed in the car. On the way back we stopped and I took some poor shots of a group of drakes and also of a diver. With the aid of my wife I determined that the ducks were Scaup apart from one Tufted Duck. Scaup was another life bird but they are relatively common in the national park. The diver was easily identified as a Black-throated Diver.

[Macswede]

Day 4
We thought just we’d drive around, visiting local lakes and streams to see what turned up. The answer was not much that we hadn’t already seen, a Greenshank noisily defending his territory at one lake; Common Scoter at another where we also saw a pair of Red-throated Divers. Then there was a Meadow Pipit at the Moose Park where we stopped to ask where we could buy milk. We were looking for Dippers in a nearby stream when we saw a family of Grey Wagtails, something of a rarity in Sweden, though this was a good area for them.
Then disaster struck when my wife pulled a muscle in her back and we had to postpone our evening trip to the waterfall to see the Gyre Falcons.

[Macswede]

Day 5
Drove into Särna to replenish my wife’s stock of painkillers then went to visit a café on an old 18th century livestock farm. There was a pair of Kestrels with 4 chicks in a nesting box but I didn’t see them. They also use flycatchers to control the mosquitoes biologically. They have 25 pairs in nesting boxes and say the project’s been a huge success. I only saw one Grey Flycatcher during our visit but I got a couple of tips on where to see Bluethroats and Three-toed Woodpeckers. I didn’t manage to see a Bluethroat at the first site suggested but caught a brief glimpse of a Three-toed Woodpecker, another lifer, at the other site. A nature reserve has been built around a part of the forest that was destroyed a few years ago by torrential rain that caused the river to cleave through the forest like a chainsaw. It is very impressive with walkways and a viewing platform. There were lots of Wrens and I spotted a Robin singing on one of the piles of dead wood. I also saw a juvenile Great Tit, incredibly the first of this species during our stay. It seems Willow Tits are more common here! On the way back to the car park I saw Goldcrests, Willow Tits and a flock of Bramblings.

[Macswede]

Day 6
I took my wife back to the nature reserve with the storm-damaged forest. She hadn’t managed to complete the circuit on the previous day. We didn’t see any woodpeckers at all this time though there was plenty of evidence of their presence. The only new species was a Pied Flycatcher. On the way back from there I re-visited the place where we had seen the Grey Wagtails in the little stream but there was no sign of them. I did see a Red-breasted Merganser with about ten ducklings from a nearby bridge over the river though. Then I drove my wife into Idre to see a chiropractor about her back. During Judith’s session with the chiropractor, I wandered round the garden to tick a few common species that we had previously missed such as Greenfinch, Blue Tit and Nuthatch. In the evening I went up to see the Gyre Falcons for the second time. I got more pictures of a Siberian Jay and both a juvenile and an adult Dipper and also took my first Gyre Falcon flight shots. The juveniles were now able to flutter around a bit so they were harder to spot. One of the adults sat on a rock for most of the time I was there and this was the one I caught flying off. The other adult paid a brief visit that I unfortunately missed because I was photographing a Dipper at the time. Earlier in the week I hung up a few fat balls and scattered some mixed seed on a stump just to see what would happen. When I returned from viewing the falcons my wife said the there been a Great Tit feeding on the fat ball at the back of the chalet and that she had seen another bird nearby, not feeding, that she had thought at first was a Nuthatch but then realized wasn’t. She was able to photograph both birds and, once I steered her towards warblers in the field guide, was able to correctly identify the second bird as a Lesser Whitethroat, a lifer for her.

[Macswede]

