Swedish Lapland - where should I go? (1 Viewer)

[meg2772]

Hi everyone, I am in Swedish Lapland (Abisko) and flying out of Kiruna later this week. I am wondering if anyone knows somewhere within an hours drive of either location recommended for winter birding? Perhaps a nice walk through a forest.
I am hoping for species like Siberian jay, Siberian tit, waxwing.. but eBird records are sparse so am not sure where to go, or even if there is much to see at this time of year!
Thanks so much.

 

[Captain_of_Crunch]

The Rymdcampus a few kilometres east of Kiruna along the E10 had in the past (still?) some feeders which attract most of the species mentioned, plus a chance of Pine Grosbeak. Otherwise, look for feeders in any village as these will likely attract birds.

Also, worth thinking of other recording portals (not just eBird which has forced its way into many areas already well served by online recording) for finding records. For Sweden this is:

Dagens fynd - Artportalen

Artportalen är en webbplats för den som vill söka efter och rapportera fynd av djur, växter och svampar i Sverige. Artportalen är ett viktigt verktyg i svensk naturvård baserad på folkets observationer ute i naturen.

www.artportalen.se

 

[Antik]

In addition to Artportalen, please see https://nof.nu/fagellokaler/ for general info on locations. Both work through Google Translate if necessary.

 

[meg2772]

Thanks for the recommendations! The feeders were very productive and we had a great morning with the birds there.

I did not realise there were so many recording portals. Thank you both for highlighting these and I will keep an eye out for these in the future!

 

[Farnboro John]

Thanks for the recommendations! The feeders were very productive and we had a great morning with the birds there.

I did not realise there were so many recording portals. Thank you both for highlighting these and I will keep an eye out for these in the future!

Would you mind putting up a list of what you saw at the feeders (and how long you were there to achieve that)?

John

 

[Tero]

( I may be late to the thread since the eBird list I found probably IS Meg herself)
Rather sparsly populted area. The Siberian Jay last appeared at a place East of Kiruna. At least

https://ebird.org/hotspot/L8184786?yr=all&m=&rank=mrec

It appears to be some kind of science outfit with a little forest around the entrance road.
If go there and click to "map", othere spots out there appear on the map. They are pretty much all along the highway.
If you go South, it looks worse at a neaby spot. Nobody has birded there since summer. https://ebird.org/hotspot/L3115131

 

[meg2772]

Would you mind putting up a list of what you saw at the feeders (and how long you were there to achieve that)?

John

Hi John,

Apologies I haven’t been on this site for a little while. Indeed Tero found the eBird checklist which is linked above. I kept a checklist for about 45 minutes and then stayed and enjoyed the birds for another 30-40 minutes. I could also have been there for 5 minutes as it was the same characters the whole time!

I was very happy to see both Siberian jay (2 birds) and Siberian tit amongst some more common birds. I didn’t think I would be so lucky, especially after a few days in abisko with very little birdlife around.

Someone who maintains one of the feeders also came past to add more seeds and he showed me pictures of other birds he had seen there - g-s woodpecker, greenfinch, etc. He also told me Siberian jay can be very bold and he has had one steal a sandwich while snow-shoeing before.