Day 7
We decided to take several short trips in the car during the morning and earlier afternoon so that my wife could give her back a rest. We began by revisiting the lake where we had seen the Waxwing. No Waxwing this time but we saw our first Siskin. Then we drove to Lomsjö (Loon/Diver Lake) as we thought the name sounded promising. We didn’t see many birds there but when we left the car to take a short walk down to the water, a fledgling Fieldfare started hopping about my wife’s feet before hopping into the cover of the trees in noisy confusion. After Lomsjö we drove back to the river where we had seen the merganser with her ducklings but there was no sign of them. We decided to keep driving down the forestry road we were on to see where it led. This turned out to be a good decision. Before the road left the river we saw a Grey Heron fishing. Then further along the road we saw our first and only Elk (Moose Am. E.) just moments after we had been having a discussion about how strange it was that we hadn’t seen any Elks. We saw some marvellous scenery along the road and my wife was trying to draw my attention to a small bird that had flow across the road when I saw a large raptor in the sky overhead. I chose the bins over the camera, something I now regret, but was able to identify it as a Rough-legged Buzzard. We see them every winter in the Stockholm/Uppsala area and I thought they would be quite common in Fulufjället but apparently not.
After a day of not much walking Judith decided to come with me to see the Gyre Falcons at Nupkäret. It was a nice evening so we wore only tee-shirts. This turned out to be a huge mistake as it was very cold and windy at the waterfall. We didn’t see any falcons for a long time but Judith got some good views of the Dippers, two juveniles and an adult, then one falcon appeared on a rock and began preening. In the end my wife couldn’t stand the cold and gave up and we started to walk slowly back to the car. We hadn’t got far though before we heard the juveniles calling loudly and I began running back to the platform with my wife following behind a bit more slowly. I managed to get a few shots of an adult flying before I saw both adults disappear over the top of the fall but Judith was in a better position and saw some of the feeding.
When we arrived back at the hostel a Song Thrush flew across the road.

[Macswede]

Day 8
With mixed feelings we left Fulufjället and drove to another hostel in the south of Dalecarnia before heading back to Stockholm the following day. We decided to take a short detour into the Norwegian part of Fulufjället where we saw a Merlin and another Elk.
In spite of my poor wife’s back trouble it was a successful trip and we saw some great birds. If I were doing it again I would spend the night in the shelter at the twin lakes. There are so many interesting birds at Rörsjöarna that more time is really needed there. I didn’t see any Red-necked Phalaropes, Golden Plovers or Lapland Buntings for instance and it would have been nice to get better pictures of the Bluethroats. Going higher into the mountains might also have given us sightings of Dotterels, Ptarmigans and Golden Eagles.

[Capercaillie71]

Sounds like a great trip. Great photos too. Thanks for posting.

[Dr Manjeet Singh]

Graham...good number of birds my friend...wish i could be there ..it is a real good report..enjoyed it..Thanks for sharing.

[kristoffer]

Also i wish i was there, and very nice report! Thanks for sharing.

[Digiscoper321]

Well done,Graham!! A great report and lots of nice pics too.Shame about your wife's back,she seems to be a great bird spotter. ; Been there myself a couple of times but never seen the Siberian Jays. Great shots you got of it.

[Macswede]

Thanks very much to Capercaillie, Manjeet, Kristoffer and Ove for your encouraging comments on this report!
My wife's back is on the mend now but she did enjoy her holiday in spite of the pain and yes, Ove, she is a great bird spotter.

[Duck_Pond]

Sounds like you had a cracking time. Great pics too. Very envious!

Cheers.

[Macswede]

Thanks Pete!

Originally Posted by Duck_Pond

Sounds like you had a cracking time. Great pics too. Very envious!

Cheers.

[Ben Nevis]

Fantastic report Graham and great pictures.

[bartokroodborst]

What an amazing trip you and Judith had Graham and thank you for describing it so vividly, I enjoyed reading it and all those birds you saw, wow !!! Love the pictures, special the Dipperones and the Siberian Jay and you even saw a robin. Give my regards too Judith and I hope she is not in pain anymore with that pulled backmuscle.
Now you know the area your next trip will be even near to fantastic I guess.

Thanks for sharing this travelstory Graham and Judith

[Macswede]

Thanks, Wilma! Judith's feeling ,much better now. And yes, I would definitely be interested in visiting this area again now I know what can be found there.

Originally Posted by bartokroodborst

What an amazing trip you and Judith had Graham and thank you for describing it so vividly, I enjoyed reading it and all those birds you saw, wow !!! Love the pictures, special the Dipperones and the Siberian Jay and you even saw a robin. Give my regards too Judith and I hope she is not in pain anymore with that pulled backmuscle.
Now you know the area your next trip will be even near to fantastic I guess.

Thanks for sharing this travelstory Graham and Judith